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New Browns receiver Elijah Moore sees playing with Amari Cooper as a dream come true

chris easterling, akron beacon journal
·4 min read
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Elijah Moore of the New York Jets looks to get around Terrell Edmunds of the Steelers during the first half in Pittsburgh, Oct. 2, 2022.
Elijah Moore of the New York Jets looks to get around Terrell Edmunds of the Steelers during the first half in Pittsburgh, Oct. 2, 2022.

Amari Cooper had grown into a South Florida high school legend as he was concluding his career at Miami Northwestern in the fall of 2011. He was the latest great wide receiver to emerge from the Miami-Dade/Broward County football assembly line, going on to the University of Alabama and then to the NFL.

Some 25 miles or so north, there was an 11-year-old in Fort Lauderdale named Elijah Moore who was watching Cooper from afar. He'd continued to do so as he grew into the latest star from the St. Thomas Aquinas High School football factory, then on to the SEC as well, only at Ole Miss, before reaching the NFL.

Moore doesn't have to study Cooper from a distance anymore. The South Florida natives can talk inside the same locker room.

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"I heard about (Cooper) when I was young," the new Browns receiver said Thursday. "So hearing him do his thing as far as how he moves and just his dedication to football is how we’re built over there. So major respect."

Cooper is coming off his fifth 1,000-yard receiving season, having caught 78 passes for 1,160 yards and a career-high nine touchdowns. That was his first season with the Browns, having been acquired for a fifth- and a sixth-round pick from the Dallas Cowboys last March.

Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper catches a pass during the first half in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023.
Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper catches a pass during the first half in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023.

A year later, it is Moore who the Browns acquired for what appears like pennies on the dollar in a March trade. They sent their second-round pick in April's draft, No. 42 overall, to the New York Jets on Wednesday to land the former 2021 second-round pick as well as a third-round pick, No. 74, in the draft.

Moore and Cooper may now share a locker room thanks to similar March trades, but that's not all. The newest Browns receiver believes he shares one specific trait that helps make him a dangerous pass catcher.

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"My strengths, I feel like I'm a route runner, so wherever they need me, I can do it," Moore said. "That's why I feel like I can go outside and in. I've been practicing this since I was 15 years old. This is something I try to craft on, this something I hold as you would say Coop holds. He's known for being a route runner. I've been studying Coop since I was little."

Cooper has long been held by many around the NFL as one of the league's best route runners. Watching the former 2015 top-five draft pick work on that specific aspect of his craft can be one of the most impressive parts of a practice.

Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson throws a touchdown pass to Amari Cooper during practice, Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in Berea.
Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson throws a touchdown pass to Amari Cooper during practice, Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in Berea.

That's just for relative novices and those who don't play or coach. For Moore, who has 80 career catches for 984 yards and six TDs, it can be almost like a dream come true.

"Yeah, I'm super excited," Moore said. "A route runner like that, not many people get to witness that. So I'm glad he is on my team."

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Moore was brought to Cleveland not just to be an Amari Cooper fanboy, but to be the perfect compliment as well. Between those two and Donovan Peoples-Jones, the Browns hope they have the nucleus of receiving corps that will work perfectly with quarterback Deshaun Watson.

As far as roles in that receiving corps, it would be easy to pigeon-hole Moore to be the one to line up in the slot. Both Cooper and Peoples-Jones each had more than 700 snaps lined up out wide, while Peoples-Jones had 315 slot snaps and Cooper had 188.

New York Jets wide receiver Elijah Moore catches a touchdown pass against Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Steven Nelson.
New York Jets wide receiver Elijah Moore catches a touchdown pass against Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Steven Nelson.

Moore, meanwhile, had 385 snaps wide and 341 snaps in the slot last season with the Jets. However, Moore's rookie season saw him line up wide 347 times, compared to 125 times in the slot.

More likely, though, is that all three get moved around a lot. That would be the scenario which could best benefit the offense as a whole, and one Moore fully endorsed a day after he was traded to the Browns.

"Yeah, man, I'm super excited to play the role that they want me to play," Moore said. "Talking with the coaches and everything, I feel like we on the same page. I'm just grateful to be here."

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Elijah Moore ready to 'witness' Amari Cooper's route running