WR Brandin Cooks, Free Agent (2 Viewers)

[karmarooster]

I absolutely love Cooks this year. I think his yards-per-reception is going to be in the 12-13 range, with 100 receptions and 10 TDs.

That's a sure-fire WR1 in PPR.

I am envisioning Antonio Brown 2013.

Think he's probably the most under-valued, "sleeper" WR1 out there there for things like Fanduel and Subscriber contest where pricing puts him mid-WR2 tier. For example, is the 19th highest priced WR on Fanduel and 16th most on Subscriber contest. The same as Jordan Matthews in this respect. Although in upcoming drafts and auctions, this value won't quite be there because of the KB/Nelson injuries (moves up 2 spots right there) and the solid preseason.

Also hope to see him in a bit of the Reggie Bush/Sproles role coming out of the backfield or at least across the formation in motion. I trust in Payton.

 

[Ilov80s]

My visions of 2013 Antonio Brown have been thoroughly dashed. At this point, I am just hoping he can become a consistent WR3 with occasional WR 1 upside. What is everyone thinking about the outlook now? What about this week with Brees out? Are you still playing? What are some of the guys you might bench him for?

 

[P Park Pimps]

In redraft i've been trying to trade him with no luck. Sent offers for martavis bryant and got turned down. This week I'm really considering benching him for tyler lockett. Do we have any hope for him this week with luke mccown?

 

[Ilov80s]

In redraft i've been trying to trade him with no luck. Sent offers for martavis bryant and got turned down. This week I'm really considering benching him for tyler lockett. Do we have any hope for him this week with luke mccown?

My WR options are as bad as your right now. If I bench him, it is going to have to be for Crokett Gilmore. I do not like him on grass, against the Panthers, on the road, no Brees, etc. It doesn't seem like it will end well.

 

[Ghost Rider]

My visions of 2013 Antonio Brown have been thoroughly dashed. At this point, I am just hoping he can become a consistent WR3 with occasional WR 1 upside. What is everyone thinking about the outlook now? What about this week with Brees out? Are you still playing? What are some of the guys you might bench him for?

I think he'll still come around and put up good overall numbers this year once Brees gets healthy and they finally start clicking a bit, but it's definitely gonna not be the top 10 season many of us were hoping for. I'm still sticking with him, since the league I have him is a 3-flex league. I didn't draft him as my best WR anyway (that would be Antonio Brown).

 

[cubbie5150]

Cooks is on my bench in my most important league (redraft, .5 ppr). I consider myself lucky to have John Brown to start instead.

I am very pessimistic about the Saints for the remainder of the year. I would not be surprised to see Brees out for multiple games (meaning, > 2). Only 11 targets (I think) for Cooks the first 2 games, which they lost & were trailing in.

One owner pushed the envelope & offered me Charles Johnson. Another owner tells me he wants to come up w/ a multi-player trade, but I have no reason to believe it will be anything more than a shuffling of disappointing players. I am very conscious of how down I am about the Saints, so I'm trying to be as objective as possible but I'm not reading much to be optimistic about.

 

[JuniorNB]

Cooks has definitely been a disappointment this season. Until Bryant comes back, I don't really have the luxury of putting him on my bench. I guess my hope this weekend is that McCown realizes that he is his best weapon and hits him on bubble screens and quick slants and let's Cooks do his thing after the catch.

 

[Milkman]

Looking more and more like a bust really.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Some perspective is helpful:

-He hasn't scored yet, but he does have 9 catches for 111 yards. That puts him on pace for 72 catchers and nearly 900 yards. The touchdowns will come.

-He has 15 targets through two games. That puts him on pace for 120 targets.

-They did play Arizona week 1, and I don't think they'll play a defense that good again the rest of the season. 5-62-0 against the TB isn't great, but it's not awful. Once they start playing softer defenses, the bigger weeks will come.

Patience.

Again, I don't think he will live up to his ADP at this point, but the sky is not falling yet (assuming he is healthy enough to play this week, of course). It's only been two weeks.

 

[jtd13]

Some perspective is helpful:

-He hasn't scored yet, but he does have 9 catches for 111 yards. That puts him on pace for 72 catchers and nearly 900 yards. The touchdowns will come.

-He has 15 targets through two games. That puts him on pace for 120 targets.

-They did play Arizona week 1, and I don't think they'll play a defense that good again the rest of the season. 5-62-0 against the TB isn't great, but it's not awful. Once they start playing softer defenses, the bigger weeks will come.

