A newly stitched No. 19 jersey accompanied Amari Cooper’s first appearance as a Raider. It was a prop at his introductory press conference, but this year’s first-round draft pick never actually put it on.
He switched to No. 89 before his first professional practice, shortly after the number become available with James Jones’ release.
“I just thought it looked better on me,” Cooper said following Friday’s rookie minicamp practice.
No. 89, and no. 19 for that matter, pays homage to the No. 9 Cooper wore during college.
The rest of the Raiders draft class was assigned numbers to start the offseason program. Jersey buyers beware. Those numbers can certainly change before the regular season if others come free, though they generally remain constant.
Here’s a list of numbers given to the draft class and this year’s crop of free agents.
Raiders 2015 draft class
89 – WR Amari Cooper
97 – DL Mario Edwards Jr.
88 – TE Clive Walford
68 – OG John Feliciano
51 – MLB Ben Heeney
58 – LB Neiron Ball
94 – DE Max Valles
79 – OT Anthony Morris
84 – Andre Debose
21 – Dexter McDonald
Raiders free-agent class
61 -- C Rodney Hudson
90 -- DT Dan Williams
20 -- S Nate Allen
50 -- MLB Curtis Lofton
86 -- TE Lee Smith
53 -- LB Malcolm Smith
26 -- RB Roy Helu Jr.
33 -- RB Trent Richardson
15 -- WR Michael Crabtree
9 -- QB Christian Ponder
41 -- CB James Dockery
