{"id":52129,"date":"2018-10-26T20:27:20","date_gmt":"2018-10-27T00:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=52129"},"modified":"2018-10-26T20:27:20","modified_gmt":"2018-10-27T00:27:20","slug":"amari-cooper-kickstart-career-dallas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2018\/10\/26\/amari-cooper-kickstart-career-dallas\/","title":{"rendered":"Amari Cooper Looks to Kickstart His Career With Dallas Cowboys"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/C\/CoopAm00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amari Cooper<\/a><\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/2018\/10\/22\/amari-cooper-traded-cowboys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">was traded<\/a> to the <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/cowboys\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dallas Cowboys<\/a> this week in a move that sees the <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/raiders\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oakland Raiders<\/a> pick up a first-round draft pick.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Jerry Jones on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/1053thefan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@1053thefan<\/a> discussing Amari Cooper: \u201cHe\u2019ll definitely change the dynamics of the offense. There\u2019s no question about it.\u201d Believes Cooper&#39;s presence will help Dak, Zeke, and in turn, the Cowboys&#39; third-ranked defense. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/cowboyswire?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#cowboyswire<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rob Phillips (@robphillips3) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/robphillips3\/status\/1055852647377444864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 26, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h1><strong>Can Amari Cooper Revive His Career in Dallas?<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h2>A Season and a Half to Forget<\/h2>\n<p>The Raiders have struggled in recent seasons and Cooper&#8217;s productivity has declined. In 2017 Cooper had just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/fantasy\/football\/players\/game-log\/2017\/1984220\/amari-cooper\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">two games<\/a> of more than 100 yards through 12 starts. Cooper&#8217;s highlight of that season came in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/gamecenter\/2017101900\/2017\/REG7\/chiefs@raiders?icampaign=GC_schedule_rr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">31-30<\/a> win over the Chiefs when the wideout had 210 yards receiving, scoring two touchdowns in the process.<\/p>\n<p>2018 hasn&#8217;t been a bed of roses for the 24-year-old out of Alabama. Despite picking up two games of more than 100 yards, Cooper has found productivity difficult in a waning Raiders offense. The Raiders targeted Cooper once in the 27-3 capitulation at home to the Seahawks He ended up leaving the game early in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nfl\/gametracker\/recap\/NFL_20181014_SEA@OAK\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">second quarter<\/a> due to concussion protocol. As one door closes, another one opens.<\/p>\n<h2>Cooper Adds Options to the Cowboys Offense<\/h2>\n<p>Cooper swaps the black and silver for the blue and silver. <strong>Jon Gruden<\/strong>&#8216;s loss is <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/G\/GarrJa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jason Garrett<\/a><\/strong>&#8216;s gain. We&#8217;ve seen football players find their form once more after a trade. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/MannPe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Peyton Manning<\/a><\/strong> is a great example in recent years, moving from the <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/colts\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Indianapolis Colts<\/a> to the <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/broncos\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Denver Broncos<\/a>, where he eventually earned his second Super Bowl ring. There&#8217;s no reason why Cooper can&#8217;t find his rhythm in Dallas, giving balance to the offense.<\/p>\n<p>Why should the Cowboys trust their new wide receiver? Cooper&#8217;s stats provide the evidence that he has the ability to move the chains. In both the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/fantasy\/football\/players\/game-log\/2016\/1984220\/amari-cooper\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2015 and 2016<\/a> seasons Cooper had multiple games over 100 yards. Cooper was a 1,000-yard receiver in 2015. Coach Garrett must now find that formula that connects <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/P\/PresDa01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dak Prescott<\/a><\/strong> with his new receiver. Short-yardage gains may be the key to Cooper gaining the level confidence he enjoyed in his first two seasons of pro football.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s 24 years old, has a bright future, goes about it the right way and it feels like he fits into our culture of our team; the kind of guys we want to have, the cornerstone players we build here over the last few years.&#8221; (Jason Garrett to NFL.com)<\/p>\n<p>Cooper&#8217;s strength analysis from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nfl.com\/draft\/2015\/profiles\/amari-cooper?id=2552487\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2015 draft<\/a> states that he works hard to make himself presentable for the quarterback. The Cowboys (3-4) haven&#8217;t exactly lit up the league in total offense. The Cowboys rushing game (ranked third) has not been complemented by their passing game which is ranked 29th, averaging <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nfl.com\/stats\/categorystats?tabSeq=2&amp;offensiveStatisticCategory=TEAM_PASSING&amp;conference=ALL&amp;role=TM&amp;season=2018&amp;seasonType=REG&amp;d-447263-s=PASSING_NET_YARDS_GAME_AVG&amp;d-447263-o=2&amp;d-447263-n=1\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">183 yards<\/a> per game.<\/p>\n<p>The Week Eight bye comes in a timely manner for the Cowboys. Offensive coordinator <strong>Scott Linehan<\/strong> has just over a week to embed Cooper into the Cowboys&#8217; receiver corps. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BeasCo00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cole Beasley<\/a><\/strong> leads the wideouts with 350 yards from 33 receptions. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HurnAl01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Allen Hurns<\/a><\/strong> has had a lean time of it, with his 13 receptions for 158 yards leaving questions about his role in Dallas. The 26-year-old has struggled to find the form that earned him over 1,000 yards receiving at Jacksonville in 2015.<\/p>\n<h2>Justifying the Trade<\/h2>\n<p>The Cowboys believe that they&#8217;ve got an investment. Coach Garrett and his staff have done their homework. They must now wait to see if Prescott and Cooper can become the duo to propel the Cowboys offense up the ladder. Cooper will have to work hard to justify the trade deal. Cooper can win over the fans, especially if he improves the Cowboys third down conversion rates of 31 percent. Over to you Amari! The Cowboys will face the <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/titans\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tennessee Titans<\/a> (3-4) on November 5.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"bL8Tg51vT9Zo0_qYHpkzXQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1043431104\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'bL8Tg51vT9Zo0_qYHpkzXQ',sig:'wL6YRoGIt35N9cVHlbgND4YPtcraKgJ9oPmxsQo8V1g=',w:'594px',h:'426px',items:'1043431104',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Dallas Cowboys acquired Amari Cooper from the Oakland Raiders, giving the wide receiver a chance to revive his career with a change of scenery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2841,"featured_media":52144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[3720,353,489,302,49,266,56,1296,889,122,157,233,58],"class_list":["post-52129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cowboys","tag-alabama","tag-allen-hurns","tag-amari-cooper","tag-dak-prescott","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-denver-broncos","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-jason-garrett","tag-jerry-jones","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-oakland-raiders","tag-peyton-manning","tag-tennessee-titans"],"modified_by":"John Bava","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2841"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}