Arizona Cardinals OTAs: Jonathan Cooper 'not a rookie anymore'

Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians was asked about the progress of rookie offensive lineman Jonathan Cooper on Monday. Cooper, the team's number one pick in the 2013 NFL Draft at number six overall, is already working with the first team offensive line, holding down the position he played in college -- left guard.

Because of the dual field practice setup that Arians and his staff has created, he already has gotten in a lot of work. He is improving each day (now I'm talking like the athletes do).

"I think he's getting so many reps, he can't help but improve," Arians said. "He's had a lot of things thrown at him, different looks defensively. He's holding his own. He's not a rookie anymore. He's already had enough snaps to be a sophomore."

This is going to be incredibly valuable for the rookie. Last year in the preseason and the regular season we saw young offensive linemen struggle mightily, in part because they were seeing things for the first time. By giving Cooper all these looks now, hopefully he won't look like a rookie during the season.

The team is counting on him to be a key part of the improvements on the offensive line. Not getting fooled by different looks will be just what they need.

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