Rookie SWOT: Pharoh Cooper

George Kritikos Posted On June 3, 2016

Editor’s Note: As our coverage of the 2016 NFL Draft and its impact on fantasy football continues, we bring you our 2016 Rookie SWOT series. These articles will feature video highlights, combine reviews, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, short-term expectations, long-term expectations and rookie draft advice for over 30 of the best dynasty league prospects from this year’s draft. We’ll follow that up with team-by-team draft reviews because, you know, that’s kind of what we live for.

Make sure you’re ready for your dynasty league rookie draft by staying up on all these articles, checking out our rookie draft guide, rookie rankings, rookie draft cheat sheet and mock draft rooms. There are simply no better resources out there for dynasty fantasy football enthusiasts.

Name: Pharoh Cooper

Born: November 4, 1994 (age 21)
Position: Wide Receiver
Pro Team: Los Angeles Rams
College Team: South Carolina
Draft Status: Fourth round, 117th overall

Combine Review

Height: 5’11”
Weight: 203
Arm Length: 32 ¼”
Hand Size: 9 1/8”
Bench Press: 15
Vertical Jump: 31″
Broad Jump: 115″
3 Cone Drill: 7.15*
20 Yard Shuttle: 4.26*

*Pro Day

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Video Clip

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Strengths

Good first step and gets to top speed quickly.
Advanced footwork that helps him find open windows early in routes.
Savvy enough to improvise to help his QB when a play breaks down.
Play strength is surprising given his size, letting him work through contact.
Multi-year starter who showed passing and running abilities a creative offense can utilize. Also has special teams experience.

Weaknesses

Below average size; 17th percentile in height, 30^th in hand size (mockdraftable.com). 4^th in catch radius (playerprofiler.com)
Tested poorly across the board, graded at as one of the worst athletes.
Struggles with downfield throws due to small catch radius and concentration lapses.
Route tree is still developing. He can round routes at times.
Straight line player with stiff hips and limited agility to make sudden moves.

Opportunities

Calling the Rams’ wide receiver group a nuclear wasteland is an insult to the work of Dr. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project. The “top” wide receivers are Tavon Austin and Kenny Britt, giving Cooper an unabated path (something foreign to Rams route runners) to a starting role. The addition of Jared Goff, the top quarterback in this year’s draft, gives Cooper his best quarterback and the team a potential franchise signal caller.

Threats

The biggest threat is not a player on the field, it is Jeff Fisher. He led this 2015 squad to the fewest offensive plays and tied for 30^th on pass attempts. The Rams remain a run first, defense oriented team hell bent on destroying the hopes of all non-RB skill positions. Todd Gurley is the only sure thing in the short-term.

Short-Term Expectations

Cooper, at a minimum, should be the third receiver on this team, but could play outside in those sets with Austin moving to the slot. No player last year had more than 100 targets and just three had more than 36. The team prefers to spread the ball out in an effort to confuse defenses with a litany of mediocre options. Austin will be the short area option with Britt the deep threat. Cooper could become the intermediate choice now available after Jared Cook’s departure, but my guess is he will be lucky to surpass 60 targets.

Long-Term Expectations

Cooper has the look of a strong third option or a weaker second choice opposite a dominant primary receiver. The Rams do not have the latter with Gurley representing the only dominant option here. Britt is a free agent after 2016 and the Rams have a team option on Austin for 2017. Conceivably, both could be gone and Cooper instantly elevates to a starting receiver. More likely, the Rams decline the $12.3 million option on Austin and try to sign him long-term with Britt likely pushed aside for younger receivers. With a starting role, Cooper could be a nice PPR option with limited yardage and touchdown upside. Something like a low-end WR3 to a strong WR4.

NFL Comparisons

Cooper evokes a wide range of comparable players based on how you look at him. To me, Golden Tate stands out as a ceiling given his similar play strength, build, and limited agility. Another who gives a realistic look at Cooper’s limitations is Josh Reed, the longtime Buffalo Bill who was a successful college player but struggled with separation and was utilized as an underneath option. If Cooper is to become more like Tate than Reed, he will need to expand his route tree, tighten up key aspects of his technique, and limit the concentration lapses that have led to drops or missed assignments.

Projected Range for a Rookie Draft

Cooper has held steady as a second round pick, usually in the early to middle portion (pick 14.5 on average). For a player with such an uncertain situation and lower upside than many of the other rookies in that range, he is being overdrafted. In startups, Cooper is a 10^th to 12^th round pick, near the likes of Kendall Wright and Jeff Janis. I would take the latter two over Cooper and don’t expect to own any shares in 2016, but there is optimism the situation could improve for a much improved year two.

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