Week 17 at Los Angeles Chargers
Oakland ends its season in Los Angeles, facing a Chargers defense revved up to try and make the postseason. That's not a good combination for Amari Cooper, facing a motivated Chargers defense ranked second in aFPA to WRs. Cooper should be on your bench, based on the matchup and only receiving 4 targets last week. His touchdown last week came because the CB covering him fell.
Week 16 at Philadelphia Eagles
The Raiders go cross-country for a Christmas night battle with the Eagles. With the possible return of Amari Cooper, owners are considering him in Week 16. Don't. Since his monster game earlier this season against the Chiefs, he's failed to reach 60 yards in a game. Stay away.
Week 12 vs. Denver Broncos
The Broncos are fourth in fantasy points allowed to receivers this season at just 26.1 per game; however, that number has ballooned to 32 fantasy points per game over the past three games. Denver is still second in our aFPA vs. WR rankings, but they have been vulnerable of late. A whopping 38.5% of Amari Cooper's fantasy points this season came in his one huge game against the Chiefs. He scored last week to salvage his fantasy day, despite only 3 receptions for 28 yards on 7 targets. At this point, though, this is who Cooper is this season. A guy who catches just 48.9% of balls thrown his way. He's a high-risk FLEX option in Week 12, and one you should bench if you have better, more consistent options.
Week 11 vs. New England Patriots (game in Mexico City)
Amari Cooper has out-targeted Michael Crabtree 38 to 21 over the past three games, which is encouraging, and the Week 11 matchup in Mexico is too good to ignore. The Patriots are just 29th in our aFPA vs. WR rankings and, overall, have allowed the third-most PPR points to the position. Amari Cooper is a solid WR2 this week, worth the role of the dice, despite his insanely annoying week-to-week inconsistencies.
Week 9 at Miami Dolphins
Amari Cooper is just an inconsistent fantasy football player, but you knew that when you signed up to draft him. You get a huge week every once in a while sprinkled in with less-than-stellar weeks. What does Week 9 hold? It's anybody's guess, but the matchup is okay. The Dolphins rank around league average in our aFPA vs. WRs, and the ineptitude that is the Dolphins offense should lead to more snaps for Cooper and company in Miami. Consider him a low-end WR1 or high-end WR2 this week, as back-to-back 10+ target weeks is encouraging.
Week 8 at Buffalo Bills
Well, hello there Amari Cooper. So, will we get Week 7 Amari Cooper or bad Amari Cooper against the Bills? One good sign is he doubled his career-high in receptions from the slot in a game last week, indicating a bigger effort to get him better match-ups. With Marshawn Lynch suspended this week, the Raiders could also opt for a more pass-heavy approach. They are also underdogs in Buffalo, which could mean negative game script and more targets for the wideouts. Plus, Bills cornerback E.J. Gaines is out and Shareece Wright (117.1 passer rating allowed) will play. Cooper is worth the risk this week.
Week 7 vs. Kansas City Chiefs
The good news: Amari Cooper had more yards last week than his previous three games combined. The bad news: he still only had 28 yards. Cooper does have a 100-yard performance on his resume against the Chiefs, but three other clunkers and he has never scored on Kansas City. Cooper's slump continues, and you can't start him until he shows us something. He's too much of a lineup killing risk right now, unless you have an absolutely stacked roster.
Week 6 vs. Los Angeles Chargers
Amari Cooper is MIA. We've reached the stage where he has to show us again first before we start him. He has 23 yards in his last three games. However, tape study shows he is still beating his coverage and getting wide open at times—his quarterback just didn't see it. That may be partially his fault, too, as he's among the league leaders in drops. Cooper is an interesting ultra buy-low candidate, but you can't start him again...yet.
Week 5 vs. Baltimore Ravens
The good news: Amari Cooper has 7 red zone targets this season. The bad news: he's only caught one...and Derek Carr is out with a back injury. Oh yeah...Cooper hasn't reached 10 yards in back-to-back weeks either. Going back to last year, he's been extremely frustrating week-to-week. For Week 5, he's a FLEX option considering all of these factors. Did we mention he also leads the league in drops? Woof.
Week 4 at Denver Broncos
Amari Cooper is making fantasy owners pull their hair out again. Cooper has 39 yards over the past two weeks, and drops are again an issue. It's to the point where it's affecting his targets too, with only 5 targets each of the past two weeks. Now, he faces a Denver team that he's never reached 60 yards against since 2015. Cooper is a fantasy player that has the name (and a few big weeks on his resume), but he has far too many terrible weeks. He's not a WR2 this week.
