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Alabama's Amari Cooper is the most dominant college receiver since ...
Who? ...
Larry Fitzgerald? That's a good place to start. Fitzgerald -- who played at Pittsburgh -- was the last wideout to be invited as a Heisman finalist (2003).
Michael Crabtree? In his first season of competition (2007) he caught 134 passes at Texas Tech.
Peter Warrick? The two-time consensus All-American was the most dangerous player on second national champion of the BCS era. (Florida State, 1999).
Ryan Broyles? His record for most catches in a career (349 at Oklahoma) stood for three years until ...
East Carolina's Justin Hardy broke it with 376 catches (110 this season).
That Cooper has elbowed his way into that conversation while playing at Alabama has become a national conversation. The Tide aren't in the playoff without the most dominant player at his position since ... ?
Nick Saban has won championships with defense, with multiheaded tailbacks, with beefy lines. He may end up winning another with the equivalent of a big man around the basket.
Throw it up in the air and let Cooper go get it. Yes, Alabama has won that way too.
The big man on facing the average safety:
“I feel like I got him every time, simply because safeties aren't paid to tackle," Cooper says, as the Tide eye a Jan. 1 national semifinal vs. Florida State coming up in the Rose Bowl. "Not in college."
On his influence in the game plan:
“The script for the first 10 plays, I get excited each time I see it because I'm featured in about 5 of them."
Much has been made of offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin's influence, but all he did was exploit the obvious. In his third season out of Miami Northwestern HS, Cooper broke SEC records for catches (115) and receiving yards (1,656). He connected with quarterback Blake Sims and Blake Sims connected with him.
Alabama became a different team, a different program with a game breaker at receiver. It just had never happened this way before -- not even with Julio Jones (best season, 2010: 78 catches, 1,133 yards).
“I knew he would be gone by the time I got here," Cooper said.
Yeah, let's talk dominant. Cooper had that 201-yard, three-touchdown game against Florida. Auburn couldn't stop him -- 13 catches, 224 yards, three more touchdowns. Kiffin was so sure of a result in the game, he raised his hands to the heavens with Cooper 5 yards into a 39-yard touchdown catch.
“He's a genius as a coach. I really like him a lot," Cooper said of Kiffin.
Sometimes genius is a fortunate convergence. Kiffin needed a job after being fired by USC. Judging from the results, Saban gave his new offensive coordinator more of a free hand. In short, Alabama has the best offense of the Saban era (490.5 yards) because of Kiffin.
It's not that hard to figure out.
If you're going to get Cooper, get him early. More than 40 percent of his catches -- 48 -- have come on first down. Forty-six of those catches have come in the first quarter.
Who knew the Tide would be so transformed? Cooper's friends told him to avoid Alabama.
“They thought I should go to a school that threw the ball more than they ran the ball," he said. “But I wanted to be a winner. The people who disagree with me were focused on what my stats would look like. I was focused on winning.
“I think I made a pretty good decision."
He was as close to indefensible as there is, harkening back to the days of Fitzgerald, Warrick, Crabtree, etc. Example: Against Missouri in the SEC championship game, Cooper was limited to his second-lowest per-catch output of his career (6.92 yards per grab). But the case still can be made Cooper was the best player on the field that day with 12 catches for 83 yards.
The trip to New York for the Heisman was a vacation. Marcus Mariota was so far out in front that Cooper found himself talking about the inevitable winner. The New York media were wishing for Mariota-Cooper tandem for the moribund Jets.
“We would be dominant,” Cooper said.
Alone, he was dominant enough. Cooper finished third in Heisman voting (second in first-place votes), but did win the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's best receiver.
"The Biletnikoff was something I had my eye set on since I a senior in high school,” he said. “I told myself I wanted to win it. It took -- what -- three years?
Which is all Alabama and college football are going to see of Cooper. He was that dominant.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...abama-amari-cooper-revives-memories-of-greats
Who? ...
Larry Fitzgerald? That's a good place to start. Fitzgerald -- who played at Pittsburgh -- was the last wideout to be invited as a Heisman finalist (2003).
Michael Crabtree? In his first season of competition (2007) he caught 134 passes at Texas Tech.
Peter Warrick? The two-time consensus All-American was the most dangerous player on second national champion of the BCS era. (Florida State, 1999).
Ryan Broyles? His record for most catches in a career (349 at Oklahoma) stood for three years until ...
East Carolina's Justin Hardy broke it with 376 catches (110 this season).
That Cooper has elbowed his way into that conversation while playing at Alabama has become a national conversation. The Tide aren't in the playoff without the most dominant player at his position since ... ?
Nick Saban has won championships with defense, with multiheaded tailbacks, with beefy lines. He may end up winning another with the equivalent of a big man around the basket.
Throw it up in the air and let Cooper go get it. Yes, Alabama has won that way too.
The big man on facing the average safety:
“I feel like I got him every time, simply because safeties aren't paid to tackle," Cooper says, as the Tide eye a Jan. 1 national semifinal vs. Florida State coming up in the Rose Bowl. "Not in college."
On his influence in the game plan:
“The script for the first 10 plays, I get excited each time I see it because I'm featured in about 5 of them."
Much has been made of offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin's influence, but all he did was exploit the obvious. In his third season out of Miami Northwestern HS, Cooper broke SEC records for catches (115) and receiving yards (1,656). He connected with quarterback Blake Sims and Blake Sims connected with him.
Alabama became a different team, a different program with a game breaker at receiver. It just had never happened this way before -- not even with Julio Jones (best season, 2010: 78 catches, 1,133 yards).
“I knew he would be gone by the time I got here," Cooper said.
Yeah, let's talk dominant. Cooper had that 201-yard, three-touchdown game against Florida. Auburn couldn't stop him -- 13 catches, 224 yards, three more touchdowns. Kiffin was so sure of a result in the game, he raised his hands to the heavens with Cooper 5 yards into a 39-yard touchdown catch.
“He's a genius as a coach. I really like him a lot," Cooper said of Kiffin.
Sometimes genius is a fortunate convergence. Kiffin needed a job after being fired by USC. Judging from the results, Saban gave his new offensive coordinator more of a free hand. In short, Alabama has the best offense of the Saban era (490.5 yards) because of Kiffin.
It's not that hard to figure out.
If you're going to get Cooper, get him early. More than 40 percent of his catches -- 48 -- have come on first down. Forty-six of those catches have come in the first quarter.
Who knew the Tide would be so transformed? Cooper's friends told him to avoid Alabama.
“They thought I should go to a school that threw the ball more than they ran the ball," he said. “But I wanted to be a winner. The people who disagree with me were focused on what my stats would look like. I was focused on winning.
“I think I made a pretty good decision."
He was as close to indefensible as there is, harkening back to the days of Fitzgerald, Warrick, Crabtree, etc. Example: Against Missouri in the SEC championship game, Cooper was limited to his second-lowest per-catch output of his career (6.92 yards per grab). But the case still can be made Cooper was the best player on the field that day with 12 catches for 83 yards.
The trip to New York for the Heisman was a vacation. Marcus Mariota was so far out in front that Cooper found himself talking about the inevitable winner. The New York media were wishing for Mariota-Cooper tandem for the moribund Jets.
“We would be dominant,” Cooper said.
Alone, he was dominant enough. Cooper finished third in Heisman voting (second in first-place votes), but did win the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's best receiver.
"The Biletnikoff was something I had my eye set on since I a senior in high school,” he said. “I told myself I wanted to win it. It took -- what -- three years?
Which is all Alabama and college football are going to see of Cooper. He was that dominant.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...abama-amari-cooper-revives-memories-of-greats
