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WR Brandin Cooks, NO (2 Viewers)

thoughts on dynasty trade value for cooks? worth a 2nd or 3rd+?
I'd not give up more then a 4th.
Seems silly, but ok
He's been getting traded in leagues of mine for mid to late thirds for the past two years and looks like a player on the decline to me. So call me silly but I don't value him as the roster spot he takes up over a third on any team of mine right now.
Well sure, depending on your roster and FFPC rules, it might not make sense to give ANY pick for him before cuts.
 
thoughts on dynasty trade value for cooks? worth a 2nd or 3rd+?
I'd not give up more then a 4th.
Seems silly, but ok
He's been getting traded in leagues of mine for mid to late thirds for the past two years and looks like a player on the decline to me. So call me silly but I don't value him as the roster spot he takes up over a third on any team of mine right now.
Well sure, depending on your roster and FFPC rules, it might not make sense to give ANY pick for him before cuts.
If I threw him into the rookie pool he'd probably end up somewhere in the player 25-36 range and someone I might take in the third on some teams. So maybe that's a fair ballpark for his value.
 
A month or so ago I made a thread about big wr trades like the one that brought AJ Brown to the eagles, considering the lack of marquee fa wrs. Cooks name was brought up a bunch of times.

5th and a next year 6th. Even with his contract that hardly counts as a "big" trade. Especially for a wr that was traded for a first round pick two years in a row when he was young.
 
Am I missing something on him?

He's had fantasy success everywhere he's been.
He gets a significant upgrade at QB and in terms of offense as a whole.

Defenses are going to focus on Lamb. Cooks should be a solid fantasy asset for at least 1 more season.
 
Am I missing something on him?

He's had fantasy success everywhere he's been.
He gets a significant upgrade at QB and in terms of offense as a whole.

Defenses are going to focus on Lamb. Cooks should be a solid fantasy asset for at least 1 more season.
My concern is he's higher profile Gabe Davis. Where he just doesn't see the volume to pay off in weeks he doesn't hit big plays.

Cooks has never had to share with a target monster like Lamb in his career. the highest targeted player Cooks has shared with was Robert Woods in 2018 at 130 targets. Lamb saw 156 last year. Defenses have a really hard time focusing on Lamb as he's so often in motion or in the slot, he ended up covered by a LB/S more than anyone else in the NFL. I sort of think its more likely Cooks is used more as a clear out WR who hits occasional big plays.

I think he's a worthy 7th/8th round guy as a WR4, but he likely needs an injury to Lamb or Gallup to have a great return on investment. There is a shot that Lamb takes on some of Schultz routes as a possession guy, which could allow Cooks to maybe see more than I am expecting, but I'd feel a lot more comfortable with him if Kellen Moore hadn't left.
 
Am I missing something on him?

He's had fantasy success everywhere he's been.
He gets a significant upgrade at QB and in terms of offense as a whole.

Defenses are going to focus on Lamb. Cooks should be a solid fantasy asset for at least 1 more season.
I'm not really into him for his price. I would not rule out drafting him but if I did it would be a best ball format as I don't trust I'd ever view him as someone I feel strongly putting in my lineup. I would say he has some upside for a few big weeks but not upside in a general sense for the season so long as Lamb is upright. In a league I have to set a lineup I don't think I'd ever have a strong feeling putting him in my lineup with the caveat again of if Lamb is healthy.

Gallup is currently going around 6'ish rounds after Cooks. That's the shot I'd rather take as I'd say a lot of the stuff I said above about him as well.
 
Am I missing something on him?

He's had fantasy success everywhere he's been.
He gets a significant upgrade at QB and in terms of offense as a whole.

Defenses are going to focus on Lamb. Cooks should be a solid fantasy asset for at least 1 more season.
My concern is he's higher profile Gabe Davis. Where he just doesn't see the volume to pay off in weeks he doesn't hit big plays.

Cooks has never had to share with a target monster like Lamb in his career. the highest targeted player Cooks has shared with was Robert Woods in 2018 at 130 targets. Lamb saw 156 last year. Defenses have a really hard time focusing on Lamb as he's so often in motion or in the slot, he ended up covered by a LB/S more than anyone else in the NFL. I sort of think its more likely Cooks is used more as a clear out WR who hits occasional big plays.

