Getty Derek Carr with Amari Cooper.
There are few players who previously played for the team that get Las Vegas Raiders fans riled up the way Amari Cooper does. The former first-round pick wide receiver looked like he would be a superstar for the team after he made the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons. However, he struggled in his third and fourth seasons before getting traded to the Dallas Cowboys.
Over the years, he’s thrown a bit of shade at the team and former head coach Jon Gruden but has only had good things to say about his former teammates. Cooper is now with the Cleveland Browns but his favorite teammate ever still wears silver and black. The wide receiver recently appeared on the “Truss Levelz” podcast and was asked who his favorite teammate of all time is. His answer was Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.
@Browns WR @AmariCooper9 says his favorite teammate of all time is… @derekcarrqb
Carr and Cooper formed a great duo through their first two seasons and even earned the nickname “AC/DC” due to their initials. The hope was that the Raiders finally had another superstar wide receiver who would be with the team for a long time. For whatever reason, the chemistry between Carr and Cooper dissipated and the team moved on. Despite that, Cooper still holds a lot of love for his first quarterback in the NFL.
Carr Finally Has a New WR1
Since trading Cooper, the Raiders had spent years trying to find a new star wide receiver. They traded for Antonio Brown, which flopped, and later drafted Henry Ruggs in the first round, which ended up not working out. This offseason, the team finally decided to take a big swing and trade for Davante Adams. Through four games, he’s looked the part of a star wide receiver that the team has been desperate for.
For his part, Adams has been happy to play with Carr despite the team starting off 1-3.
“With the coverage part, we still have to make strides with that and get used to playing with each other when they do things to prevent me from having an impact on the game,” Adams told Bleacher Report. “But it’s been like riding a bike as far as our connection and especially our friendship and getting together and being able to make that feel like old times. I’ve definitely enjoyed being back on the field with Derek.”
Carr Praises Tyron Johnson
Through four games, Carr has only really gotten Adams and Mack Hollins going. If the Raiders hope to have a dynamic offense, it would help if more receivers got involved. Tyron Johnson is the fastest receiver the team has and there was hope that he would be a deep threat. However, he hasn’t even seen a pass come his way this season. Carr has liked what he’s seen from Johnson in practice and hopes they can get him involved soon.
“I think he does some really nice thing at practice, I really do,” Carr said of Johnson after Wednesday’s practice. “The ‘what’s it going to take’, I think Josh [McDaniels] would know better than me. Like I said, the way we practice there’s guys in there and out of there all the time, and you guys saw that during camp at all times. And so for me, whoever’s rolling in there, they’re rolling in there and that’s the play. Josh will probably have a better feel for that, but what I do know is that he works really hard at practice, and he looks good. He’s doing some really nice things. Obviously, there’s things he wants to work on, but he’s doing things – even today, he did some really nice things that looked good.”