Brandin Cooks quickly getting up to speed in 1st New Orleans Saints training camp
By
Evan Woodbery, NOLA.com | The Times-PicayuneThe Times-Picayune
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on July 27, 2014 at 3:40 PM, updated July 27, 2014 at 7:11 PM
White Sulphur Springs, W. Va. -- The
New Orleans Saints already knew that first-round draft pick
Brandin Cooks was fast.
Now c
oaches are finding out that the rookie receiver is a fast learner, too.
Cooks set single-season conference records during his final year at Oregon State, catching 128 passes for 1,730 yards. Those numbers -- and his blazing speed during workouts -- impressed the S
aints, who traded up to make him the 20th overall pick.
Although Cooks signed a lucrative contract and was ready to embark on his new career, he was trapped in Corvallis, Ore., by an NFL rule requiring draftees to complete their academic semester.
The well-intentioned guideline was meant to prevent picks from bailing on their last semester of studies. But as O
regon State's quarter system pushed classes deep into the summer, the rule kept Cooks from valuable learning time in New Orleans.
"He's picking things up," said Saints coach Sean Payton. "With the time he spent (at Oregon State) in the offseason, he was kind of behind a little bit. But catching up (this week) has helped."
When Cooks met with the media for the first time on Sunday at the Saints' training camp at the Greenbrier resort, most of his teammates had fled for shelter from the pounding rain that arrived just as practice was wrapping up. But he soldiered on, getting drenched at the podium as thunder crackled behind him. Despite Oregon's reputation for rain, the experience was a new one, he said.
The NFL experience has also been new, but Cooks said much of the transition has been mental.
"I'm learning that everyone's smarter on the field," Cooks said. "The pace is not that much faster than college, but those vets out there do this for a living and have been playing for plenty of years."
How can Cooks keep up? "I have to gain more knowledge and watch more film."
Cooks said he spent more than a week training with quarterback
Drew Brees in San Diego this summer, which helped him "catch up" after missing the summer organized team activities due to class requirements.
Brees has been impressed with Cooks' hunger for knowledge.
"He absorbs it very quickly and goes out and applies it," Brees said.
Cooks' physical gifts are unquestioned, despite his small size. (Cooks is listed at 5-foot-10 and 189 pounds).
On Friday, the first day of camp,
Cooks got behind the Saints' secondary, waited for a slightly underthrown Brees pass and leaped over rookie safety Ty Zimmerman for the catch.
On Sunday, Cooks showed that he doesn't back down from contact. When cornerback
Patrick Robinson tried to jam him at the line of scrimmage, Cooks cut his downfield and caught a deep pass from Brees.
Cooks said he takes pride in his success despite being a smaller receiver.
"Obviously you like your big guys, but some special things come with us smaller guys that the bigger guys can't do," he said.
Payton said the early reviews of Cooks have been encouraging, and coaches will find a way to make sure he's involved in the offense.
"He
's explosive. He's made some plays," Payton said. "There will be a handful of things we have to do to get him touches whether it is through the passing game, whether it is through handoffs or bubble screens. He has some versatility."
What about special teams? Cooks seems like an obvious choice to assume
the punt returning job, at the very least, and he's been among a handful of players fielding punts in early practices. Despite his speed, Cooks only returned punts in his final year at Oregon State, averaging six yards over 12 returns.
Kickoff returns aren't as pressing a concern because of the frequency of touchbacks in the NFL (especially in the warm and domed NFC South), but Cooks has experience doing that, too.
"I feel like I will be asked to do both," Cooks said. " I've been repping kick and punt returns, so it is just a matter of where they want to put me and where they feel more comfortable putting me at."
