The waiting comes to an end for Riley Cooper in the next three days when he will hear his name called as part of the NFL Draft. Cooper is one of 11 Gators who expect to hear their name called but he’s one of the more compelling stories because he almost chose a career in professional baseball.
The draft begins at 7:30 p.m. with round one (televised live on NFL Network), continues Friday at 6 p.m. with rounds two and three, and concludes Saturday with rounds 4-7 beginning at 10 a.m. In addition to Cooper, other Gators who expect to hear their names called are Joe Haden (cornerback), Maurkice Pouncey (center), Tim Tebow (quarterback), Carlos Dunlap (defensive end), Brandon Spikes (linebacker), Aaron Hernandez (tight end), Jermaine Cunningham (defensive end), Major Wright (safety), David Nelson (wide receiver) and Brandon James (kick return specialist).
Cooper almost didn’t return to the University of Florida for his senior year. Drafted in the 15th round out of high school by the Philadelphia Phillies, he was drafted in the 25th round by the Texas Rangers after his junior season with the Gators. After playing summer baseball, Cooper agreed to a contract that was more in keeping with a second or third round choice.
Baseball was his insurance policy, but football was still very much in his blood. After receiving permission from the Rangers to play college football, Cooper returned to Florida where he caught 51 passes for 961 yards and nine touchdowns. After catching seven passes for 181 yards and a touchdown against Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl, Cooper decided he would much prefer to play football.
“Ultimately football is what I wanted to do,” Cooper said Sunday at the Nike football combine where he worked as a coach for high school players who hope to earn a college scholarship in the future. “That’s really my mentality. I needed to prove myself on the field but it more or less took me until my senior year to do that. I was a two-year starter, which says a lot but there was a lot of good talent at Florida. I just had to prove myself.”
A special teams demon his freshman and sophomore years, Cooper spent the 2008 national championship season primarily as a blocker although he caught the game-winning touchdown pass against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and made a critical 17-yard catch on a third and 12 during Florida’s game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter of the BCS National Championship Game against Oklahoma.
As a senior, he became a primary target for quarterback Tim Tebow and he responded with the best season of his Florida career. He says the patience to wait his turn more than paid off.
“Everyone’s time comes,” Cooper said. “Percy Harvin was here and Louis Murphy was here. They’re great receivers and they started as rookies in the NFL, which says something about how good they are so there’s no shame in waiting your turn behind guys like that. Everyone’s time comes. This year was my year.”
Now he’s hoping to turn the momentum of that senior season success into an NFL career. By most projections, Cooper is a third or fourth round wide receiver. He measured 6-4, 222 at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis and opened a lot of eyes when he turned in a 4.48 time in the 40.
Since then he’s worked out for coaches in Cleveland, Baltimore, New England, Minnesota and Atlanta. He said the workouts went very well but some of them were a bit un-nerving at first.
“The only thing that was a real big deal about the workouts was everyone was there — owners, coaches, GMs, scouts … all the big dogs were there,” Cooper said. “A route is a route and you still have to catch the ball; you still have to run the route. Nothing was different than a workout you’d have for your college coaches except the aspect that they’ll [NFL teams] fly 900 guys down just to watch you.”
He learned quickly why so many come to watch a workout.
“They’re trying to find any flaws you might have,” he said. “Really, they already know what you do well but they’re trying to find that one thing you may not do well.”
And in the interview process, he found himself answering the same question rephrased over and over again.
“That part is crazy,” he said. “But you have to remember, this is a job interview. There’s a reason why they do what they do. They’re thinking about investing money in you so they’ve got to get the lowdown. It’s a very competitive process and they want to get someone they think they can trust and rely on.”
Cooper doesn’t have a clue where he will be drafted or by whom — “I’ll find out when ya’ll do … nobody really knows until they call your name,” he said — but who he plays for and what round he’s drafted in doesn’t matter at all to him.
“Look, football is football,” he said. “I’m very confident that I’ll do fine. Just draft me and let’s get going. All I want to do is play football.”
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It is possible that three Gators will go in the first round although it’s pretty much a given that Haden and Pouncey are mortal locks. By most projections, Haden will go somewhere between the tenth and 15th picks. Pouncey is likely to be taken between the 12th and 18th picks in the first round.
The unknown factor in the first round is Tebow, who has as many detractors as he does advocates. One of his chief detractors, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper, has called Tebow a second or third rounder at best for the last two years but in the last couple of days, he’s moved Tebow into the first round to the Minnesota Vikings.
Spikes, Hernandez and Dunlap are all expected to go in the second round while Cunningham, Wright and Cooper project as third or fourth rounders. Nelson and James are expected to go on the third day of the draft. Linebackers Ryan Stamper and Dustin Doe are both expected to be offered free agent contracts.