You know you’ve made an impression when Jerry Rice offers you praise.
Oakland Raiders rookie Amari Cooper has been blowing everybody away this offseason during practices, and many have given their vote of confidence regarding his superstar potential. Rice is the newest member of this club. In an interview with Raiders.com, he lauded Cooper and compared him to Hall of Fame receiver Tim Brown.
Rice called Cooper, “their new Tim Brown. [Cooper]’s very much like Tim Brown, very explosive, got speed to burn, really going to strike fear into the opposing team.”
The only higher compliment Rice could have given Cooper is to compare the rookie to himself.
Coming out of the University of Alabama, Cooper was the first receiver taken off the board during the 2015 NFL Draft, going No. 4 to Oakland. Scouts raved at his overall skill set, noting in particular his polished route-running and speed.
In his final year with the Crimson Tide, Cooper put up outstanding numbers, catching 124 passes for 1,727 yards and 16 touchdowns. And he did this in the highly competitive SEC playing with a quarterback who wasn’t even drafted this spring.
Now he’ll be teaming up with one of the most promising young quarterbacks in the NFL, Derek Carr, who struggled as a rookie playing with lesser talents. This youthful combo should be electric, not only this year, but in the years to come.
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