I like Buffalo’s trade for Amari Cooper. The cost wasn’t much – essentially a third-round pick – and he could be a depressed asset. I don’t think he’s as bad as he’s appeared to be this season.
We can put some of Cleveland’s struggles on Cooper. He’s dropped a pair of touchdown passes. But I think he’s been thrown off by the Browns not having a viable quarterback or offensive line. They’ve been unable to get Deshaun Watson back to playing at an acceptable level. Cooper has averaged 4 catches for 42 yards, with a pair of touchdowns against the Giants.
Cooper was a difference maker at the end of last year, when the Browns had Joe Flacco at quarterback. He caught 11 passes for 265 yards and 2 TDs in a game at Houston, and he caught 11 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown in his two previous games with Flacco. I don’t think Cooper simply aged out over the offseason. He’s 30.
If he starts playing more like he did a couple of years ago, the Bills will have obtained a necessary piece if they are to climb to the top of the AFC.
As things stand, Buffalo isn’t good enough at wide receiver. They’ve got Khalil Shakir, who’s an effective inside receiver who can make people miss. With him having a couple of years working in this system, I think Shakir will continue to be their most productive wide receiver (assuming he doesn’t have any more ankle issues). Shakir has caught all but 1 of the 21 passes thrown his way this year.
But the receivers after Shakir aren’t good enough. Maybe Keon Coleman becomes a good starter at some point, but he’s not there yet; he’s caught 12 passes in six games. Curtis Samuel hasn’t given them much, and Mack Hollins is more of a fringe roster guy. I believe they’re letting Marquez Valdes-Scantling go to make room for Cooper.
For stat purposes, on the other hand, I don’t see Cooper making a big impact. I think they’ll be spreading things around, and this offense has been pretty conservative since they promoted Joe Brady to offensive coordinator. They just don’t pass it all that much. Josh Allen tossed 4 touchdowns against Jacksonville, but he’s thrown only 6 in his other five games.
Buffalo is averaging only 186 net passing yards so far. That ranks 25th. That will climb some with Cooper, but I don’t think the Bills have any interest in returning to the wide-open no-huddle stuff they were running a few years ago. They’ll be finishing below-average in passing yards most weeks.
| NET PASSING YARDS PER GAME | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | G | Pct | Yd/G | TD | Int |
| Seattle | 6 | 68.9% | 276.7 | 6 | 6 |
| San Francisco | 6 | 65.4% | 262.0 | 9 | 4 |
| Dallas | 6 | 63.4% | 259.3 | 8 | 7 |
| Detroit | 5 | 71.2% | 258.2 | 9 | 4 |
| Houston | 6 | 67.6% | 256.3 | 10 | 4 |
| Atlanta | 6 | 66.3% | 254.7 | 9 | 5 |
| Cincinnati | 6 | 71.6% | 249.7 | 12 | 2 |
| Baltimore | 6 | 67.2% | 248.3 | 10 | 2 |
| Kansas City | 5 | 69.4% | 236.8 | 6 | 6 |
| Green Bay | 6 | 61.7% | 232.8 | 14 | 6 |
| Tampa Bay | 6 | 70.9% | 230.3 | 15 | 5 |
| LA Rams | 5 | 67.0% | 226.6 | 3 | 3 |
| Washington | 6 | 74.6% | 220.7 | 6 | 2 |
| Philadelphia | 5 | 67.5% | 220.6 | 6 | 4 |
| Indianapolis | 6 | 59.7% | 219.2 | 10 | 7 |
| NY Jets | 6 | 62.2% | 217.2 | 10 | 5 |
| Las Vegas | 6 | 68.4% | 213.8 | 6 | 7 |
| NY Giants | 6 | 61.8% | 213.5 | 6 | 4 |
| Minnesota | 5 | 63.8% | 207.8 | 11 | 4 |
| Jacksonville | 6 | 61.0% | 203.0 | 8 | 3 |
| New Orleans | 6 | 64.8% | 200.3 | 9 | 6 |
| Chicago | 6 | 65.3% | 196.7 | 9 | 5 |
| Carolina | 6 | 62.5% | 187.2 | 7 | 7 |
| Arizona | 6 | 68.2% | 187.0 | 8 | 2 |
| Buffalo | 6 | 62.9% | 186.3 | 10 | 0 |
| Miami | 5 | 62.1% | 185.6 | 2 | 4 |
| Denver | 6 | 61.1% | 170.8 | 5 | 5 |
| Pittsburgh | 6 | 66.5% | 166.8 | 5 | 1 |
| LA Chargers | 5 | 64.6% | 153.2 | 6 | 1 |
| Cleveland | 6 | 61.5% | 143.0 | 5 | 3 |
| Tennessee | 5 | 64.8% | 135.0 | 5 | 7 |
| New England | 6 | 58.5% | 134.3 | 5 | 3 |
—Ian Allan