Brandin Cooks

[Shoeshine Boy]

Cooks is short and has short arms and small hands...if you're expecting him to be Julio Jones and win a bunch of contested balls you're probably going to be disappointed. A guy like Antonio Brown that can do that in spite of being that small is the exception, not the rule. And AB didn't really blow up until his 4th year in the league.

And while Cooks may now be 4 years into the league, he's also still only 24 years old and he changed teams before his 4th year. The guy the Saints drafted with the pick we traded for Cooks is 7 months younger than him! We've been spoiled by the way Moss and Welker stepped right in and blew up here...that isn't often the case when a WR changes teams. If he never gets any better, that's still a good ROI on the 32nd pick, but there's plenty of reasons to feel good about his chances to get better. I'm not saying I expect him to turn into Antonio Brown (though his numbers for his first 4 seasons total are actually better than Brown's were), but I think he'll definitely improve.

 

[Yankee Traveler]

Y

Shouldn't he have known he WAS the target though?

Assuming that all plays have a primary, secondary and tertiary target, yes he should have known which he was in that progression.
Maybe he was secondary and assumed he would not be targeted.

 

[CreepCreep2014]

Cooks was brought in to get separation from CB's that the WR couldn't do last yr in the playoffs. He just needs to hold onto the ones he can hold onto. Some of those passes deep could have been contested better from him, but Brady could have thrown the balls better than he did. Cooks was wide open and Brady shorted the pass to him vs Tenn. Shit happens. This is where he makes his money. He either catches 0 with Ramsey on him, or he catches 5 with Ramsey on Gronk...time to earn that extension young man.

 

[YankeeRebel]

He does look skeered to me but I'll take over Dorsett for DAMN SURE

 

[redseat]

He does look skeered to me but I'll take over Dorsett for DAMN SURE

He's still on the team? lol

 

[Southieinnc]

Don't get me wrong the dude is super fast and his numbers aren't bad BUT...........


He should be catching more passes then he does imo. Last nights game was a prime example. It just seems like he "limp wrists" trying to catch the long ball from Brady. There is no way we truly can tell if he would have caught that deep pass but to me it didn't look like he tried as hard as he should have.. Didn't really even extend his arms out all that much...

I've never played football so I shouldn't talk, I know and stop arm chair QBing it but I seen him catch passes and drop them and should catch more than he does

Thoughts?

Why not? You called it.....

 

[BigKen]

Cooks is short and has short arms and small hands...if you're expecting him to be Julio Jones and win a bunch of contested balls you're probably going to be disappointed. A guy like Antonio Brown that can do that in spite of being that small is the exception, not the rule. And AB didn't really blow up until his 4th year in the league.

And while Cooks may now be 4 years into the league, he's also still only 24 years old and he changed teams before his 4th year. The guy the Saints drafted with the pick we traded for Cooks is 7 months younger than him! We've been spoiled by the way Moss and Welker stepped right in and blew up here...that isn't often the case when a WR changes teams. If he never gets any better, that's still a good ROI on the 32nd pick, but there's plenty of reasons to feel good about his chances to get better. I'm not saying I expect him to turn into Antonio Brown (though his numbers for his first 4 seasons total are actually better than Brown's were), but I think he'll definitely improve.

You make a couple of good points here, but........

How many times have you seen Mitchell, Dorsett or Amendols or even more, Edelman actually dive and extend themselves to pull in a catch?? How many times did we see Cooks actually lay himself out in the air, diving, arms fully extended and make a great catch?? How many times was he upright, arms halfway out and see a ball drop 12" in front of him? How many times did Cooks catch a ball and get an extra 5,6,7 yards? I've got 9, 2017 games on DVR and watch at least two three different ones every week. I know almost all of them by heart, and seen them so often that I find myself looking for what made certain plays work and what happened when they didn't. With Cooks, it often appears to be his personal effort to make something work.

My opinion is that Cooks is constantly worrying about getting hit hard and possibly getting injured. As Shoeshine said, he's small all the way around in what is becoming as truly Big Man's Game in all areas. Potentially exposing oneself to injury is part of plying in the NFL every week. If you can't do it, then you should look for another line of work. If you won't do it, then eventually your quarterback and team mates will call you out......................As Tom Brady so quietly said, "I won't miss him, It doesn't make me sad to him go."

 

[Yankee Traveler]

As Tom Brady so quietly said, "I won't miss him, It doesn't make me sad to him go."

This.

 

[nefansince75]

You make a couple of good points here, but........

How many times have you seen Mitchell, Dorsett or Amendols or even more, Edelman actually dive and extend themselves to pull in a catch?? How many times did we see Cooks actually lay himself out in the air, diving, arms fully extended and make a great catch?? How many times was he upright, arms halfway out and see a ball drop 12" in front of him? How many times did Cooks catch a ball and get an extra 5,6,7 yards? I've got 9, 2017 games on DVR and watch at least two three different ones every week. I know almost all of them by heart, and seen them so often that I find myself looking for what made certain plays work and what happened when they didn't. With Cooks, it often appears to be his personal effort to make something work.

My opinion is that Cooks is constantly worrying about getting hit hard and possibly getting injured. As Shoeshine said, he's small all the way around in what is becoming as truly Big Man's Game in all areas. Potentially exposing oneself to injury is part of plying in the NFL every week. If you can't do it, then you should look for another line of work. If you won't do it, then eventually your quarterback and team mates will call you out......................As Tom Brady so quietly said, "I won't miss him, It doesn't make me sad to him go."

I sometimes don't get opinions stated here. I get and agree with all your assertions here. I don't understand the bitchin about Dorsett because some of the few passes sent his way did require him to lay out and he did. He may not have made the absolute most of his opportunities, but lack of use can sometimes explain that....

Back to Cooks, he never did seem to make an extra effort and often stopped his route, dropped balls or missed plays by inches when it was clear he had the extra inches to give. Then the decisions, like hurdling someone in the SB when he probably could have turned on the jets and leaped for the pylon. If he makes that play in the SB we probably win that game.

 

[Yankee Traveler]

I sometimes don't get opinions stated here. I get and agree with all your assertions here. I don't understand the bitchin about Dorsett because some of the few passes sent his way did require him to lay out and he did. He may not have made the absolute most of his opportunities, but lack of use can sometimes explain that....

Back to Cooks, he never did seem to make an extra effort and often stopped his route, dropped balls or missed plays by inches when it was clear he had the extra inches to give. Then the decisions, like hurdling someone in the SB when he probably could have turned on the jets and leaped for the pylon. If he makes that play in the SB we probably win that game.

Dorsett was targeted 18 times with 12 receptions. Most times he was double and triple covered if he did not come down with the ball. But he tried.
Cooks couldn't make the effort when he was open.

 

[redseat]

Why not? You called it.....

I think it's the first time I actually was correct about something on here. I feel honored

 

[Yankee Traveler]

I think it's the first time I actually was correct about something on here. I feel honored

Nah.
You are right all the time.
Not ALL the time like as often as my wife, but often.

 

[redseat]

Nah.
You are right all the time.
Not ALL the time like as often as my wife, but often.

i knew i liked u, lol