Brandon Weeden compares him to Wes Welker. Solomon Wilcots sees a lot of Brandon Stokley in him. And some drunk dude in the Muni lot calls him the second coming of Brian Brennan. Yes, we’re merely two games into the pro career of rookie Josh Cooper, but the reviews already seem unanimous. The Browns finally have themselves a bona fide white receiver! --I mean WIDE receiver! Wide Receiver, obviously, is what I meant and what everyone else meant, as well.
Let’s start with the wisdom of Solomon. As CBS’s go-to commentator for “other games in your area,” Wilcots has been contractually obligated to watch a lot of expansion Browns football over the years. As a consequence, he is uniquely versed in Cleveland’s endlessly fruitless search for a viable receiving threat-- making his high praise of the 23 year-old Cooper all the more encouraging. “You think about what Welker does for Tom Brady in New England, or Stokley in Denver,” he said, “and that’s what Josh Cooper gives Brandon Weeden in this Cleveland Browns offense. … Any team could use that type of guy.”
It’s so true, Solomon! And as it happens, "that type of guy” also seems to sell a weirdly disproportionate number of jerseys relative to his skill level. Who knows why? People just really love undersized possession receivers!
Anyway, now that Super Cooper Mania is clearly upon us, it’s probably worth asking, “who is this guy and what makes him different?” Well, on a Browns offense littered with baby-faced greenhorns, J.C. (do what you will with the Biblical connotations of the kid’s initials) has emerged as an unlikely standout since hopping off the practice squad in Week Six. He certainly isn’t the deep threat of fellow rookie receivers Josh Gordon (2nd round) or Travis Benjamin (4th round), but as a former trusted target of Weeden at OK State, the undrafted Cooper provides a certain je ne sais quoi that has some fans recalling the tough-nosed, sure-handed likes of guys like Don Beebe, or Wayne Chrebet, or hell, maybe even Ed McCaffrey!
As we struggle to survive another season with the new-era Browns, one way we can try to get through it (besides alcohol or heavy medication) is to look back at the best individual weeks of the Browns’ new era to remember times in recent memory when this particular week didn’t suck.
As with any football team, it’s about the quarterback. Most head coaches from the history of the Cleveland Browns are thought of in that context. If you bring up the name of Sam Rutigliano, Brian Sipe comes to mind. 1980 NFL MVP. Marty Schottenheimer? All-time local favorite, Bernie Kosar. Could have been a Hall of Famer, but that is a story for another day.
More than 24 hours later and many in Brownstown are still scratching their heads over the decision by Cleveland Browns coach Pat Shumur to punt on fourth-and-one with a little more than six minutes remaining in the Browns loss to Indianapolis.
Meet the new Boss. Same as the old Boss.