Amari Cooper set career highs in receiving yards and yards per catch for the 2023 Cleveland Browns.
Several of those catches are among the team’s and even the NFL’s top plays of the season.
Cooper’s top-10 yardage total helped earn him his seventh Pro Bowl selection.
But the wide receiver also ranked No. 2 in a less-flattering category, as recently noted by Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski on Twitter.
Drops over the last two seasons, per @FantasyPros:
1. Tyreek Hill – 20
2. Amari Cooper – 18
3. Davante Adams – 16
4. Ja'Marr Chase – 15
… Stefon Diggs – 15
… Tee Higgins – 15
… Courtland Sutton – 15
… Romeo Doubs – 15— Brent Sobleski (@brentsobleski) February 19, 2024
Sobleski reposted Fantasy Pro’s list of players with the most passes dropped in 2023.
Cooper’s 18 drops put him behind only one other receiver, Tyreek Hill of Miami.
There are other categories Cooper wouldn’t mind finishing second to Hill in.
But as bad as a stat as this looks like, there are caveats.
Most of the receivers among the drop leaders, like Cooper, are also the WR1 of their team.
Thus, Cooper and his fellow drop leaders have the most targets or opportunities to drop a pass.
Cooper’s 6.9 percent drop rate (per Fantasy Pros) is consistent with the NFL’s 2023 league average of 6.7 percent.
There is also the matter of five different quarterbacks last season, with eight quarterback changes.
Each passer’s delivery is a little different in trajectory, spin, and velocity and requires an adjustment.
Fantasy Pros apparently has a high standard, probably similar to Browns fans’ “if it touches your hands” expectation.
Pro Football Reference (PFR) only counts 7 dropped passes by Cooper this season.
Fortunately, most fans will rather remember Cooper’s 72 catches and five touchdowns.
NEXT: Tony Grossi Names Which Offensive Piece Is Under More Pressure Next Season