The Oakland Raiders front office has been the butt of many jokes over the years, with questionable decisions and poor drafting dominating the headlines in Al Davis' later years in charge of the team. But the Raiders have completely flipped the script over the past couple seasons, and while they still have a long way to go, young talent is reigning supreme.
Amari Cooper is dominating the NFL like no rookie receiver since Randy Moss, Anquan Boldin
Randy Moss, Anquan Boldin and Mike Ditka ... pretty good company to be in for a rookie receiver like Amari Cooper.
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Rookie wide receiver Amari Cooper is perhaps the most exciting of that young talent, and he's off to a miraculous start for his NFL career.
Cooper caught five passes for 133 yards and a touchdown against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, and in doing so increased his season total to 519 receiving yards. There are only four other receivers to have 500-plus receiving yards in their first six games, the most recent being Anquan Boldin with the Arizona Cardinals back in 2003, with Randy Moss and the Minnesota Vikings being only a few years before that in 1998.
Boldin had 592 receiving yards and two touchdowns through his first six career games, while Moss had 527 yards and six touchdowns in his. Being in the company with guys like Boldin (12,778 yards, 72 touchdowns) and Moss (15,292 yards, 156 touchdowns) is pretty stellar. Cooper now has three touchdowns on the season.
But Cooper joined even more elite company on Sunday: Mike Ditka. Cooper is the first rookie with three 100-plus yard receiving games in the team’s first six games since Ditka did it in 1961, according to ESPN Stats and Information on Twitter.
Cooper was over 100 yards before the first half ended against the Chargers. The Raiders eventually won that game, 37-29, after allowing the Chargers to put up 23 points in the fourth quarter. Cooper and the Raiders improved to 3-3 on the season, and again have a long way to go before they’re competing in the AFC West and before they can count themselves among the NFL’s top teams.
They're building a foundation, though. Cooper is shaping up to be an excellent pick and second-year quarterback Derek Carr looks like a guy who can lead the Raiders to greatness. With the help of Cooper and solid free agent addition Michael Crabtree, Oakland's offense is well-positioned going forward. You add in a defense with young playmakers like Khalil Mack and things are certainly looking up for an organization that hasn't been relevant in very long time.
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