Patience.

Again, I don't think he will live up to his ADP at this point, but the sky is not falling yet (assuming he is healthy enough to play this week, of course). It's only been two weeks.

There was also a deep ball that he got open on and Brees JUST overthrew him against TB. If they connected, I think the tune on him would be a bit different. That said, he hasn't done as well as I thought he would so far, and the concerns about him beating a jam appear to be valid. It's something he can learn, but it puts a damper on his immediate production.

 

[Blick]

I'm actually thinking he may be in line for a bigger week with McCown. Brees just spreads it around so much that it would be difficult for any of his WRS to have top 10 potential.

 

[Jack White]

My visions of 2013 Antonio Brown have been thoroughly dashed. At this point, I am just hoping he can become a consistent WR3 with occasional WR 1 upside. What is everyone thinking about the outlook now? What about this week with Brees out? Are you still playing? What are some of the guys you might bench him for?

I have to bench one among Cooks, Davante and Yeldon. I haven't decided yet. I will probably start him. Hoping the game plan is to force feed him some screens and short stuff so he can get 6 to 8 points on catches.

I've also explored trading him, but his value is low right now.

 

[Ilov80s]

Speaking of the idea of him not being able to beat a jam, have the Saints moved him around the formations a lot or he has been primarily on the outside? I was hoping/expecting him to be in the slot, backfield and in motion a lot.

 

[Milkman]

Speaking of the idea of him not being able to beat a jam, have the Saints moved him around the formations a lot or he has been primarily on the outside? I was hoping/expecting him to be in the slot, backfield and in motion a lot.

Outside against the top CB going deep a lot. He appeared to get open last week and Brees was looking his way a lot but he didn't target Cooks much. I'm not sure why.

We're looking at a bigger and bigger sample of Cooks being mediocre though.

 

[Ilov80s]

Speaking of the idea of him not being able to beat a jam, have the Saints moved him around the formations a lot or he has been primarily on the outside? I was hoping/expecting him to be in the slot, backfield and in motion a lot.

Outside against the top CB going deep a lot. He appeared to get open last week and Brees was looking his way a lot but he didn't target Cooks much. I'm not sure why.

We're looking at a bigger and bigger sample of Cooks being mediocre though.

That is a bad sign for this weekend with Norman on him and McCown in. I expected Cooks to be moved around a lot more and not just running a bunch of deep routes on the outside. I am trying to sell hard before tomorrow.

 

[Jack White]

Is Norman a Revis Island style shut down corner? ARob and Hopkins didn't do much against CAR.

 

[Ilov80s]

Is Norman a Revis Island style shut down corner? ARob and Hopkins didn't do much against CAR.

Looks that way Last year he and the Panthers D ended on a big roll against some great WRs:

\Week 17 Julio 4 for 58

Week 16 Gordon 4 for 45

Week 15 Evans 2 for 13, 1 TD

 

[jurb26]

Is Norman a Revis Island style shut down corner? ARob and Hopkins didn't do much against CAR.

Right now, he's better than Revis. Only behind Davis in coverage IMO.

 

[Jack White]

Is Norman a Revis Island style shut down corner? ARob and Hopkins didn't do much against CAR.

Right now, he's better than Revis. Only behind Davis in coverage IMO.

Do you expect him to shadow Cooks and shut him down?

 

[jurb26]

Is Norman a Revis Island style shut down corner? ARob and Hopkins didn't do much against CAR.

Right now, he's better than Revis. Only behind Davis in coverage IMO.

Do you expect him to shadow Cooks and shut him down?

I think they will try to have him shadow but NO moved him around too much for it to be an all game thing. I don't expect him to go much when Norman covers him, though.

Plays could be had if he motions or runs from the slot.

 

[Milkman]

Lots of go deep, clear out the defense, and dump it off to Spiller and Ingram imo.

Why I have no idea.

 

[Ghost Rider]

7-79-0 today. Good, solid PPR day. The touchdowns are coming soon...

 

[Milkman]

7-79-0 today. Good, solid PPR day. The touchdowns are coming soon...

I don't see it but I hope you're right. I'm hoping for WR3 production at this point and happy if I get anything more than that.

 

[jtd13]

Considering the situation, he was pretty solid. Norman shut down Robinson and Nuk the last couple weeks.