I think he's a worthy 7th/8th round guy as a WR4, but he likely needs an injury to Lamb or Gallup to have a great return on investment. There is a shot that Lamb takes on some of Schultz routes as a possession guy, which could allow Cooks to maybe see more than I am expecting, but I'd feel a lot more comfortable with him if Kellen Moore hadn't left.
Cooks has had six 1,000-yard seasons playing on 4 different teams. In those seasons, he averaged 121 targets. In 2021, the Cowboys had 647 passing attempts. Sure, Lamb had 156 targets last year, but with Dak hurt for a big chunk of the season, the Cowboys had 102 fewer passing attempts in 2022. With Schultz, Brown, Hilton, and Zeke gone, there are another 200 targets that aren't there anymore. Essentially, if Prescott is healthy, there are 300 targets available to Cooks. The point being, they have plenty of targets available to give to Cooks without disrupting things much at all. Even if we bump up the targets to Lamb and Gallup, there are still plenty of targets available for Cooks.
 
Am I missing something on him?

He's had fantasy success everywhere he's been.
He gets a significant upgrade at QB and in terms of offense as a whole.

Defenses are going to focus on Lamb. Cooks should be a solid fantasy asset for at least 1 more season.
My concern is he's higher profile Gabe Davis. Where he just doesn't see the volume to pay off in weeks he doesn't hit big plays.

Cooks has never had to share with a target monster like Lamb in his career. the highest targeted player Cooks has shared with was Robert Woods in 2018 at 130 targets. Lamb saw 156 last year. Defenses have a really hard time focusing on Lamb as he's so often in motion or in the slot, he ended up covered by a LB/S more than anyone else in the NFL. I sort of think its more likely Cooks is used more as a clear out WR who hits occasional big plays.

I think he's a worthy 7th/8th round guy as a WR4, but he likely needs an injury to Lamb or Gallup to have a great return on investment. There is a shot that Lamb takes on some of Schultz routes as a possession guy, which could allow Cooks to maybe see more than I am expecting, but I'd feel a lot more comfortable with him if Kellen Moore hadn't left.
Cooks has had six 1,000-yard seasons playing on 4 different teams. In those seasons, he averaged 121 targets. In 2021, the Cowboys had 647 passing attempts. Sure, Lamb had 156 targets last year, but with Dak hurt for a big chunk of the season, the Cowboys had 102 fewer passing attempts in 2022. With Schultz, Brown, Hilton, and Zeke gone, there are another 200 targets that aren't there anymore. Essentially, if Prescott is healthy, there are 300 targets available to Cooks. The point being, they have plenty of targets available to give to Cooks without disrupting things much at all. Even if we bump up the targets to Lamb and Gallup, there are still plenty of targets available for Cooks.
Agree 100%
 
Brandin Cooks will be 30 years old this season. While historically WR do not decline significantly after age 28 the way RB do, they do seem to plataeu at this point of their careers before a more significant decline at age 33.

Cooks yards per reception the last 2 seasons have been below his career average. The reason for this is more likely due to less efficient QB than his age, but age could be a contributing factor as well.

That said I do think he is still good enough to earn a lot of targets in the offense and I think he is a better WR than Gallup is, so assuming health for both players I would expect Cooks target share to be higher than Gallups will be, maybe not by a lot, but higher and a good chance this means Cooks is the 2nd most targeted player in the Cowboys offense. He is basically in the same role as Amari Cooper in this offense with a similar skill set.

I dont see Lambs role in the offense overlapping into Cooks at all. There is room in the offense for Lamb to continue to be the target hog of this offense and Cooks to average 7 targets per game, which is his career average.
 
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Am I missing something on him?

He's had fantasy success everywhere he's been.
He gets a significant upgrade at QB and in terms of offense as a whole.

Defenses are going to focus on Lamb. Cooks should be a solid fantasy asset for at least 1 more season.
My concern is he's higher profile Gabe Davis. Where he just doesn't see the volume to pay off in weeks he doesn't hit big plays.

Cooks has never had to share with a target monster like Lamb in his career. the highest targeted player Cooks has shared with was Robert Woods in 2018 at 130 targets. Lamb saw 156 last year. Defenses have a really hard time focusing on Lamb as he's so often in motion or in the slot, he ended up covered by a LB/S more than anyone else in the NFL. I sort of think its more likely Cooks is used more as a clear out WR who hits occasional big plays.

