PAST PRODUCTION
| Year | Team | Targets | Receptions | Yards | TDs |
| 2014 | Saints | 69 | 53 | 550 | 3 |
| 2015 | Saints | 129 | 84 | 1,138 | 9 |
| 2016 | Saints | 117 | 78 | 1,173 | 8 |
| 2017 | Patriots | 114 | 65 | 1,082 | 7 |
| 2018 | Rams | 117 | 80 | 1,204 | 5 |
| 2019 | Rams | 72 | 42 | 583 | 2 |
Brandin Cooks’ dynasty profile is one fantasy owners have had struggles with to this point in his career. Cooks was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Cooks was a part-time player as a rookie, but he really broke out in his sophomore season, going over 1,100 receiving yards and scoring nine TDs. That 2015 campaign was the beginning of a four-year stretch in which Cooks never finished worse than the WR15. He also topped 115 targets and 1,000 receiving yards in each of those seasons despite playing for three different teams. In 2019, Cooks’ streak of dominance came to an end. He appeared in 14 games for the Rams but finished with career-lows in receptions and TDs as he spent the majority of the season battling concussion issues.
2020 OUTLOOK
In April of 2020, Brandin Cooks was traded for the third time in his career, this time to the Houston Texans. His new quarterback, Deshaun Watson, was 4th in the league in deep attempts last season and 8th in deep completion %, while Jared Goff was 22nd and 30th, respectively. This dramatic upgrade should lead to more explosive plays and boom weeks as Cooks is utilized downfield more effectively.
Passing volume is the primary concern for Cooks. Deshaun Watson was on a 16-game pace of 528 attempts in 2019. Houston’s porous defense could force that number up to around 550 in 2020, but that’s still fewer attempts than any offense Cooks has been a part of in his career. Applying the 19.5% target share that he averaged across his 2015-2018 stretch would leave him with 107 targets. That probably won’t be enough to vault him back into the high-end WR2 range, but I expect he’ll have no trouble smashing his current ADP of WR35.
DYNASTY ANALYSIS
Under normal circumstances, a 26-year-old WR with four 1,000 yard seasons and four top-15 finishes would be a blue-chip dynasty asset. Unfortunately, Brandin Cooks has sustained an alarming number of concussions in his career. There is a fear that Cooks could be one big hit away from retirement. Furthermore, Cooks could be looking for a new home as soon as 2021. The Texans will have the option to cut Cooks following the 2020 season for $0 in dead cap or pick up his 3-year, $46 million option.
If you own Brandin Cooks, now is not the time to sell. You’ll have the chance to recoup a lot more value if Cooks can emerge from 2020 with a clean bill of health and demonstrate chemistry with Deshaun Watson.
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