 

[RealReactions]

7-79-0 today. Good, solid PPR day. The touchdowns are coming soon...

Most of it came in the late 3rd or 4 th quarter. Im looking to move him now as I'm nervous the saints have no clue what they are doing. Honestly Mckown or whoever the saints backup is looked 10x better than drew brees but right when brees says he is healthy he will come back and cooks stock will drop again.

 

[JuniorNB]

7-79-0 today. Good, solid PPR day. The touchdowns are coming soon...

Most of it came in the late 3rd or 4 th quarter. Im looking to move him now as I'm nervous the saints have no clue what they are doing. Honestly Mckown or whoever the saints backup is looked 10x better than drew brees but right when brees says he is healthy he will come back and cooks stock will drop again.

foolish to trade a playmaker like Cooks after three games when he doesn't have a touchdown or 100 yard game yet. No one is giving anything up for him. He's worth way more yo you going forward than anything you'd possibly get.

 

[Ilov80s]

I can live with that game today and am slightly optimistic about what he can do with all those indoor games coming up.

 

[cubbie5150]

It still bugs me how they don't try to get him the ball until the 2nd half. Just gotta throw it to Snead & stone hands Colston I guess.

But yeah, at least his final numbers weren't a complete dumpster fire.

 

[Jack White]

7-79-0 today. Good, solid PPR day. The touchdowns are coming soon...

Most of it came in the late 3rd or 4 th quarter. Im looking to move him now as I'm nervous the saints have no clue what they are doing. Honestly Mckown or whoever the saints backup is looked 10x better than drew brees but right when brees says he is healthy he will come back and cooks stock will drop again.

foolish to trade a playmaker like Cooks after three games when he doesn't have a touchdown or 100 yard game yet. No one is giving anything up for him. He's worth way more yo you going forward than anything you'd possibly get.

I agree. No sense giving him away.

 

[Loipz]

It could have been a pretty good day, sans Josh Norman making a ridiculous pick to seal the game. There is hope on the horizon just yet.

 

[Milkman]

I don't think he's a #1 in the NFL. He just doesn't have that knack for getting DBs off balance so even though he's open a lot I hardly ever see him wide open. Couple that with his low contested catch rate/diminutive size and you see where the problem is.

Having serious buyers remorse right now.

 

[JuniorNB]

Still remember the Patriots not being able to cover him in preseason and Belichick saying he's glad he doesn't have to try covering him twice a year. I think the Saints and Brees figure it out soon.

 

[jtd13]

I don't think he's a #1 in the NFL. He just doesn't have that knack for getting DBs off balance so even though he's open a lot I hardly ever see him wide open. Couple that with his low contested catch rate/diminutive size and you see where the problem is.

Having serious buyers remorse right now.

I think his situation was overvalued this season, but I haven't seen anything to suggest his ability was. I'm pretty happy holding a guy who turned 22 1 month ago and averages double digit points while he adjusts to being defended by top corners.ETA: That said, I can understand buyers remorse if you took him late 2nd/early 3rd in a startup this off-season. Everywhere I have him I acquired him before the Graham trade, so I still think I'm ahead.

 

[Milkman]

To be fair to Cooks if that last pass was thrown where it was supposed to be he would have won the game for the saints. He was open against one of the best corners in the league.

 

[jtd13]

To be fair to Cooks if that last pass was thrown where it was supposed to be he would have won the game for the saints. He was open against one of the best corners in the league.

That's where the situation was overvalued. The assumption was that Brees would be in and he'd be putting the ball where it's supposed to be. Unfortunately both assumptions have been wrong.

 

[packer_junkie]

I love cooks ROS. Schedule is $$$ and he is developing. Was much better vs press coverage yesterday and they are realizing he needs to rock

 

[ericttspikes]

A hurt Brees isn't helping Cooks any. If Brees is just going to heave under thrown ducks, they might as well stay with McCown.

 

[Steed]

To be fair to Cooks if that last pass was thrown where it was supposed to be he would have won the game for the saints. He was open against one of the best corners in the league.

He wasn't open. He let the db beat him for the int.

 

[CanaBuc]

I bailed on cooks. Was TE needy and got Martellus Bennett for him. Feel that was fair value.

The guy is not a redzone target.

5-6 for 50-80 yards each week is MEH.

Guys off waivers are getting that. See Shorts/ Washington Rishard MAtthews, Kearse or Baldwin, Hankerson.....

