Jerry Jones has shut you up
Who’s laughing at the Cowboys now?
When Dallas traded away its 2019 first-round draft choice to the Raiders for receiver Amari Cooper earlier this season, more than a few eyes rolled at flashy team owner/general manager Jerry Jones giving up a coveted draft pick for a shiny new toy for his offense.
The consensus around the NFL was the Cowboys overpaid for Cooper, whose production had declined in 2017 and early 2018.
Well, no one is questioning that trade value now.
With Cooper’s 217-yard, three-touchdown performance in last week’s 29-23 overtime win against the Eagles, he became the first player in history to catch three go-ahead TD passes in the fourth quarter or later of the same game. That included the game winner.
Impressive stuff. But it’s Cooper’s overall body of work and the effect it’s had on the entire team that’s most critical.
In his six games with Dallas, Cooper has caught 40 passes for 642 yards and six TDs. Despite playing in fewer than half the Cowboys’ games this season, Cooper leads the team in receiving yards and has twice as many TD receptions than any other Cowboy.
In seven games without Cooper, Dallas averaged 183 passing yards. In the six games with Cooper, it averaged 259 passing yards per game. The math is simple.
Those who scoffed at the trade got too wrapped up in Cooper’s most recent production. His numbers in 2017 were pedestrian — 48 catches for 680 yards. In his six games with the Raiders this season, he had just 22 catches for 280 yards and a TD.
But Cooper, who is just 24, went to the Pro Bowl in his first two seasons with more than 1,000 receiving yards in each.
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“I’ve seen this guy play for a long time,’’ said Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott — who while at Mississippi State, lost to Cooper and Alabama in 2012, 2013 and 2014. “Playing against him in college, I knew just how great he was. I was almost astonished we were able to get that trade. I thought if we were getting a trade like that: What’s wrong?’ ”
Well, as it turned out, nothing.
Cooper has become one of those acquisitions that has just fit perfectly. The Cowboys were in need of better skill position help on the outside to prevent opposing defenses from stacking the box to stop running back Ezekiel Elliott. And Cooper was in need of a change of scenery — away from the floundering, if toxic, environment in Oakland.
When Cooper joined Dallas, the Cowboys were 3-4 and muddling along without much of an identity. They have since won five of six games, are 8-5, have a two-game lead in the NFC East and are on the verge of clinching a playoff berth.
“He’s a hell of a football player,” coach Jason Garrett said. “He’s made a huge impact on our team since we’ve gotten him. We’re lucky to have him.”
Asked about the critics who cried that the Cowboys overpaid in the trade for him, Cooper told reporters: “I know what I’m worth.’’
Now, so does everybody else.