I think he's a worthy 7th/8th round guy as a WR4, but he likely needs an injury to Lamb or Gallup to have a great return on investment. There is a shot that Lamb takes on some of Schultz routes as a possession guy, which could allow Cooks to maybe see more than I am expecting, but I'd feel a lot more comfortable with him if Kellen Moore hadn't left.
Cooks has had six 1,000-yard seasons playing on 4 different teams. In those seasons, he averaged 121 targets. In 2021, the Cowboys had 647 passing attempts. Sure, Lamb had 156 targets last year, but with Dak hurt for a big chunk of the season, the Cowboys had 102 fewer passing attempts in 2022. With Schultz, Brown, Hilton, and Zeke gone, there are another 200 targets that aren't there anymore. Essentially, if Prescott is healthy, there are 300 targets available to Cooks. The point being, they have plenty of targets available to give to Cooks without disrupting things much at all. Even if we bump up the targets to Lamb and Gallup, there are still plenty of targets available for Cooks.
Dallas is going to have a much slower and less pass aggressive offense with Kellen Moore gone in my opinion. I think the pass attempts will be a lot closer to what they were last season than in 2021. Dallas was the #1 offense in the NFL in 2021, personally, I feel like using 2021 as an expectation is giving them too much credit. The OC is worse, the OL is worse, and I'd argue the weapons are worse too. I'm certainly not treating Prescott like a top-6 QB which he was in 2021.

On top of all that, I think this is the worst situation Cooks has ever been in, with a clear cut #1 ahead of him, in what I don't think will be an elite passing game. I've got Cooks as WR43, so he probably has no chance of ending up on any team of mine, and I say that as a guy who has typically been higher than average on Cooks throughout his career. I think 120 targets is probably an absolute ceiling for Cooks. No Cowboy other than Lamb has topped 104 in the last 2 seasons. I think 100 is a fair over/under.

Also of note, the Cowboys defense has gone from 28th to 7th to 5th the last 3 years, and could be even better this year, as they added Gilmore, and Parsons and Diggs are likely still on the way up. I think the stat McCarthy cared most about (wrongly in my opinion) was Dak leading the league in INT's, despite missing 5 games. That's why Moore was fired (again wrongfully in my opinion, I think that was more bad luck variance for Dak) replacing Moore with Brian Schottenheimer certainly leads me to think the passing volume is coming down a bit, and I think the hurts all the ancillary guys, but probably has little effect on Lamb, because he's the clearcut #1. If anything, my concern is that I might have Lamb too high at WR6, I could see Lamb being more of a low-end WR1.
 
Am I missing something on him?

He's had fantasy success everywhere he's been.
He gets a significant upgrade at QB and in terms of offense as a whole.

Defenses are going to focus on Lamb. Cooks should be a solid fantasy asset for at least 1 more season.
My concern is he's higher profile Gabe Davis. Where he just doesn't see the volume to pay off in weeks he doesn't hit big plays.

Cooks has never had to share with a target monster like Lamb in his career. the highest targeted player Cooks has shared with was Robert Woods in 2018 at 130 targets. Lamb saw 156 last year. Defenses have a really hard time focusing on Lamb as he's so often in motion or in the slot, he ended up covered by a LB/S more than anyone else in the NFL. I sort of think its more likely Cooks is used more as a clear out WR who hits occasional big plays.

I think he's a worthy 7th/8th round guy as a WR4, but he likely needs an injury to Lamb or Gallup to have a great return on investment. There is a shot that Lamb takes on some of Schultz routes as a possession guy, which could allow Cooks to maybe see more than I am expecting, but I'd feel a lot more comfortable with him if Kellen Moore hadn't left.
Cooks has had six 1,000-yard seasons playing on 4 different teams. In those seasons, he averaged 121 targets. In 2021, the Cowboys had 647 passing attempts. Sure, Lamb had 156 targets last year, but with Dak hurt for a big chunk of the season, the Cowboys had 102 fewer passing attempts in 2022. With Schultz, Brown, Hilton, and Zeke gone, there are another 200 targets that aren't there anymore. Essentially, if Prescott is healthy, there are 300 targets available to Cooks. The point being, they have plenty of targets available to give to Cooks without disrupting things much at all. Even if we bump up the targets to Lamb and Gallup, there are still plenty of targets available for Cooks.
Dallas is going to have a much slower and less pass aggressive offense with Kellen Moore gone in my opinion. I think the pass attempts will be a lot closer to what they were last season than in 2021. Dallas was the #1 offense in the NFL in 2021, personally, I feel like using 2021 as an expectation is giving them too much credit. The OC is worse, the OL is worse, and I'd argue the weapons are worse too. I'm certainly not treating Prescott like a top-6 QB which he was in 2021.