 

[jtd13]

To be fair to Cooks if that last pass was thrown where it was supposed to be he would have won the game for the saints. He was open against one of the best corners in the league.

He wasn't open. He let the db beat him for the int.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2015092701/2015/REG3/saints@panthers#menu=gameinfo%7CcontentId%3A0ap3000000540155&tab=videos

He wasn't butt-naked open, but he clearly was moving faster than Norman at 0:45-0:47 (during the slow motion clip) and was a step behind him before he had to slow down for the throw. A throw to the back corner would have been catchable by Cooks, but not Norman.

 

[JuniorNB]

To be fair to Cooks if that last pass was thrown where it was supposed to be he would have won the game for the saints. He was open against one of the best corners in the league.

He wasn't open. He let the db beat him for the int.

Wrong. It was underthrown. A better pass and Norman wouldn't have been able to get it Not saying Cooks couldn't have done a better job denying the interception, but it took a slightly underthrown pass and a great play by Norman to deny Cooks of a touchdown.

 

[Milkman]

To be fair to Cooks if that last pass was thrown where it was supposed to be he would have won the game for the saints. He was open against one of the best corners in the league.

He wasn't open. He let the db beat him for the int.

The ball was clearly not thrown where it needed to be and late. Cooks had two steps on the DB. That's open in the NFL. Get your eyes checked.

 

[packer_junkie]

So now were bashing our 5'9 speedster for not being able to jump backwards to prevent an INT??

 

[JuniorNB]

So now were bashing our 5'9 speedster for not being able to jump backwards to prevent an INT??

It's getting harder and harder to differentiate between trolls and guys who are simply unintelligent.

 

[VaTerp]

Yeah, Cooks had a step on Norman. If the ball is thrown more toward the back pylon and with a little more arc then its a TD. That said, it wasn't a terrible throw. It was a HELL of a play by the defender. Those guys get paid too.

Looking long term in redraft I'm trying to stay cautiously optimistic on Cooks despite the fact that he's not a true NFL #1, Brees and Payton look past their prime, and the Saints as a whole continue to trend downward.

Cooks does seem to be getting better at the LOS, they will have to throw a ton to stay in games, and there other WRs are not very good so Cooks should get lots of targets. Probably won't be worth his draft spot and he was overhyped this summer but I still think he will work out as a reliable WR2 for the rest of the season. At this point I think that's the best we can hope for.

Dynasty wise I guess there could be hope that Cooks could be a #1 in the mold of Antonio Brown but a lot remains to be seen. I don't think Brees and Payton or long for New Orleans.

 

[cstu]

I think his situation was overvalued this season, but I haven't seen anything to suggest his ability was. I'm pretty happy holding a guy who turned 22 1 month ago and averages double digit points while he adjusts to being defended by top corners.

ETA: That said, I can understand buyers remorse if you took him late 2nd/early 3rd in a startup this off-season. Everywhere I have him I acquired him before the Graham trade, so I still think I'm ahead.

In dynasty, people just have to be patient. Antonio Brown wasn't "Antonio Brown" until his 4th year in the NFL.

 

[savemejee]

A lot of doom and gloom over a 2nd year WR who had to deal with 1) Patrick Peterson, 2) Dead-arm Brees, 3) Josh Norman.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I think his situation was overvalued this season, but I haven't seen anything to suggest his ability was. I'm pretty happy holding a guy who turned 22 1 month ago and averages double digit points while he adjusts to being defended by top corners.

ETA: That said, I can understand buyers remorse if you took him late 2nd/early 3rd in a startup this off-season. Everywhere I have him I acquired him before the Graham trade, so I still think I'm ahead.

In dynasty, people just have to be patient. Antonio Brown wasn't "Antonio Brown" until his 4th year in the NFL.

Before that he was Tony Brown.

 

[Milkman]

He's not Antonio Brown and it's pretty safe to say he never will be. Antonio Brown is one of the best WR in the NFL and on his way to being one of the best WR of all time.

 

[VaTerp]

He's not Antonio Brown and it's pretty safe to say he never will be. Antonio Brown is one of the best WR in the NFL and on his way to being one of the best WR of all time.

If you had said that about Brown after week 3 of his 2nd season people would have laughed at you.

I'm not saying Cooks will have the success Brown has had the last 3 years. Odds are against it.

But the point is that its still early in making those kind of determinations.