5 players who Houston Texans need to be great in 2020
4. WR Brandin Cooks
Coming off the worst season of his career (42 catches for 583 yards, two touchdowns), the Texans gave up a second-round pick in this year’s draft to get Cooks and a fourth-round pick from the Rams. Cooks has now been traded three times in his career, entering his seventh NFL season with five documented concussions. This time around, the Rams took a financial bath just to unload him.
I believe that the $21.8M cap charge for Cooks will be the largest single year dead money charge ever taken for a player, surpassing the $21.12M the Steelers took for Antonio Brown last year.
— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) April 10, 2020
Prior to last year, when a concussion and a reduced role when he was healthy drove his numbers down, Cooks was pretty productive. He topped 1,000 yards with more than 100 targets in four straight seasons from 2015-2018 (1,100 yards or more three times). He averaged at least 15 yards per catch in the last three of those campaigns, with at least seven touchdowns in the first three. And he will still turn just 27 in September, so if he can stay on the field (a big if, obviously) there’s upside to be tapped with an upgrade in quarterback in Houston.
Bill O’Brien has replaced Hopkins, one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, with Cooks, who has never been on that level. So Cooks will have to step his game up this year on yet another new team. Expecting Hopkins-like numbers is unrealistic, but a return to something like 80 catches for 1,100 yards and 7-10 touchdowns would be fine.