The Cowboys are on a bye
week
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and apparently they have decided that this is the perfect time to adjust their
personnel. First, Dallas made a surprisingly aggressive move by trading their
2019 first-rounder for two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper. It was a
bold decision that could pay dividends for this offense.It appears that the
Cowboys may not be done looking for additions to its roster. Ian Rapoport is
reporting that former Raiders safety and 2017 second-round pick Obi Melifonwu is
visiting the Cowboys on Thursday.Melifonowu, the 56th pick of the 2017 draft,
took advantage of his freakish combination of size, 4.4 speed, and jumping
ability to improve his draft stock ahead of the draft. The former UConn Huskies
defensive back, and former teammate of Cowboys cornerback Byron Jones, possesses
rare traits that give him a lot of potential.Unfortunately, the physically
gifted defensive back has had trouble staying healthy during his young career,
battling injury after injury. The Raiders placed Melifonowu on injured-reserve
back in August due to a lower body injury. Now, Oakland has waived him, and he
went unclaimed. Our friends over at Silver and Black Pride wrote that this could
mean that the once highly-coveted prospect is looking to play in 2018.If
Melifonowu is healthy, this could be an intriguing option for the Cowboys. We
know that there is not much depth at safety on this team, and it is no secret
that Kris Richard loves big, physical DBs. Melifonowu, 6-foot-3 and
224-pounds
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Jersey , certainly fits that profile.It is a little ironic that this is
yet another Raiders player that the Cowboys have had interest in, as our own RJ
Ochoa pointed out that the two teams have already made three deals in the second
Jon Gruden era. Will the former second-round selection be joining his former
teammates, Byron Jones and Amari Cooper? We shall see.UPDATE: The Cowboys are
also looking at another defensive back.Cowboys film review: Three specific ways
Amari Cooper can help the Dallas offense A BLOCKBUSTER TRADE! Those are words we
don¡¯t normally use when describing transactions the Cowboys¡¯ front office makes.
But boy did they finally decide to pick up the phone and make an all-in move at
a position of need that desperately needed upgrading. It was announced on Monday
that the Cowboys had traded their 2019 first-round pick to the Oakland Raiders
for 24-year old receiver Amari Cooper. Since entering the league in 2015, Cooper
has hauled in 225 receptions, 3,183 yards, and 19 touchdowns. Let¡¯s take a look
at the film to see exactly what the Cowboys are getting in their new shiny toy,
that will try to get the Cowboys offense back on track.Cooper brings something
the Cowboys lack... separation The one thing that stands out with Amari Cooper
is how good of a route runner he is. Cooper creates consistent separation using
his route running ability, and his physicality at the top of his routes. The
Cowboys receivers have struggled to create consistent separation throughout the
year, and the addition of Amari Cooper will certainly help make things easier
for quarterback Dak Prescott.Though his numbers have been down in 2017 and 2018,
Cooper¡¯s route-running level hasn¡¯t dropped. Cooper still does an amazing job
creating separation, and picking up yards after the catch. Cooper does most of
his damage in the middle of the field out of the slot, but also does a very good
job of making big plays lined up on the outside, down the field. What makes
Amari Cooper most effective is that he is not a one-trick-pony. Cooper makes
plays in all three levels of the field and can make plays after the catch.As you
can see from the clip above, the Browns are lined up to stop the run with an
eight-man box. That leaves Cooper on an island with Browns¡¯ cornerback Terrance
Mitchell. Cooper is able to win his matchup on a nice ¡°post route¡± using great
hand placement at the top of his route. The Cowboys offense sees a ton of loaded
boxes, and so far this year they have yet to find a receiver that can
consistently win one-on-one against man
coverage
Jamize
Olawale Color Rush Jersey , Cooper can do just that.Cooper runs a variety
of routes that Dallas must incorporateThere are few receivers in the NFL who
have developed route trees. A lot of guys nowadays win using their speed, size,
or the ability to perfect just a few routes. Cooper brings in a developed route
tree that will allow him to get open in a variety of ways. One of Amari Cooper¡¯s
best routes is the ¡°sluggo¡±, which stands for slant-and-go. The concept around
this route is similar to the simple double move that Michael Gallup scored on
against the Redskins. During the route, Cooper does an excellent job of selling
the inside slant with a quick stutter (forcing the DB to play the slant),
selling the slant with shoulder turn, and head/eye sell to the middle of the
field, then he¡¯s able to plant off his inside foot and turn upfield in a hurry.
Cooper is able to find so much success with this ¡°sluggo¡± route because of how
well he runs the normal slant route.Here is another example of Cooper making a
big play running the ¡°sluggo¡±. We rarely see this route ran in Dallas, but
hopefully they are watching his film as well and see how successful he is
running the route. This route will make defenses fear the deeper level of the
field, but also have to respect the slant route as well that Cooper also likes
to run.Here is another scenario where Cooper wins one-on-one coverage against a
loaded Chargers defensive front. Cooper doesn¡¯t do anything special here, but
he¡¯s able to round the route off nicely and uses his upper body to protect the
football and shade the defender away from his catch radius. The slant was a big
part of the Cowboys offense for years, but the lack of success with it recently
has led the Cowboys to shy away from attacking the middle of the field. Let¡¯s
hope that changes now that they have a receiver that is comfortable in the
middle of the field hauling in the football.The threat of Cooper, should help
Dak, Zeke, and the offensive lineThere¡¯s no denying the lack of weapons at
receiver for the Cowboys through the first seven weeks of the season. Cole
Beasley has been very good, but his damage normally comes
underneath
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and converting on third downs. Michael Gallup has started to play with much more
confidence, but has yet to be consistent enough to be considered a weapon just
yet.With Cooper, they now have a true weapon that defenses must respect. Even
with his numbers being down over the last few seasons defenses still show him a
ton of respect. They do so by shading a deep safety over to his side of the
field, which will take an extra man out of the box, or by using a linebacker who
will also take an extra man out of the box. While this doesn¡¯t happen on every
snap, it happens enough to where Ezekiel Elliott will have one less man to make
miss when running the football. With less men in the box, that also makes it
easier for Dak Prescott to read the field without dealing with as much pressure.
Taking defenders out of the box opens up the middle of the field which is where
Cole Beasley and Ezekiel Elliott do their most damage. Not only was the Amari
Cooper trade made to help out the Cowboys receiving corps, but it was put in
place to help the offense as a whole. Yes, trading a first-round pick for a guy
whose numbers have been trending down is always a risk, but Cooper has loads of
talent, is only 24-years old, and plays a position that just wasn¡¯t performing
well enough to get it done. The Cowboys are trying to win now, while also
setting themselves up for future success with a young talented wide
receiver.