Tag: Amari Cooper

Browns’ receiving corps ranked in the bottom ten by PFF

The Browns’ wide receivers enter the season under the radar

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The Cleveland Browns made a concerted effort to get a new stable of pass catchers for quarterback Deshaun Watson as they look to get more explosive offensively in 2023. However, even with the upgrades around Amari Cooper like Elijah Moore and Cedric Tillman, PFF remains a bit coy on the room until they come out and prove it on the field.

Overall, the Browns’ weapons were ranked as the 22nd unit in the league. Here is what PFF’s Trevor Sikkema had to say about Cleveland’s new and improved wide receiver room:

“Amari Cooper is the unquestioned WR1 in Cleveland, but it’s been tough sledding over the last few seasons with not much passing game talent around him. Things do look better this season, as they added Elijah Moore, who recorded a 73.8 receiving grade as the Jets slot receiver in 2021, and Cedric Tillman, who gives them a strong contested catch possession receiver.

Throw in the deep threat ability of Donovan Peoples-Jones and David Njoku at tight end, and it’s a group that should be much better than they were last season.”

This is more or less a case of the newly added talent needing to prove it. On paper, the Browns have a room capable of making plays all over the field. It is time to back it up on the field.

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Looking ahead at 3 potential 2024 cap casualties

The Browns will face some tough decisions next offseason.

In 2024, the Cleveland Browns will be nearly $60 million over the salary cap. That is before they factor in the rollover cap, which the Browns always do, and before any restructures that could take place. That likely means it will be time for general manager Andrew Berry to make some tough decisions on older players with large salary cap numbers like wide receiver Amari Cooper.

Fans likely won’t like some of the changes that could be on the way as fan-favorite players could be casualties to the NFL salary cap. All three of these players could agree to contract extensions or restructures to spread the money out and lower the cap hit but if that doesn’t happen they could be looking for new teams in 2024.

All cap figures and numbers in this article are provided by Over the Cap.

Amari Cooper continues to be an elite route runner

No surprise to see Cooper on PFF’s highest-graded players by route type.

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Ever since he entered the NFL, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper has been one of the better route runners in the league. When you watch his tape he is such a smooth accelerator and seems like he is gliding on the field. He gets in and out of his breaks so effortlessly it is something fun to watch.

It’s no surprise to see that he showed up more than once on PFF’s highest-graded wide receivers by route type list. Cooper was second on the list behind only the Eagles’ Aj Brown on slant routes with Cooper receiving a 93.7 on slant routes. Cooper would find himself third on the list of our routes receiving a 92.2 grade on those routes.

It is such a luxury to have such a technician on the team, especially with young players on the roster. Cooper can help develop and teach some of the younger players to help as they grow in the NFL. Being able to get Cooper for a fifth-round pick remains one of Andrew Berry’s best moves.

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4 Downs: Piecing together thoughts from a long offseason

Welcome to a vacation period edition of 4 Downs!

We have reached the six-week portion of the offseason where all 32 teams have entered a vacation period. This means we have to wait until training camp for any big Cleveland Browns happenings throughout the rest of the summer. As head coach Kevin Stefanski and his team take this time to refocus and rest before getting back to work, we take this time to reflect on the long offseason it has been to this point.

As we enter the vacation period, here is some food for thought on what the Browns have done this offseason and what it means for their 2023 season.

LOOK: Browns wrap up offseason program after third day of practices on Thursday

Offseason workouts for the #Browns are complete with training camp set to kick off next month.

The third and final day of mandatory minicamp for the Cleveland Browns is in the books. The team held a final practice on Thursday, marking the end of their offseason program until they return to Berea for training camp in July. It was another good day for new wide receiver Elijah Moore who made several impressive catches this week.

Of course, none of this means much since the team was not wearing pads but fans will never be upset with plays that look good out on the field. Let’s take a look at all the sights and sounds from the final day of mandatory camp on Thursday in Berea:

LOOK: Sights and sounds from day one of Browns mandatory minicamp

Mandatory camp kicked off in Berea on Tuesday and there was no shortage of fireworks during the #Browns’ practice session

The first day of mandatory minicamp is in the books as the Cleveland Browns have one final tune-up before training camp next month. The offense seemed to win the day as many who were present said that quarterback Deshaun Watson was as sharp as he has ever looked in Cleveland. Though it wasn’t a practice with full contact Watson’s confidence and control of the offense was impressive, and a good sign for the Browns’ chances of contention in 2023.

Getting to see Amari Cooper moving around after offseason surgery was another good sign from Berea on Tuesday. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights from this first practice as the team continues to get work in for the 2023 season:

Browns: Amari Cooper is on schedule and will be ready for training camp

The veteran pass catcher will be ready for camp.

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It was revealed earlier this offseason that Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper had core surgery in February to fix an injury he dealt with the final month of last season. On Tuesday during a charity golf event head coach Kevin Stefanski said Cooper would see some activity this week and be ready for training camp.

Cooper had a great first season for the Browns and with a full season of Deshaun Watson and improved depth behind him he is set for another great season with the Browns. The offense is poised to have some changes in 2023 and if they are to be successful Cooper will still be a major part of that.

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Four former Alabama WRs ranked among NFL’s best pass catchers

A handful of former Crimson Tide stars were named among the best wide receivers in the NFL for the upcoming 2023 season.

There are former Alabama Football players at just about every position in the NFL. The Crimson Tide program is known for producing top-tier NFL talent across the board, but especially at defensive back, running back and wide receiver.

Pro Football Focus’ Sam Monson recently ranked the top-32 wide receivers in the NFL and the list has four former Alabama stars in it.

Wide receivers are a unique positional group in that their talent must be paired with a great situation to be considered good. For example, Jaylen Waddle is the highest-rated former Alabama on this list, because the Dolphins front office has put in effort to build the offense. Former Biletnikoff Award recipient, Jerry Jeudy, is not on this list at all. However, that’s not because of his lack of skill, he’s just had an unfortunate quarterback situation in Denver to begin his career.

Fantasy Football Consistency Rankings – Wide Receivers

Consistent wideouts are key to a high fantasy scoring every week.

This ranking considers wide receivers that started at least 11 games in 2022. Fantasy points were derived using one point per 10 yards rushed or received, six-point touchdowns and one point receptions. The consistency in scoring at least 15 fantasy points per game declined rapidly.

Also see: Quarterbacks | Running backs |  Tight ends

Wide Receiver Consistency

NAME 15-pt % Gms 15-pt 25-pt 5-catch 100 Yds TD
Justin Jefferson 71% 17 12 9 13 10 7
Tyreek Hill 71% 17 12 6 12 7 6
Ja’Marr Chase 67% 12 8 4 11 4 7
CeeDee Lamb 65% 17 11 2 15 5 7
Tyler Lockett 63% 16 10 2 10 3 8
Keenan Allen 60% 10 6 1 8 2 3
A.J. Brown 59% 17 10 4 10 5 8
DeVonta Smith 59% 17 10 2 13 5 6
Stefon Diggs 56% 16 9 3 12 7 9
Christian Kirk 53% 17 9 2 10 3 6
Davante Adams 53% 17 9 7 11 8 9
DK Metcalf 47% 17 8 1 12 2 6
Jaylen Waddle 47% 17 8 3 7 6 6
Jerry Jeudy 47% 15 7 1 7 3 4
Mike Williams 46% 13 6 1 6 4 4
Amon-Ra St. Brown 44% 16 7 3 12 4 4
Jahan Dotson 42% 12 5 0 2 1 6
Amari Cooper 41% 17 7 3 7 5 7
Terry McLaurin 41% 17 7 0 8 4 5
Chris Olave 40% 15 6 0 8 3 4
Michael Pittman Jr. 38% 16 6 2 11 2 4
Greg Dortch 36% 11 4 0 4 1 2
Christian Watson 36% 14 5 1 2 3 4
Jakobi Meyers 36% 14 5 0 6 1 6
Tee Higgins 36% 14 5 2 10 4 7
DJ Moore 35% 17 6 1 6 3 7
Garrett Wilson 35% 17 6 2 8 3 2
Chris Godwin 33% 15 5 1 14 2 3
Mike Evans 33% 15 5 2 8 3 3
Josh Reynolds 33% 12 4 0 4 0 3
JuJu Smith-Schuster 31% 16 5 1 8 2 3
Deebo Samuel 31% 13 4 0 7 1 2
Brandon Aiyuk 29% 17 5 2 9 1 6
George Pickens 29% 17 5 0 4 1 4
Richie James 29% 14 4 0 6 0 4
Gabe Davis 27% 15 4 1 2 1 6
Zay Jones 25% 16 4 2 8 2 3
Marquise Brown 25% 12 3 1 7 1 3
Adam Thielen 24% 17 4 0 6 0 6
Curtis Samuel 24% 17 4 0 7 0 4
Drake London 24% 17 4 0 8 1 4
K.J. Osborn 24% 17 4 1 6 2 5

The wide receiver position has seen an increase in production in recent years and have overtaken the running backs in many cases. There were 11 wideouts that topped 15 fantasy points in most of their games and a number of surprises were seen in how often they had that “good” game.

Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill and Ja’Marr Chase dominated the leaderboard last year and show up as such in fantasy drafts. But those most consistent wideouts included Tyler Lockett, Keenan Allen, and Christian Kirk.

Jahan Dotson, Jerry Jeudy, Chris Olave and Amari Cooper show up better in this measurement than they did in total points.

It is notable that many of the most consistent receivers from 2021 did not repeat – Deebo Samuel, Diontae Johnson, Hunter Renfrow and Brandin Cooks did not meet expectations but almost all had quarterback changes if not new offensive schemes to learn.

25-pt Games 5-catch Games 100-yard Games TD Games
Justin Jefferson 9 CeeDee Lamb 15 Justin Jefferson 10 Stefon Diggs 9
Davante Adams 7 Chris Godwin 14 Davante Adams 8 Davante Adams 9
Tyreek Hill 6 Justin Jefferson 13 Tyreek Hill 7 Tyler Lockett 8
Ja’Marr Chase 4 DeVonta Smith 13 Stefon Diggs 7 A.J. Brown 8
A.J. Brown 4 Tyreek Hill 12 Jaylen Waddle 6 Justin Jefferson 7
Stefon Diggs 3 Stefon Diggs 12 CeeDee Lamb 5 Ja’Marr Chase 7
Jaylen Waddle 3 DK Metcalf 12 A.J. Brown 5 CeeDee Lamb 7
Amon-Ra St. Brown 3 Amon-Ra St. Brown 12 DeVonta Smith 5 Amari Cooper 7
Amari Cooper 3 Ja’Marr Chase 11 Amari Cooper 5 Tee Higgins 7
CeeDee Lamb 2 Davante Adams 11 Ja’Marr Chase 4 DJ Moore 7
Tyler Lockett 2 Michael Pittman Jr. 11 Mike Williams 4 Tyreek Hill 6
DeVonta Smith 2 Tyler Lockett 10 Amon-Ra St. Brown 4 DeVonta Smith 6
Christian Kirk 2 A.J. Brown 10 Terry McLaurin 4 Christian Kirk 6
Michael Pittman Jr. 2 Christian Kirk 10 Tee Higgins 4 DK Metcalf 6
Tee Higgins 2 Tee Higgins 10 Tyler Lockett 3 Jaylen Waddle 6
Garrett Wilson 2 Brandon Aiyuk 9 Christian Kirk 3 Jahan Dotson 6
Mike Evans 2 Keenan Allen 8 Jerry Jeudy 3 Jakobi Meyers 6
Brandon Aiyuk 2 Terry McLaurin 8 Chris Olave 3 Brandon Aiyuk 6
Zay Jones 2 Chris Olave 8 Christian Watson 3 Gabe Davis 6
Keenan Allen 1 Garrett Wilson 8 DJ Moore 3 Adam Thielen 6
DK Metcalf 1 Mike Evans 8 Garrett Wilson 3 Terry McLaurin 5
Jerry Jeudy 1 JuJu Smith-Schuster 8 Mike Evans 3 K.J. Osborn 5
Mike Williams 1 Zay Jones 8 Keenan Allen 2 Jerry Jeudy 4
Christian Watson 1 Drake London 8 DK Metcalf 2 Mike Williams 4

Monster games were heavily slanted toward Justin Jefferson, Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill, Ja’Marr Chase, and A.J. Brown. They combined for 30 games with at least 25 points. That was as many as all other wideouts who managed just two or three such performances.

CeeDee Lamb led all wideouts with at least five catches in 15 games and Chris Godwin was second with a total of 14. Godwin faces life without Tom Brady, and Lamb has to share with Brandin Cooks this year in an offense that purports to want even more rushing.

Will Deshaun Watson rebound in 2023 fantasy football?

Will we see a major rebound after two lost seasons?

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson went from being a premium fantasy football commodity to embattled in a sexual harassment scandal that cost him all of 2021 and the first 13 weeks of the ’22 season. He returned in Week 13 to look as rusty as one would expect following such a lengthy layoff, completing 12 of his 22 attempts for a mere 131 yards and an interception. It didn’t get much better from there.

No one should have been surprised by the lack of passing success over the six-game stretch last year, though Watson showed glimpses of his trademark rushing skills. We saw a small sample of his former self during the final two games of the regular season as he accounted for five touchdown throws and posted 23.6 and 23.9 fantasy points, respectively. In total, he completed a career-low 58.2 percent of his passes for 183.7 yards per game and averaged only 17.8 points in fake football. His previous career low was 24.8 points in 2018.