It's Time for Philadelphia Eagles to Ax Controversial, Underachieving WR Riley Cooper

By Joe Doris
Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Nobody can say that he wasn’t given a fair shake.

But after just a trio of contests to kick off the 2013 NFL season, WR Riley Cooper has proven that he has no place on the Philadelphia Eagles’ roster.

Following his ignorant, wildly-offensive and truly disturbing use of an all too familiar racial slur, many fans were prepared to give him a second chance. But now that he has shown that he can’t even perform on the field, there is really no reason to keep him around any longer. In reality, the backlash surrounding his moral mishap could certainly be affecting his play.

I can guarantee you that Cooper has had an ear-full of criticism, threats and relentless taunts while on the gridiron, and I don’t expect that to stop anytime soon. To be completely honest, he deserves every bit of the ear-lashing that he’s receiving. And unfortunately for Coop, the only thing that he isn’t receiving is passes from QB Michael Vick.

With 16 targets in three games, Vick has tried to get Cooper the football, but the fourth-year wide-out just can’t hang onto it. Plagued with drops and an overall lack of athleticism when it comes to reaching for less-than-perfect throws, Cooper has only been able to tally 6 catches for a miserable 68 yards and a single score.

Cooper may have been worth keeping around if he was actually able to produce, but now that he has proven to be useless, head coach Chip Kelly and the Birds need to just snip him loose.

While WRs Jason Avant and Damaris Johnson are hardly ideal candidates to complement stud WR DeSean Jackson, I promise you nobody will miss Cooper if he is handed his walking papers.

 

Follow Joe on Twitter @EaglesRant, or add him on Google, for all NFL / Eagles insight. Click here to view Joe’s complete portfolio for Rant Sports.

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