Cooper is a seasoned vet who has played a ton of downs for Northville. He has proven time and time again that he is an absolute gamer. This season, he looked as comfortable and in control as one possibly could. He trusted his instincts and trusted what he read and slung the ball around confidently. Good technique, good fundamentals and pure arm talent has turned Cooper into a pretty solid prospect overall. Maybe my favorite characteristic of his showed through this past week when his team called on him to play DB to cover some of the most elite talents our state has to offer. Not only did he do that, but he did it well. Coming away with an interception, some big stops and a forced fumble. He’s an all-around talent that has the intangibles you want, with the work ethic to never stop growing.

One of the best performances from the PKC. Cooper ran the ball with great success and looked a lot more elusive than I had expected. He’s also not afraid to drive through tackles to earn tough extra yards. I wasn’t expecting Northville to have such a lethal 1-2 punch with Derkach and Defore.

Cooper also did well in the pass game. Not a ton of attempts, but still a few accurate, on-time passes. Cooper looked extremely comfortable out there, and did not have the 1st-game jitters like I saw with several other QBs.

It’s been a while since I saw a QB have as much fun as Cooper. I really liked how Cooper carried himself and performed Thursday night.

To start, Cooper ran the ball incredibly well. I thought the Lake Orion front 7 did an excellent job of manufacturing pressure, but Cooper did an even better job evading defenders. Yes, there were times when Cooper was caught, but more often than not, Cooper was able to extend plays. Not a ton of pass attempts for him, but his passes were all on point. Exactly what I expected, and somehow more. Not to mention Cooper fighting through an injury for much of the game. Everything from Cooper’s passing, designed rushes, improvised rushes, toughness, and fake handoffs were impressive. Great showing!

Northville has had a string of really good QBs at the helm recently, and Cooper is continuing that trend. I absolutely love his athleticism. Both at the QB position and as a defensive back, Cooper has quick feet, great balance and change of direction. He has good arm strength and mechanics which allows him to drive the ball down field in any situation. Whether it’s at QB or DB, Derkach absolutely has value at the next level. I think he is trending up, and has a great opportunity in the tough KLAA Conference to impress a lot of people this fall.

I get the hype around Cooper now. Very consistently, Cooper got the ball out quicker than any QB, while throwing absolute missiles to every portion of the field. Even though it looked like he was throwing as hard as he possibly could every throw, Cooper was still pretty darn accurate.

Coaches at Legacy love him, he had great stats this season, and the trajectory is only up from here. The one major issue is that Cooper is well below 6’0″, which will significantly limit his college opportunities. Because of his size, Cooper had a Division 3 ceiling.

Cooper is coming off of a GREAT season leading Northville. I came away impressed with his deep ball and running ability. Lots of very accurate deep shots- mostly still getting the ball out on time and hitting his receiver in stride. At other points, Cooper looked great on designed QB runs.

I see D3 written all over Cooper. Not quite good enough for D2 in my opinion, but not out of the question either.

Arm Talent: C+
Accuracy: C+
Processing: C
Playmaking: C
Athleticism: B-
Mechanics: C+

Cooper really has the all around skillset you love to see from a high school QB. His footwork has dramatically improved, his arm strength is good and I liked what I saw from his accuracy. His film showed examples where he was able to escape the pocket and hurt the defense with his legs if they don’t respect it. There were some big time throws where the ball was dropped in a bucket for the receiver. He throws a catchable ball in short and intermediate throws and I like his timing. All in all, I am excited to see what Cooper can do to take his game to the next level!