Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Anyone who watched Eagles games with their eyes this year knows Riley Cooper didn’t have the best year. Hell, anyone within earshot of the game and their dad yelling “Why’d they give that idiot all of that money” knows Riley Cooper didn’t have a great year. But did he have the worst year? Let’s look at his numbers this year against his numbers last year:

  • 2013: 47 catches on 84 targets (3 drops) for 835 yards (17.8 per catch) and 8 touchdowns. 246 yards after the catch.
  • 2014: 55 catches on 94 targets (3 drops) for 577 yards (10.5 per catch) and 3 touchdowns. 157 yards after the catch.

That’s a decrease in production with an increase of playing time (and targets). That’s not the way production is supposed to go. But once again, was it the worst? Well, yes.

According to Pro Football Focus’ rankings, Riley Cooper was the worst starting wide receiver in football this year. Based on grades and scores given to each player after each game, Riley Cooper’s final grade was -12.7, good enough for worst, just in front of Reggie Wayne’s -10.8. Somehow, not one member of the Eagles secondary made the worst list.

But on the positive side, three of the Eagles’ offensive lineman made the league’s best list, with Jason Peters (37.7), Evan Mathis (23.8) and Lane Johnson (15.8) topping their respective positions. So basically, that means they held off the defense as long as they could (and were some of the best at doing it) so their quarterback could heave the ball towards the league’s worst starting receiver. That’s a pretty apt summary of this season.