With the NFL season coming up soon and the Dog Days of August continuing to persist, one of the best times of the year on the sports calendar is finally here: fantasy football season. And one championship-winning wide receivers that could go high on draft boards is Dallas Cowboys star Amari Cooper.
Most fantasy football drafts happening soon, it's time to preview some of the best prospects that could help your team win a championship this year.
Cooper offers the upside and production of a top-3 receiver with better value, and he's usually available a round later than higher names on draft boards like Julio Jones and Michael Thomas.
Let's dive into the Amari Cooper fantasy football outlook for the 2020 NFL season.
2019 Amari Cooper Fantasy Stats
Cooper was one of the best wide receivers in football last season, ranking in the top-10 in both receiving yards and touchdowns.
While touchdowns can be a little fluky when it comes to wide receivers, that consistent production from receiving yards made Cooper a consistent value in most fantasy lineups.
According to CBSSports' fantasy statistics, since joining the Dallas Cowboys midway through the 2018 season, Amari Cooper has averaged more than 15 points per game (in points per reception leagues) in 25 games.
He's not a boom-or-bust wideout that needs to catch a deep ball to get to his expected production. He will catch about half a dozen balls for 75 yards on average, and if he adds a touchdown, it's a normal day for Cooper and a great day for your fantasy lineup.
2020 Amari Cooper Fantasy Projections
There are a few reasons to expect to see Cooper's production take a small dip in 2020, with the main reason being that he is no longer trying to prove his worth for a new contract.
Cooper is returning to the Cowboys with a lot more money after he signed a five year, $100 million extension, including $60 million guaranteed. He is worth every penny of that contract, but he may be less motivated to prove himself with so much guaranteed money in the deal.
Cooper may also fall victim to the problem that plagues a lot of good receivers on talented offensive teams: there are only so many passes to go around, and as talented as Cooper is, he can only be the primary target on so many plays for the Cowboys.
Even though he is still the No. 1 option in the Dallas passing game, Cooper will have to share targets with Ezekiel Elliot out of the backfield and Michael Gallup across the field, with talented rookie CeeDee Lamb being a potential sleeper who can always be a deep ball threat with his speed and impeccable route running.
With all those options, expect to see Cooper's production take a small dip as the offense gets settled over the first few weeks, but being that he is in the prime of his career at 26 and Dak Prescott's go-to target in clutch situations, it shouldn't be too big of a dip.
Around 70 receptions for just under 1,100 yards and 8 touchdowns feels like a safe projection and is a relative dip from last season, but those numbers would still make him a top-10 receiver in football and someone who shouldn't last four rounds in drafts with savvy players.
Rank at Position
On early projections for most sites, Cooper is ranked as high as sixth and as low as 19th at his position.
Being that he is the No. 1 option on what should be one of the most explosive offenses in football, it seems foolish to rank anywhere outside of the top-10 at his position for fantasy production.
Cooper has the consistency to land fantasy football owners 10-12 points a week and can be slotted as an automatic start for most of the season, due in large part to his durability.
While a few minor injuries to Cooper's knee and ankle slowed up his production mid-season, he has proven to be durable throughout his football career and has never really had a major injury that has sidelined him for more than a few weeks.
Cooper will likely be drafted as a fringe WR1 or high WR2, as pairing him with one of the top guys like Tyreek Hill or DeAndre Hopkins should net owners with 25-30 points from their top two receiving options a week.
I'd rank Cooper as the sixth-best fantasy receiver in football, with Jones, Thomas, Hill, Hopkins, and Davante Adams ahead of him, in no particular order. Cooper should be drafted around the same range as guys like Chris Godwin, Kenny Golladay, and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
He could be seen as a substitute for one of those top-five guys, as it could be wise for fantasy owners to beef up on running backs or grab a top QB in Patrick Mahomes with their first two picks before taking Cooper in round three.
With him being a potential WR1 on good fantasy teams and an amazing WR2 on great teams, expect Cooper to not fall past round four and be selected somewhere between pick 25 and pick 35.
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