FILM STUDY: How Brandin Cooks is about to change things
It isn't being talked about enough, but it will be soon.
It is game week around here, but I feel we can squeeze in one more film room before the real games occupy our attention here in this general spot next week. Because I enjoy doing this sort of thing, here is a special Labor Day edition for you.
When a new Dallas Cowboys season begins, we definitely know the common storylines from the media. They want to talk about Dak Prescott and Mike McCarthy. Why? Because that is what we do. We talk about Tony Romo and Jason Garrett. We can’t help ourselves. It goes like this: “If Romo cannot push them further in the playoffs this year, will this cost Garrett his job?” or the new version of the exact same thing, “If Prescott cannot finally push them further in the playoffs this year, will this cost McCarthy his job?”
It is such a simplistic question with simplified answers that really makes nobody even slightly more intelligent. But, it is what we do. QB and head coach.
Unfortunately, the two biggest acquisitions of the offseason are not being discussed enough. Because I am convinced that the Cowboys will have a chance to be a better team in 2023 than they were in 2022. These moves are the two main reasons why:
March 15th - Dallas trades 2023 5th round pick No. 176 to Indianapolis for CB Stephon Gilmore
March 19th - Dallas trades 2023 5th round pick No. 161 and 2024 6th round pick to Houston for WR Brandin Cooks (and $6m of his ‘23 salary)
Those two moves in March went a long ways toward the goal of a successful offseason. They were similar in that you found a useful player on a team that doesn’t wish to contend this year and gave them a Day 3 draft pick in exchange for a plug-and-play needle-mover on both sides of the ball. To be able to put Gilmore opposite Trevon Diggs should give Dallas more than enough top-tier corner play on the outside to make the pass rush even more devastating to opposing offenses. That should allow them to match-up well with the heavyweights.
But, Cooks? Brandin Cooks might unlock the explosiveness of this offense that looked anything but explosive when they were defeated in the divisional round last January in Santa Clara.
Cooks will turn 30 years old in three weeks, so the years ahead of him are fewer than the years behind in his dynamic NFL career. But, I think it is entirely reasonable that he has a couple more big seasons in him. When we talked to him in August, you could definitely tell he was fired up to get this season going and get back to a competitive setting.
Perhaps his banishment to Houston the last few seasons has dropped him into a football wasteland where few are rediscovered that has caused people to forget who he is. But, anyone with the interest in popping on his current work can see that he is still that guy who can be flat-out dominant.
From 2018-2022, there are five receivers who have production that set them off in their own discussion. Over that five year period of time, Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, Mike Evans, Stefon Diggs, and DeAndre Hopkins are the best of the best. Yes, Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb have joined the chat, but when you check the stats, there is that group and then everyone else.
But, Cooks is the next guy on most statistical lists when it comes to that five-year run. Even with three years in Houston where he caught passes for one year from DeShaun Watson (his best year) and then two years from Davis Mills, Tyrod Taylor, Kyle Allen and Jeff Driskel. During that three-year stretch Houston managed to play 11-38-1 football under four coaches and plenty of organizational chaos and indifference. It was ugly. Yet, check his production against the next group of receivers: Cooper Kupp, Chris Godwin, Keenan Allen, Amari Cooper, Julio Jones. Cooks was leading them all and routinely being productive as he aged.
Thanks to our friends at TruMedia, here is where Cooks ranks since entering the league in 2014 amongst active receivers. I realize that past performance is not indicative of future results in investments and football players, but still, do people realize the quality of this guy’s resume? That last column, that nearly 21% of his receptions over his ENTIRE CAREER are explosive plays put him only behind Mike Evans on that frequency list should raise an eyebrow or two.
Now, I would like to remind you about the Cowboys offense. They were top five in all sorts of categories last year, but explosive plays were 19th. Dallas did not have enough big plays at big times. It ended up being Lamb and Tony Pollard as the only “big play” possibilities on the roster. They needed juice very badly.
That is why this move is big. So is adding Jalen Tolbert, the recovering health of Michael Gallup (perhaps), and figuring out how to get Kavontae Turpin and Deuce Vaughn more involved. The Cowboys need big plays added in as they subtracted the lumbering styles of Ezekiel Elliott and Dalton Schultz from the mix. Find big plays!
There haven’t been many more explosive than Cooks. And this year, with another 1,000 yard season projected, he will set the NFL record with hitting that modest milestone with his 5th different team (breaking his tie with Brandon Marshall).
So how does he do it? Let’s take a look.
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