Dawgs By Nature
The Cooper trade opens up opportunities for Cleveland’s younger players
The Cleveland Browns traded WR Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday, marking the end of an era that had its fair share of “up’s and down’s” as of late.
Though he was, unfortunately, dropping passes quite a bit in 2024 he was still the offense’s main target and leader of the wide receiver room for Cleveland.
Despite losing a player like Amari Cooper in an already struggling passing offense, this move opens up opportunities for young and inexperienced players at the position. Players like Cedric Tillman, Jamari Thrash, Jaelon Darden, and even practice squad guys such as Michael Woods II and Kadarius Toney have a better chance to see the field going forward.
Though Tillman has played here and there since his rookie year, none of those other players have gotten “real” opportunities yet.
Cooper leaves a void on the outside that Cedric Tillman will most likely get the first chance at filling, at least initially based on his size and skill set. It’s unlikely that the team will have him rotating inside as much as they did in the past due to the abundance of smaller, slot-type receivers they have on the roster.
This year’s fifth-round draft pick WR Jamari Thrash will most likely be seeing his first regular-season snaps soon, potentially rotating in with Elijah Moore in the slot as early as this weekend. Jerry Jeudy has also played in the slot in 2024 but again, Cooper being moved might “force” him to be used outside at “X” or “Z” more often similar to Tillman.
Jaelon Darden saw his first offensive snaps of the year against the Eagles last week after being used solely as a kick and punt returner before that. He’s a more quick-than-fast type of receiver who has good stop/start ability between the “numbers”. He was also a decent playmaker in training camp for Cleveland throughout the summer.
Michael Woods II gained some weight and looked great heading into camp this year and performed really well in the preseason a couple months ago. He may be promoted to or kept on the active roster more often going forward as well.
Like Woods II, Kadarius Toney has also been left on the practice squad since joining the Browns on September 9th. It wasn’t surprising to see the team sign him due to their resounding interest in former first-rounders that have been labeled as “busts” on their former teams.
Toney is an incredibly shifty playmaker that needs to figure out how to stay healthy for a full season. Injuries have been his downfall so far, but when he’s been healthy, he’s been very producive as a gadget-type playmaker for both the New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs.
It’s going to be very interesting to see how some of Cleveland’s younger wide receivers perform throughout the rest of the 2024 season.
***How comfortable do you feel about the wide receiver group that Cleveland has...
