Part of the reason the Raiders are feeling so confident this offseason is the large base of young talent they’ve assembled.
And the fact that some of the brightest of those youngsters are still learning gives them that much more reason for hope.
“I always joked around last year that three years ago, he was in seventh-period chemistry,” Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said of wide receiver Amari Cooper, via Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. “He’s a young guy, and he was just learning his way around but going to the Pro Bowl while doing it.
“He has (always been) very special, but now he’s more open. He’s more talkative. But everyone is like that their rookie year, no matter who it is. There is so much going on mentally in this game that a lot of guys are more reserved and quiet, not to us, but in general. Now, you see he and ‘Crab’ [Michael Crabtree] joking more because he is more comfortable.”
It was hard to tell if Cooper was uncomfortable last year, as he caught 72 passes for 1,070 yards and six touchdowns, the first Raider in a decade to top 1,000 yards receiving.
So yeah, the fact he won’t turn 22 until next week could take some getting used to, and Carr said he’s starting to see a little more in the way of personality helps.
“He knows his responsibility on every play and those kind of things,” Carr said. “He definitely is a lot more open personality-wise. I don’t know if he is with you all, but you can definitely see it out on the practice field that he is a lot more comfortable because there is not as much of a learning curve because he’s not in his rookie year.”
If he can improve, then the fan base or the prospect of the team moving won’t be the only frightening thing about the Raiders.
