Somebody needs to tell veteran Eagles wide receiver Hank Baskett that he’s going to be faced with a tremendous challenge for his job from rookie wide out Riley Cooper.
Cooper is 6’4″ and weighs 225 pounds and has done a good job of digesting the west coast offense so far.¬† He is the one rookie wide receiver out here for the OTA’s who has been consistent.
Despite the fact that he said he’s not counting how many wide receivers the Eagles are going keep, you and I know the youngsters realizes he has a tough battle ahead of him.¬† He seems to be a focused young man and I expect him to have a good shot at making this football team.
He seems to operate well inside which isn’t a surprise when you consider his size.¬† I like the way he squares off at the end of his curl and hook routes in order to give his quarterback a good target, then he comes back to the ball.
This is going to be important going forward because Cooper isn’t going to be outrunning defensive backs in this league, so he’ll need to be fundamentally sound in every way in order to get open, consistently.
He catches everything that hits his hands which will be extremely important if he’s going to be making a living catching balls in traffic. Like his teammate Jason Avant, he has to be willing to take a hit to make a catch.
The Birds need a wide receiver, who can be a factor in the red zone and Cooper may have the size and sure hands to do just that.  He also has the ability jump which will be another factor when trying to come down with the football in the red zone.
He’s not a burner but he has been able to get behind some of the defensive backs at these OTA workouts.¬† Cooper isn’t going to be beating NFL cornerbacks deep on a consistent basis but he’ll be fine as long as he uses his size when the ball is in the air.
He should have the “Michael Irvin”mindset of pushing defensive backs around until the referee calls an offensive pass interference penalty.¬† He’ll find out that the refs will let a wide receiver get away with robbery as long as they do it every time.
Cooper is also willing to play special teams, which could be the difference in him making the team or not.¬† If he’s willing to cover kicks and block on returns, he might have himself a job in the fall.
His battle with Baskett will be an interesting story in this summer’s training camp.
As we all know, injuries sometimes have a way of sorting these things out.
don’t forget about the $$$ either Drummer…
Riley will have a rookie contract (Approx 287K) versus Baskett’s $1.2 Million..
Unless Bakett has an outstanding camp, I don’t see him making the roster as long as Cooper continues to play well which it looks like he’s off to a great start… I like Riley and think he has a little “panache” to his game…
I think both players could end up making the team. After DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Jason Avant, who else is a lock to make the team at wide receiver?
Jordan Norwoord? Dobson Collins? Chad Hall?
The Eagles usually keep at least 5 receivers, last year they opened up the season with 7! Cooper has the potential to really help this team if not this year, then down the line, and Baskett is a veteran presence who knows the offense and has made plays for them in the past.
Unless the Eagles were to bring in another veteran, or one of the other young guys steps in camp I think both Cooper and Baskett make it.
Hank is definitely going to need to get his act together or he may find himself in a Redskins uniform, before the end of summer camp. LOL.
Agree. Riley’s come from the same champ FL program as Cornelius and both have great hands, size & leaping ability. If Ingram’s 2nd surgery truly fixed the hack job the college docs did, Hank doesn’t stand a chance against him as tight end Ingram is quick. Both FL guys have the motivation and work ethic to compete.
There is going to be some strong challenges & competition vs some vets at many positions this year at TC by the young guys… TE’s, receivers, RB’s, DE’s, LB’s, center and DB’s. What fun!!
I think another factor is the TE position,
If Eagles choose to keep 3 this year (which I think they will), and if Ingram,Rucker and Harbor all
stay healthy and have great camps, there could be a situation where C Harbor becomes/takes the
5th WR spot since he will be most likely split out often and moved all around in different formations
as opposed to playing a more traditional TE.. If HArbor doesn’t appear ready then maybe he goes on
“practice squad” for 2010 and Baskett becomes 4th WR with R Cooper being the 5th WR,
I think WR R Cooper makes this team either way…
i like both cooper and ingram they will both be nice barring injuries i personally think cooper could be a huge answer for the birds o i honestly think djax is a slot wr and u may think im crazy but cooper is more ideal as a wideout with maclin then u can put djax in the slot in many formations this may not happen this yr but if cooper is anything like he was at fla i can see this in a yr or 2
I think this year we can see a re-emergance of the fade and flea flicker in this Offensive playbook. Imagine lining up a 4 WR set with Baskett, Cooper, Ingram, and Harbor from say 8-12 yards out and it will be pick your poison for a jump ball.
sounds like madden welwell rocket catch lol
maybe throw in R Sapp too on the Red-Zone spread formation too,
since they don’t know where to line him up at …
hank is the only cancer left on this team, get rid of him