On top of all that, I think this is the worst situation Cooks has ever been in, with a clear cut #1 ahead of him, in what I don't think will be an elite passing game. I've got Cooks as WR43, so he probably has no chance of ending up on any team of mine, and I say that as a guy who has typically been higher than average on Cooks throughout his career. I think 120 targets is probably an absolute ceiling for Cooks. No Cowboy other than Lamb has topped 104 in the last 2 seasons. I think 100 is a fair over/under.

Also of note, the Cowboys defense has gone from 28th to 7th to 5th the last 3 years, and could be even better this year, as they added Gilmore, and Parsons and Diggs are likely still on the way up. I think the stat McCarthy cared most about (wrongly in my opinion) was Dak leading the league in INT's, despite missing 5 games. That's why Moore was fired (again wrongfully in my opinion, I think that was more bad luck variance for Dak) replacing Moore with Brian Schottenheimer certainly leads me to think the passing volume is coming down a bit, and I think the hurts all the ancillary guys, but probably has little effect on Lamb, because he's the clearcut #1. If anything, my concern is that I might have Lamb too high at WR6, I could see Lamb being more of a low-end WR1.
Sure, factually the things you mentioned may be mostly true, but in full context they aren't necessarily apples to apples. In 2021, Cooper had 104 targets in 14 starts. Gallup had 62 targets in 8 starts. They didn't have bigger target numbers because they didn't play more games. Even if we project DAL to have a passing attempt total closer to 2022 than 2021, it still doesn't change that 200 targets are no longer on the roster from last year.

Given that, I would suggest that 120 targets should probably be expected out of Cooks, and not drawing the opposition's #1 CB could help him. Whether he can stay healthy every game is a different issue (obviously he won't get targets if he isn't in the lineup). Who else is going to get those targets if not Cook?

I also disagree about how often and how effective the passing game will be. Lamb / Cooks / Gallup is a trio that will be tough to defend against. I don't see them giving Pollard the volume of rushing attempts that Zeke used to get from a few years ago, but if he is effective, that will only help the passing attack.
 
The Athletic’s Jon Machota believes Brandin Cooks “should be the favorite” to finish second on the Cowboys in targets.
Machota didn’t stop at targets either. He also pegged Cooks as the team’s second leader in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. Though this isn’t much of a surprise, it does look like there could be a notable gap between Cooks and Michael Gallup this year. Cooks has had a strong camp while Gallup is coming off a down year. The ultimate ADP outperformer, Cooks has a path to get away with it again in 2023.
 
I think he has been lucky enough to play in some rooms where they didn't have options. Cowboys have Ceedee Gallup Tolbert and Cooks. That's a great room, but I don't see two 1,000 yard WR here.
 
Cooks is one of the few short WR I've ever even thought of drafting. I don't think he missed a game in college either. Still will probably pass on him where I'm picking.
I landed him in the 15th of an IDP redraft. With Jeudy out it’s either Cooks or Nico Collins. Imma probably roll with Cooks week 1. I think he’s easily the WR2 in DAL over Gallup.

I’m waffling though - I haven’t seen enough of Stroud to know if I can trust Nico yet.
 
I think he has been lucky enough to play in some rooms where they didn't have options. Cowboys have Ceedee Gallup Tolbert and Cooks. That's a great room, but I don't see two 1,000 yard WR here.
He's had very good QB luck (until Houston) that is for sure but he's earning targets IMO. You don't just keep racking up 1000 yard seasons because there's not good options in the passing game.
 
