Brandin Cooks Will Take Some Pressure Off of Dak Prescott
Similar to their trade for Stephon Gilmore, the Cowboys acquired a player in Brandin Cooks who is as polished as they come at his position. And they did so for just a 5th-round pick this year and a 6th rounder in 2024.
Cooks has six 1,000-yard receiving seasons under his belt in his 9-year career. Those have come with 5 different quarterbacks, which just serves as proof that he adds value wherever he plays. That’s exactly what Dallas needed at the wide receiver position heading into 2023.
Cowboys fans might already be aware of this, but outside of CeeDee Lamb, they didn’t really have a ton of consistent weapons in the passing game a year ago. Pairing Cooks with Lamb means that Dak Prescott will have two receivers who can win 1-on-1’s. It goes without saying that having more receivers who can consistently get open will give Prescott more options and help cut down on the interceptions that plagued him throughout 2022.
So what type of player are the Cowboys actually getting in Cooks? Probably the best way to describe him is that he’s a professional receiver and an excellent route runner:
Cooks can win vs. man. He knows how to find the soft spots in zone. He has the quickness to shake defenders in press and he understands how to attack leverage in off-coverage. And while he spends the majority of his time on the outside (roughly 75% of snaps), he can align in the slot as well.
Here are a couple of examples of Cooks beating his man at the line of scrimmage: