Cooper is a good player. He isn't as good as Beckham when he was in New York. There are some arguments you could make against that statement. Maybe Cooper hasn't been a true No. 1 in Dallas since Lamb got there. I can see the argument. Maybe Cooper is a better fit in Cleveland than OBJ. It's doubtful because they are pretty similar in terms of what they bring to the table.
Cooper may claim to be the best receiver in the league, but he hasn't been able to get that reputation on his own team. He moved to an offense that runs the ball frequently. The only team in the league that ran the ball more than 47 percent of the time last season was the Cleveland Browns. They ran the ball over 6 percent more frequently than the Dallas Cowboys, and the Cowboys were consistently ahead in games. They wanted to run the ball. Not as much as Cleveland. I don't think Cooper is going to break out next season, especially if the Browns keep trotting Baker Mayfield onto the field.
Cooper has always thrived in the deep intermediate part of the field. Since then, his average depth of target has never dipped below 8.8 and never risen higher than 12.5. In his three year career, Deebo Samuel has recorded marks of 7.5, 2.2, and 8.4. Mike Williams, who was a threat until last season, recorded ADoTs of 12.7, 16.6, and 12.4 over the course of the year. Cooper works in between the two, but still intermediate.
In the intermediate-to-deep range, Mayfield has always struggled. In 2020, the best season of his career, Mayfield ranked 23rd in intermediate throw IQR, a measure of a quarterback's efficiency, similar to passer rating that supposedly eliminates factors out of the quarterback's control. The fact that Prescott only played in five games that year does not mean he was ranked lower than Mayfield. In his best season, Mayfield isn't really all that great when throwing where Cooper thrives.
Keep in mind that the Browns have permission to trade the receiver today as well.
Currently, there is no reliable target outside of Cooper and Landry. Cooper is going to get more attention in coverage. There aren't too many great wide receivers left available with Mike Williams re-signing with the Bolts and Chris Godwin being tagged and working on an extension with the Bucs. Smith-Schuster and Robinson are free agents. The time the Browns would spend trying to trade for an upgrade at quarterback would be better spent on signing one of them.
I still think this is a good deal for Cleveland. A fifth and a sixth? That's all for a guy who had one of the worst seasons of his career and a sixth-round pick. I will take that any day of the week. Although Cooper may not be used as effectively as he would like, he is still worth what the Browns gave up. They took advantage of the awful cap situation in Dallas and got their replacement.
Beckham showed that he still had a lot left in his tank after being traded. He was the victim of an offense that didn't use him. He was considered washed by the time he started complaining. Cooper may befall in 2022. Cooper's talent will go to waste in Cleveland's run-heavy offense, as he is still a tremendously talented receiver and well-respected across the league.
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