I'm not going to use this space to pick on Bill O'Brien. I could, but since everyone else is already doing it, why pile on. Yes, he's like the guy in your dynasty league who immediately trades away all his picks each year. At least this time he's trading for a guy who two other teams already traded for, so it's not as bad as, say, the Duke Johnson trade. Or not getting a first-round pick for DeAndre Hopkins. Or...
But I said I wasn't going to pile on. So let's just look at Cooks himself. He's been a pretty productive wideout for most of his career.
Not so much in 2019, of course, which explains why the Rams were eager to ship him off for a second-round pick. There's a concussion history, and so in Cooks' 14 games he caught only 42 passes for 583 yards and 2 TDs. Wait a minute, why did Houston want to trade for him again?
It's because prior to 2019, Cooks had been one of the league's most productive wideouts. He went over 1,000 yards in four straight seasons, one of only four players do so in that span (the others: Julio Jones, Mike Evans and Antonio Brown). Those three players, DeAndre Hopkins and T.Y. Hilton are the only players to put up more yards than Cooks in that four-year span.
TOTAL RECEIVING YARDS, 2015-2018 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | '15 | '16 | '17 | '18 | Tot |
Julio Jones | 1871 | 1409 | 1444 | 1677 | 6401 |
Antonio Brown | 1834 | 1284 | 1533 | 1297 | 5948 |
DeAndre Hopkins | 1521 | 954 | 1378 | 1572 | 5425 |
Mike Evans | 1206 | 1321 | 1001 | 1524 | 5052 |
T.Y. Hilton | 1124 | 1448 | 966 | 1270 | 4808 |
Brandin Cooks | 1138 | 1173 | 1082 | 1204 | 4597 |
Travis Kelce | 875 | 1125 | 1038 | 1336 | 4374 |
Jarvis Landry | 1157 | 1136 | 987 | 976 | 4256 |
Odell Beckham | 1450 | 1367 | 302 | 1052 | 4171 |
Larry Fitzgerald | 1215 | 1023 | 1156 | 734 | 4128 |
A.J. Green | 1297 | 964 | 1078 | 694 | 4033 |
Demaryius Thomas | 1304 | 1083 | 949 | 677 | 4013 |
Amari Cooper | 1070 | 1153 | 680 | 1005 | 3908 |
Doug Baldwin | 1069 | 1128 | 991 | 618 | 3806 |
Michael Thomas | 1137 | 1245 | 1405 | 3787 | |
Adam Thielen | 144 | 967 | 1276 | 1373 | 3760 |
Davante Adams | 483 | 997 | 885 | 1386 | 3751 |
Golden Tate | 813 | 1077 | 1003 | 795 | 3688 |
Zach Ertz | 853 | 816 | 824 | 1163 | 3656 |
Emmanuel Sanders | 1135 | 1032 | 555 | 868 | 3590 |
Stefon Diggs | 720 | 903 | 849 | 1021 | 3493 |
Rob Gronkowski | 1176 | 540 | 1084 | 682 | 3482 |
Keenan Allen | 725 | 63 | 1393 | 1196 | 3377 |
Marvin Jones | 816 | 930 | 1101 | 508 | 3355 |
Alshon Jeffery | 807 | 821 | 789 | 843 | 3260 |
Tyreek Hill | 593 | 1183 | 1479 | 3255 | |
Robert Woods | 552 | 613 | 781 | 1219 | 3165 |
Michael Crabtree | 922 | 1003 | 618 | 607 | 3150 |
Allen Robinson | 1400 | 883 | 17 | 754 | 3054 |
DeSean Jackson | 528 | 1005 | 668 | 774 | 2975 |
Tyler Lockett | 664 | 597 | 555 | 965 | 2781 |
Delanie Walker | 1088 | 800 | 807 | 52 | 2747 |
Jimmy Graham | 605 | 923 | 520 | 636 | 2684 |
Greg Olsen | 1104 | 1073 | 191 | 291 | 2659 |
Julian Edelman | 692 | 1106 | 850 | 2648 | |
Jamison Crowder | 604 | 847 | 789 | 388 | 2628 |
Willie Snead | 984 | 895 | 92 | 651 | 2622 |
Pierre Garcon | 777 | 1041 | 500 | 286 | 2604 |
Sammy Watkins | 1047 | 430 | 593 | 519 | 2589 |
Mohamed Sanu | 394 | 653 | 703 | 838 | 2588 |
Brandon Marshall | 1502 | 788 | 154 | 136 | 2580 |
Eric Ebron | 537 | 711 | 574 | 750 | 2572 |
Kenny Stills | 440 | 726 | 847 | 553 | 2566 |
John Brown | 1003 | 517 | 299 | 715 | 2534 |
Tyrell Williams | 90 | 1059 | 728 | 653 | 2530 |
Kyle Rudolph | 495 | 840 | 532 | 634 | 2501 |
Ted Ginn | 739 | 752 | 787 | 209 | 2487 |
Jordy Nelson | 1257 | 482 | 739 | 2478 | |
Randall Cobb | 829 | 610 | 653 | 383 | 2475 |
Granted, before the trading bug hit O'Brien this offseason, he already had one of those elite performers in Hopkins. And if we include 2019 stats, Cooks falls quite a bit.
The concussion history, though, is what's concerning. He suffered two last season, and five total in his NFL career (known). That history is the main reason the Rams made him available, leaving themselves with over $20 million in dead money against their salary cap (ouch). And that's why he cost "only" a second-round pick.
Say for this O'Brien. If Cooks is healthy, he's a talented, 26-year-old wide receiver. Should be a nice addition to the receiving corps, alongside Will Fuller (who has an injury history of his own).
If he's not healthy, though, things are really going to blow up in O'Brien's face. And in what everyone considers a very deep wide receiver draft class, seems like that draft pick could have been used to select a talented player who's 5 years younger and doesn't have a concussion history. Albeit unproven, compared to Cooks.
--Andy Richardson