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Les Miles has already said it this week: Amari Cooper is the best wide receiver in the country. His Tigers are tasked with finding a way to limit the star junior on Saturday. How will they go about doing that?
The best answer is that they’ll probably do it by committee. Cooper is a versatile receiver, capable of burning a secondary deep, making defenders miss near the line of scrimmage or going over the middle. There’s a reason he’s tops in the SEC in receptions, yards and touchdowns. LSU’s secondary is well aware of how good Cooper is.
“He’s a physical guy, a fast guy who can stop on a dime. He runs the best routes I’ve seen. He’s probably the best receiver we’ve faced this year,” cornerback Tre’Davious White told NOLA.com earlier this week.
White will likely see some time lined up against Cooper, but at 5-foot-11 and 191 lbs. he gives up several inches and pounds to Cooper. In terms of completeness, Rashard Robinson might be the best bet to stick on Cooper. Robinson has the size and length at 6-foot-3 to make life at least a little difficult for Cooper.
Of course, there’s no way any team can hope to shut Cooper down with just one defender. In his worst game of the season, a 2-catch, 28-yard effort against Arkansas, Cooper had a safety helping over the top at all times. That could be a strategy that works well for LSU; the Tigers have two talented safeties in Jalen Collins and Ronald Martin, and Alabama’s other receivers are so under-utilized — Cooper is targeted on more than 40 percent of Alabama’s passing attempts — that John Chavis won’t have any problem leaving his defensive backs on an island against them.
With the way Cooper is capable of taking a wide receiver screen the distance, LSU’s defensive backs will have to be sure in their tackling, and they’ll have to stick close to the receiver Les Miles called “awfully smooth,” or they’ll watch Cooper gliding into the end zone, as he’s already done nine times this season.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
