For the past day, all I have heard out of the media is how Jon Gruden finally won a trade, and that the Dallas Cowboys gave up way too much for Amari Cooper. Arguments have been made that Cooper was not worth a first round pick, but let me break this trade down for you and how it will play out.
It is no secret that the Cowboys receiving core is pathetic at best. The teams leading receiver is a 5 foot 8-inch dwarf in Cole Beasley. And while he is a productive slot receiver, any team with Beasley as their number one option is going to have trouble moving the ball. By adding Cooper, they are getting a proven number one receiver who has been vastly misused the past two years in Oakland. People have apparently forgotten about his 2016 pro- bowl stature and back to back 1,000-yard seasons in 2015 and 2016. Unfortunately, even his quarterback, Derek Carr, forgot about those two years and hasn’t been looking for his best receiver all year. You can’t expect a receiver to produce when he is not given consistent opportunities to make plays.
If the Cowboy had not traded that 2019 first round pick for Cooper, they would have ultimately been looking to advance their receiving core through the draft. Draft picks in sports are blatantly overvalued by the public. There is always an optimistic fan base that thinks they are going to get the next explosive all- pro player. In reality, the draft is a crapshoot. All these experts believe they know what they’re talking in their rankings, but there are too many variables that go into measuring players that it is almost impossible to project how impactful they will be.
A prime example was the Bengals 2017 first- round pick in John Ross. Ross ran the fastest 40-yard dash ever recorded in NFL combine history. However, he has been a liability for the Bengals on the field in his first season and a half in the NFL.
The 2019 wide receiver draft class is filled with below average talent lead by Anthony Johnson of the Buffalo Bulls. So even if the Cowboys had chosen to go through the draft their chances of selecting a receiver that makes it to the pro- bowl or eclipses a 1,000 receiving yard season is slime. Instead, they got a young established receiver in Cooper who is only 24 years old and was born in the same year as rookie first-round draft pick Calvin Ridley. That criteria alone grants this decision merit.
Furthermore, not only does this immediately help the Cowboys offense, but the acquisition of Cooper will play a determining factor when deciding if Dak Prescott is worthy of a contract worth north of $100 million. Since Prescott’s rookie year he has been a fraud. The only reason the Cowboys haven’t moved on from him is the hope he can return to his 2016 form. All year Dak supporters have given him a scapegoat, alluding to his deplorable receiving core. Relieving him of all the blame for the Cowboys stagnant passing game. Now, with a pro bowl receiver, running back, and offensive line it is solely on Dak’s shoulder whether he is worth the money or not.
Lastly, the Raiders prospects from this trade are filled with ambiguity. Since 2004, only two of the Raiders 13 first- round draft picks have made a pro-bowl, ironically the players were Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper. It is fair to say that the majority of there personnel choices in previous drafts were made by the late Al Davis, whose criteria for choosing players was determined by how fast they were. Hopefully, Gruden can make the right decisions to justify trading away his two best assets.
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