Amari Cooper’s 2023 season was a roller coaster, but he’s got real WR1 upside in 2024 despite a very low ADP.
Many will point out that Amari was best for fantasy with Joe Flacco under center… but I actually don’t think that’s the case. Now, Amari definitely had his best game of the season with Flacco when he went off for 11/265/2 against the Texans. That was an unbelievable game – but that game really inflated his averages with Flacco. Here are the splits with and without that game with Flacco as his QB:
With the crazy game:
9.4 targets/game
5.8 receptions/game
108.8 receiving yards/game
0.6 receiving TDs/game
20.3 PPR/game
Without that one crazy game:
8 targets/game
4.5 receptions/game
69.8 receiving yards/game
0.3 receiving TDs/game
13 PPR/game
Even without the one crazy game, he was still pretty solid for fantasy… but he was even more reliable with Deshaun Watson. In the 5 near-full games Watson played, here’s how he averaged vs Flacco (excluding the crazy game):
In games with Flacco (no outlier game):
8 targets/game
4.5 receptions/game
69.8 receiving yards/game
0.3 receiving TDs/game
13 PPR/game
With Deshaun playing meaningful snaps (5 games):
7.8 targets/game
5.6 receptions/game
96 receiving yards/game
0.4 receiving TDs/game
17.6 fantasy points/game
17.6 fantasy points/game with Deshaun Watson under center? That’s legit, and it would’ve matched Puka Nacua’s points/game total from last season, who was the WR6 on the year. The Browns added Jerry Jeudy, but that’s more of a problem for Elijah Moore than Amari Cooper. Expect Cooper to continue to get the lion’s share of targets.
He’s going off the board as the WR29 right now on Underdog, which is an absolute steal. The switch back to Deshaun Watson could actually end up being a good thing for him, especially when it comes to week-to-week consistency.