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The Arizona Wildcats have a slew of weapons at receiver, the only problem is that most of them will only have one more year of eligibility remaining. Nate Phillips, Cayleb Jones, Samajie Grant, Trey Griffey -- all will be gone after the 2016 season -- which will give a guy like DeVaughn Cooper a year to learn behind some of the best in the conference.
DeVaughn Cooper is a 3-star receiver out of Narbonne High School (Harbor City, CA), who has helped push his team to the No. 1 overall seed in the Division I CIF Los Angeles City Section Championship. Cooper is the leading receiver on the team in every category, with 47 receptions for 929 yards, and 14 touchdowns. The next leading receivers in those categories? 44 receptions, 588 yards, 7 touchdowns.
In case you couldn't tell by the film, DeVaughn Cooper is fast. And he might be just as a fast as Tyrell Johnson. The first two plays of his highlight video really sums it up. He's a true vertical threat, and most of his plays in the video go for at least 40 yards or so. He averages 20 yards a reception, so in reality, this is the essentially what you can expect given the shorter routes and receptions he hauled in throughout the season.
Despite his smaller frame, he had a few blocking highlights, and that's something that goes a long way in Arizona's offense. We see Samajie Grant blocking upfield all the time, giving the faster Arizona receivers the extra second they need to break through.
What might be concerning is that every route was essentially a "go" route, or some form of a screen play. Although he has the speed, agility and elusiveness to break down his defenders, it could be something that can be contained. Although, in Arizona's offense, the defense will have four other receivers to worry about, so that might not even be that large of a concern anyways. And with his speed, there may never be a concern of a quarterback overthrowing him.
He did have some great route running throughout his six minute video. At about 1:12 and 1:20, he has a quick inside out step that completely turns the hips of the defensive back. And then at about 2:02, he has a great out route, where he took advantage of a small cushion that the corner gave him to go outside.
At 2:24, you can see his play-making ability in open space, not even needing blocks to go down the field for the score. That play making ability also translates to the kick return game, as seen at about 3:46 and 4:10 in his highlight video.
DeVaughn Cooper will stretch the field out, and burn defensive backs all across the Pac-12. Once the next big wave of receivers are gone, it'll be DeVaughn Cooper, Tyrell Johnson, and Shun Brown taking over, highlighting the receiver group with pure speed.