Alabama WR Amari Cooper's confident approach: 'I know when I have a guy'
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Ever wondered what goes through an elite wide receiver’s mind before the snap at the line of scrimmage?
For Alabama’s Amari Cooper, a player who has cemented himself as one of the SEC’s all-time greats this season, the end-result is less subjective than you’d think.
“I would say after you’re playing a guy in the second or third quarter, he can tell that he can’t really play on the field with you,” Cooper said during an interview with Saturday Down South earlier this month. “You can see it in their eyes.”
Cooper comes out of his break like a cheetah chasing a gazelle, seconds away from a kill. In his case, a mid-afternoon snack comes in the form of a predictable touchdown reception over a hapless defender, something he’s done a school record and SEC-high 14 times as a junior.
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His lethality is unmatched in college football, a deadly first step that often thwarts the opposition and has transformed Cooper into an unguardable weapon in Lane Kiffin’s spread attack. Cooper’s freakish ability after the catch has strengthened a first-round 2015 projection and has made the Alabama sideline, notably Kiffin, become a viral sensation.
“When you get up on a guy, especially a safety, you can fake another route and read his body language,” Cooper said, referencing several long touchdown receptions he has made this season. “You know when you sell one route he’s going to bite on it. I’ve been playing the position for so long, I know when I have a guy.”
On Thursday, Cooper will try and make Buckeyes senior Doran Grant his latest victim, a player he has by two inches and nearly 20 pounds. Grant is a reliable defender at the back end who has rarely been over-matched during Big Ten play this season, one of the better cornerbacks Cooper will have faced.
The only wideout who noticeably got the best of Grant was Devin Funchess of Michigan, a Megatron-sized target at 6-foot-5, 235 pounds. Cooper poses a more fine-tuned — and faster — threat with better ball skills.
Over his last two games, the SEC’s top offensive player has caught a nation-best 25 passes for 307 yards, exposing defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson’s fatal error of single coverage against Auburn and enjoying a screen-heavy game plan via Kiffin during the Crimson Tide’s win against Mizzou.
Rest assured Ohio State’s developed a plan on how to attack the Biletnikoff award winner over the last two weeks after bottling up another Heisman finalist, Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon, in the league championship game.
“Sometimes I worry about teams keying on me,” Cooper said. “But it seems like every time we get into a game, defenses are not as focused on you as you think they are because at the end of the day, they have to focus on (all) 11 people.”
The South Florida native has until Jan. 15 to declare for the draft, but a safe assumption can be made which way he’s leaning.