Amari Cooper's last days as a Raider were filled with inconsistent play, head-scratching usage and continued disappointment for a player not living up to expectations. After six games in Oakland, he was shipped to Dallas, where he found his footing.
In 11 games with Dallas, including playoffs, Cooper averaged 81.45 receiving yards per game and scored 7 TDs. In six games with Gruden's Raiders, the wideout generated 46.6 receiving yards with one TD. Cooper believes part of the production discrepancy was his questionable usage in Oakland.
“I don't think it was a good fit for me. I don't think I was really able to showcase my skills there for whatever reasons, I'll call it extenuating circumstances. But for whatever reason, I wasn't able to reach my heights and I kind of knew that I needed to be gone in order to do some of the things that I wanted to do as an NFL player.
“I felt like there are things that I wanted to do out there on the field during the games, certain plays that I wanted to be called and certain routes that I wanted to run that just weren't a part of the game plan.”
After being unleashed in Dallas, Cooper appears poised for another big season as the No. 1 target in the Cowboys' offense.
Add in a full offseason of chemistry building between Cooper and Dak Prescott, and it all portends a big year for the wideout, who could be playing for his next contract this fall.
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