Cleveland Browns WR Amari Cooper is coming off not just the best game of his career but also one of the best individual performances by a wide receiver in NFL history. It would be a shame if Cooper didn’t get a chance to follow up on it Thursday night against the New York Jets. Is Cooper playing? If not, how should fantasy football managers pivot?
Is Amari Cooper Going To Play Week 17?
Editor’s note: Amari Cooper is INACTIVE tonight against the Jets.
If Cooper was injured in last week’s game, I sure didn’t notice it. The man caught 11 of 15 targets for 265 yards and two touchdowns. He even added in a two-point conversion reception for good measure.
Cooper carried the Browns to victory over the Houston Texans, and they will need him tonight if they want the best possible chance to defeat the Jets and keep their AFC North division hopes alive.
With that said, the Browns are looking pretty good for a playoff spot. Still, it is Week 17. This is not just the final short-week game of the season; it is the worst of them all. Thursday night games are especially tough on players’ bodies, and that is only exacerbated when they’ve already played 16 weeks of football.
We’ve seen plenty of players who would otherwise be able to play through an injury not be able to do so because of the three days of recovery time they lose.
Cooper did not practice all week due to a combination of veteran rest and a heel injury. For most players, that would result in an “out” designation, but Cooper is the type of guy who can play without practicing, which results in him being listed as questionable.
The veteran pass catcher has a history of playing through injuries. Earlier this season, he tweaked his groin at a Friday practice and was good to go by Monday.
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We can also use other inputs to help predict whether Cooper might play. Sportsbooks currently have receiving lines listed for not only Cooper but the rest of the Browns wide receivers. If there were any real concerns Cooper may not play, sportsbooks would not be hanging a low number on WR Elijah Moore and WR Cedric Tillman.
Nevertheless, the triple DNP is cause for concern. Fantasy managers don’t need to do anything in advance, though. We will find out his status 90 minutes before kickoff and can react accordingly.
Reading between the lines, I tentatively expect Cooper to suit up on Thursday. Whether you want to start him against a difficult New York pass defense is another issue, but Cooper should be out there Thursday night.
Potential Fantasy Options If Cooper Is Out Include Elijah Moore, Demarcus Robinson, and Dontayvion Wicks
The only silver lining to Cooper possibly not playing is that fantasy managers don’t need to scramble to find a replacement. You can simply move Cooper to the bench and spend the next two days figuring it out.
Hopefully, you have someone viable on your bench. If not, fellow Browns WR Elijah Moore is the in-house replacement who would step up as the team’s WR1. The other two, Los Angeles Rams WR Demarcus Robinson and Green Bay Packers WR Dontayvion Wicks, are available in over 80% of Yahoo leagues.
Moore has not exactly been a must-roster player this season. Even with backup QB Joe Flacco airing it out 40+ times a game, Moore hasn’t been remotely fantasy-relevant, scoring no more than 7.2 fantasy points in four of his last five. He also has the same awful matchup against the Jets’ elite pass defense.
Moore’s name is included here because he’s the next man up on the Browns, but if you’re forced to go without Cooper, the answer is almost certainly a player on another team.
One such example might be Robinson. Available in 81% of Yahoo leagues, Robinson has completely overtaken WR Tutu Atwell as the Los Angeles Rams’ WR3.
On a team that runs almost exclusively 11-personnel, Robinson is on the field for nearly every play. He’s scored in four straight, posting 13.6 fantasy points or more in all of them. In a favorable spot against the New York Giants, Robinson is a viable replacement for Cooper’s managers.
Finally, you can look to Wicks. He’s still available in 89% of Yahoo leagues. Wicks was poised to come through for fantasy managers last week, but a chest injury knocked him out of the game shortly after he caught a touchdown.
Green Bay WR Jayden Reed is expected back this week, but WR Christian Watson is not. Wicks is a better player than WR Romeo Doubs, though, and is still startable against a below-average Minnesota Vikings pass defense.
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