He's had very good QB luck (until Houston) that is for sure but he's earning targets IMO. You don't just keep racking up 1000 yard seasons because there's not good options in the passing game.
I think he's had kind of an amazing career, but I had the impression he was on bad WR corps.

Let's check:

2015, 2nd year. First big season. #2 WR was Willie Snead (Ghost of Colston as well)
2016 Michael Thomas arrives! Both have 1,000 yards
2017 Goes to Pats, He is #2 to Gronk, and next guy is Amendola\
2018 Rams: Woods and Kupp. Still gets 1,000
2019 Rams Kupp and Woods take over, he has a down year
And since then the Texans

To me, he has played with some thin WR rooms. Lamb, Gallup, and Tolbert I think seriously cap his upside.
 
He's had very good QB luck (until Houston) that is for sure but he's earning targets IMO. You don't just keep racking up 1000 yard seasons because there's not good options in the passing game.
I think he's had kind of an amazing career, but I had the impression he was on bad WR corps.

Let's check:

2015, 2nd year. First big season. #2 WR was Willie Snead (Ghost of Colston as well)
2016 Michael Thomas arrives! Both have 1,000 yards
2017 Goes to Pats, He is #2 to Gronk, and next guy is Amendola\
2018 Rams: Woods and Kupp. Still gets 1,000
2019 Rams Kupp and Woods take over, he has a down year
And since then the Texans

To me, he has played with some thin WR rooms. Lamb, Gallup, and Tolbert I think seriously cap his upside.
I don't know those sound like some pretty great players: Gronk, Thomas, Woods, Cupp, Amendola. Also I think the down year with the Rams was the year he had the concussion issues but I could be wrong. I thought his career was over there.
 
Nothing new this year. He continues to be undervalued every year and will outperform his ADP.

Between him and Tyler Lockett, they are undervalued every single fantasy draft and outperform every year barring injury.
 
Cowboys beat writer Clarence Hill says WR Brandin Cooks is dealing with a sprained MCL.

Cooks is not expected to practice today per head coach Mike McCarthy, who said Cooks would be working with the rehab group on Thursday. McCarthy and Cooks have both hinted at Cooks suiting up on Sunday against the Jets, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him sit this week out given the news. We’ll know more on Cooks’ status as we get closer to the weekend, but Michael Gallup would see a slight boost in fantasy value if Cooks were to sit.
 
Ooof, this guy....I think he is toast or maybe he's still in "me" mode from last year. Fortunately, I only have one share. He's about thiiiis close to getting dropped, ironically, for Gallup (or maybe Reynolds), whom he supposedly pushed to WR3 when he signed there. Anyone holding? Or who are you dropping him for?
 
Ooof, this guy....I think he is toast or maybe he's still in "me" mode from last year. Fortunately, I only have one share. He's about thiiiis close to getting dropped, ironically, for Gallup (or maybe Reynolds), whom he supposedly pushed to WR3 when he signed there. Anyone holding? Or who are you dropping him for?
Added him as a throw-in on a trade. I suppose that counts as a drop. I had to add a player to the deal due to roster requirements.
 
I have no idea why they paid a guy they have no intention of using.
Did they pay him? I thought they just traded for him. All I heard the whole offseason was that Dak was better than the Houston QBs and he would have another 1000 yard season like he has everywhere else.
 
I have no idea why they paid a guy they have no intention of using.
Did they pay him? I thought they just traded for him. All I heard the whole offseason was that Dak was better than the Houston QBs and he would have another 1000 yard season like he has everywhere else.
Not from me.

However I did say he was “QB-proof” and wouldn’t be surprised if he were the WR2 in DAL because Gallup wasn’t good.

Seems no one is QB-proof if they don’t throw to them.
 
I have no idea why they paid a guy they have no intention of using.
Did they pay him? I thought they just traded for him. All I heard the whole offseason was that Dak was better than the Houston QBs and he would have another 1000 yard season like he has everywhere else.
Not from me.

However I did say he was “QB-proof” and wouldn’t be surprised if he were the WR2 in DAL because Gallup wasn’t good.

Seems no one is QB-proof if they don’t throw to them.
I am just being snarky since I am a texans fan; it felt like the consensus was that we traded him away for scraps and Cowboys offense is going to rise with him even more with him
 

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