With the departure of WR’s Desean Jackson, Jason Avant and RB Bryce Brown, Eagles quarterback Nick Foles will be losing almost 37 percent of his receiving targets from the 2013 regular season per Pro Football Focus.
With over one third of his targets gone, Nick Foles will need to take some time getting on page with veteran WR Jeremy Maclin, who missed all of 2013 with an ACL tear, and rookie new comers WR’s Josh Huff and Jordan Matthews.
However the one fixture that will remain the same for Foles in 2013, is WR Riley Cooper, who is coming of a career year.
The former Florida Gator boasted an excellent 47/835/8 line in 2013 (rec/yds/tds). In fact, 2013 was such a good year for Cooper that he had more receptions, yards and touchdowns in 2013 than he did in his previous three NFL seasons combined.
This excellent 2013 season led to a huge pay day for Cooper, who signed a 5 year, $25 million dollar deal back in February.
Despite this career year and giant contract for Riley Cooper, some still expect Cooper’s numbers to decline. TE Zach Ertz had 469 yards in his rookie season, and is expected to get much more playing time alongside fellow TE Brent Celek in two tight end sets. In addition, the Eagles were able to trade for one of the best receiving backs in the NFL, Darren Sproles, who had 1,273 all purpose yards last season, 602 of them coming from receptions.
However, for a guy who wasn’t especially known for his big play ability in 2013, just have a look at Cooper’s numbers. Cooper averaged more than 15 yards per receptions in seven different games in 2013. To give you perspective, Former Eagles WR Desean Jackson only had one more game with a 15 yards or more average in 2013.
With questions on defense and improvements needing to being made to a weak secondary, the Eagles might have to lean on offense to win close games, opposed to falling back on a defense that can make big stops or cause turnovers. So guys like Cooper will have to step up and play top notch ball if the Eagles want to remain the champs of a NFC East that is filled to the brim with talent.
Riley Cooper is one of the few WR’s who remains on the Eagles roster who Foles is familiar with. Don’t be surprised if Cooper sees a high number of targets, especially in the first few weeks of the regular season, as Foles might still be trying to get on the same page with guys like Maclin, Matthews, and others.
So what do you think? Will Riley rise to be one of the Eagles best WR’s, or will he see a decline due to the emergence of other offensive weapons.
Let me know @gavroydavis and anything else that’s on your mind.
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