Russell Street Report Tale of the Tape Cost of Trading Up For An Elite Receiver

The Ravens need to trade up and draft an elite Wide Receiver!

The popular consensus among Ravens Nation is that the Ravens need an elite number 1 receiver. The offense is missing a receiver who can move the chains on 3rd downs or the receiver that makes that catch when the game is on the line. Let’s take a look at the Wide Receivers that are available in the 2015 NFL draft.

According to NFL.com, there are 5 Wide Receivers with potential first round grades. One receiver in particular has the skillset that fits into the Ravens West Coast Offense – Amari Cooper.

How would Amari Cooper fit into the Ravens Offense?

How much would the team have to give up to draft him?

Wide Receiver Traits In The Ravens Offense

The West Coast Offense uses various formations and pre-snap motions in an effort to confuse the defense. The three main traits in a West Coast Offense passing attack are:

Flooding an area of the defense with more receivers than defenders

Stretching the defense out horizontally as well as vertically

Taking advantage of mismatches between receivers and defenders.

Plays are designed to utilize a short passing attack. This passing attack creates mismatches against the defense with speed, size or number of receivers. Wide Receivers have to be ready to receive the ball on any down and distance. Route running and timing are the key characteristics of a Wide Receiver in this offense. Receivers have to run precise routes. Straight-line speed isn’t as important as an ability to separate in traffic. A majority of routes in a West Coast Offense break toward the middle of the field.

Cooper’s Fit In A West Coast Offense

Let’s look at the All-22 Coaches tape from the 2014 Iron Bowl and see how Cooper would fit in a West Coast Offense.

Cooper has great quickness off the line and uses great balance to get a clean release against press man coverage. Cooper is a disciplined route runner. At times Cooper deviates off of his route. He rarely rounds out sharp breaks in his routes. Cooper has great acceleration coming out of his breaks. This acceleration allows him to gain separation from his defender. Cooper is a very good blocker in the run game. Cooper makes a hard reception look easy.

The Cost of Trading Up In The Draft

What would the Ravens have to give up to move up in the draft? Based on the top three team needs, the offensive scheme and previous draft picks, it seems that there are 5 teams ahead of the Ravens that could draft a Amari Cooper in the first round. In order to move up, the Ravens would have to trade a combination of multiple picks from the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds.

These picks are critical because they provide depth to the team in addition to becoming future starters.



Is it worth to give up future depth and starters for one receiver?

I just don’t think so. Leave a comment below and tell me what you think!