I have been seeing a lot on the internet about this guy since he declared for the draft last week.. He is small in stature, 5'10 and 186 pounds, but had a tremendous season at Oregon State, posting up 1,730 receiving yards and 16 TD's!!! Looks like he is a projected 2nd rounder at this point. Does anybody know anything about this kid.. Could he be worth selecting in the 2nd round.. I really want a 6'3+ receiver to be our #1, but this guy looks pretty explosive and could possibly be our #2 guy.
His numbers are ridiculous (128 receptions!). He has great quickness and it will be interesting to see how he times. If he's sub 4.4, he could certainly be a nice option to take the top off a defense, line up in the slot, return kicks, gadgets etc.. If he comes in at 4.6, we already have that in Kerley, so it would not be addressing a position of need.
Explosive player that is excellent after the catch with quickness and making defenders miss. Plays very physical for his size. I mentioned this before, reminds me of a young Santana Moss. The combine and pro days are going to help slot all of these WRs. Cooks may rise into Rd 1 with good #s. You must realize that all these WRs wouldn't make it into Rd 1, not every team needs a WR and most teams that draft in Round 1 draft based on need, not BPA. Teams tend to start to use the BPA scenario after Rd 1.
Extremely dynamic player that I think ultimately could turn into a better pro that Tavon Austin. Cooks is more of a WR than Tavon who I see as an offensive weapon. He's not as fast or doesnt have the same ability to make someone miss, but hes not too far off. If we could get a solid player like Eric Decker in FA, Id love Cooks. He has very good hands for his size, isnt a body catcher, and gets a lot of separation on routes.
So you guys are saying he projects more as a slot guy and not a #2? Would rather not replace Kerley to be honest.
Cooks can play anywhere on the field, the "slot term" is often used too loosely. Just because a player isn't over 6' doesn't mean he can't play the outside. Santana Moss has played all over the field, deep, inside & outside. I also hate the label the WR # 1 or #2, just line up and play. The term # of a WR is basicly if he's starting and their # on the depth chart.
Lets say we take one of these guys Ebron/Amaro/Lee/Watkins/Evans/Benjamin with our first round pick... And Cooks is sitting there for the taking at our second round pick.. Should we take him? Sounds like any of the above first round guys and Cooks in second would solve our receiving problems. If he is that explosive and could be better than Tavon, we could deff use him on the Jets.
Really impressive physically & production wise. You wonder if his best role moving forward would be as a #2/KR/PR Ala Desean Jackson.Which is far from a bad thing.
Watkins will be gone in top 10 so non factor there. Evans most likely will be gone as well as long as he runs solid 40 time. Amaro and Cooks gives us two immediate impact receivers. So does Matthews and Cooks. Kelvin has so much upside and he plays like a beast and he and Cooks would be another nice combo.
Does MM need/want a player like that? I hope that this FO will go BPA but at least try to match talent with our coaching staff. I think Cooks might be an ideal fit as another poster pointed out.
I'm going off the thought that this big wr will not have cooks quickness and separation. If he does, then that'd be even better. We're not a very vertical offense though, so how much does the height help us?
Both Holmes(yes I know he'll more then likely be gone) & Kearly make a living going across the middle of the field. What we need is a WR to stretch the field and open things up. A big TE is #1 on my wish list.
In theory (and I'll get killed for this), Hill can be and is that guy. Hill can make that big play that takes the top off the defense. That's not to say that Hill isn't without a lot of flaws...he's got tons of them. But if you're just looking for a guy to stretch the field, you don't need that to be your #1 WR. Agreed that Holmes is likely gone (and good riddance). As far as I'm concerned, he's a poor man's Steve Smith who drops too many passes. Kerley is best served in the slot. What I love about Kerley is that he's our 3rd down guy...our team suffered tremendously without him. He's a great security blanket. I don't know that Cooks is necessarily the guy to be our #1, but he's got the potential to be. Could he be our DeSean Jackson? Maybe better? If it were up to me, I would use our #1 pick on Ebron if he's there. Personally, he's my favorite of the TEs because I think he's the most complete TE. I want a guy that can catch, but is also going to be an asset in the running game. I think that would be good for developing any QB, whether it's Geno or a newcomer. I would then look for either Matthews or Cooks in the 2nd. I'm sure there's a few other WRs I'd entertain. If there's one they really like, I wouldn't have a problem with trading up if they saw a fit. Just don't give up a ton to do it, and I'm on board.
Cooks gets better separation than any WR in the draft and is tough. He is fast, too. Ideal WR in a WCO. Cooks vs. Ekpre-Olomu was really fun to watch this year. Two terrific talents. JMO.