Amari Cooper’s wish should be taken with caution
Amari Cooper is shooting for the stars on this one.
Last week, the Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl wideout announced that the team will have three 1,000-yard receivers this season. Last year, Cooper and Michael Gallup surpassed the mark.
In this year’s draft, the Cowboys took Oklahoma wideout CeeDee Lamb in the first round, who is buzzing as one of the best young prospects from the draft. Having the trio of Cooper, Gallup, and Lamb is considerably dangerous.
However, ESPN analyst Jeff Saturday spoke on Get Up and explained why having three 1,000-yard receivers is probably not the best stat to own for the Cowboys.
While Saturday acknowledges that Cooper was mostly trying to show off his confidence, Saturday believes the Cowboys need to utilize running back Ezekiel Elliott to win games, which would take passing attempts in the game.
If the Cowboys had three receivers with 1,000 yards, Saturday believes the Cowboys would take away from the run game, which would result in more losses.
He could have a point. Last year, the team finished 8-8 and had two players in Cooper and Gallup with over the threshold.
Only five squads have ever accomplished this. The first was the 1980 Chargers, who lost in the conference championship game. Then, the 1989 Washington Redskins accomplished this and failed to qualify for the playoffs despite finishing 10-6. The 2008 Cardinals are the most recent team to do this and lost in the Super Bowl.
All three of these teams had running backs finish under 1,000 yards, while two other teams have had their running back rush for over.
The 1995 Falcons lost in the Wild Card Round, while the 2004 Colts, who Saturday played for, lost to the Patriots in the Divisional Round.
The stat line would be flashy, but the numbers prove that it does not guarantee you anything in the playoffs.