Dynasty Impact Of The Brandin Cooks Trade, To The Houston Texans
With everyone being in hibernation, as I call it, due to COVID-19, football fans everywhere are looking forward to the NFL Rookie Draft, as a sign of normalcy. However, the NFL couldn’t wait until then. On Thursday, April 9th the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Rams struck a deal that now has everyone talking about something other than the change in the NFL Rookie Draft or when the season will start. Brandin Cooks traded again, let’s examine the Brandin Cooks trade, to Houston, along with some pros and cons and how this impacts dynasty owners of other Rams and Texans players.
DFD April ADP: 107 WR: 30
Dynasty Football Digest April ADP
The Trade
Houston Texans Get:
WR Brandin Cooks
2022 4th round pick
————————
Los Angeles Rams Get:
57th overall pick in this years NFL Draft
Pros
When the Texans traded star receiver, DeAndre Hopkins (27) to the Arizona Cardinals, earlier in the off-season, that left a huge void on their wide receiver depth chart. Not only did it leave the Texans without a stud at wide receiver, but it also made 150 targets, from 2019, up for grabs. I know that Cooks (26) won’t be filling the shoes of Hopkins perfectly, but let’s take a look and see how close he can come to that.
The Texans' #1 WR went from D'Andre Hopkins to Brandin Cooks. Hopkins had over double the amount of targets (150-72) and receptions (104-42) in 2019.
Hopkins: 1165 yd, 7 TD, 69.3 catch %, 7.8 yd/target, 3.7 YAC/rec
Cooks: 583 yd, 2 TD, 58.3 catch %, 8.1 yd/target, 4.0 YAC/rec pic.twitter.com/yoGKVvrg7b
— Trade Bait Podcast (@BaitTrade) April 10, 2020
Career Stats
(Pro-Football-Reference)
Since 2015, here’s how Brandin Cooks has finished in fantasy football. This is based on 12 team leagues.
*2015 – WR13 *2016 – WR11 *2017 – WR13 *2018 – WR14 2019 – WR64
*= 1,000 yard + seasons with three different teams
That Brandin Cooks catch & play to stay inbounds was incredible. Think this guy will work out well in New England.👌🏻 https://t.co/kRI0fQHHIe
— Amy Murray (@VTDukefan) September 25, 2017
So as you can see, Cooks can be a WR1 not only for the Texans but also for fantasy owners. He’s finished as a low-end WR1/high end WR2 four times, since 2015. What’s also working in Brandin’s favor is that he continues to be part of pass-first offenses. Here’s who he’s been catching passes from, over his career. Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Jared Goff, and now Deshaun Watson. Cooks doesn’t have much competition for targets, in Houston. The Texas wide receiver depth chart now looks like this, Brandin Cooks, Will Fuller, Kenny Stills, and Randall Cobb. Lastly, Watson (24) and Cooks (26) are young and in their primes. If the two can develop chemistry then given the style of offense, these two could be a nice 1-2 punch in the NFL and for Dynasty. Watson has lost some value going from Hopkins to Cooks catching passes.
Cons
When it comes to dynasty assets a lot of that is built on what have you done for me lately?? Well, as I highlighted earlier, in 2019 Cooks finished with his worst overall statistical season. He’s also missed 2 games, last season and 8 games total since 2016, due to injury. Also, working against Cooks is his perception and how NFL teams and dynasty owners are viewing him. Most people don’t think of him as a wide receiver one, that can help elevate their team to the next level. That’s illustrated in the two images below, one of those is Brandin’s new team, the Texans.
2019 Season (Source – CBS Sports)
2020 Season (Rotoworld)
Dynasty Impact
As of now, I see Kenny Stills as Cooks’ biggest competition for targets. However, I’m also assuming that the Texans will add another wide receiver or two, but then again who knows. If you own Cooks and are a believer of him in Houston, then hold him and see how things turn out. You could also wait and see how much more his value goes up and see if you can sell high. Based on his current DFD April ADP: 107 WR: 30, I’m expecting that to certainly increase, but how much, we’ll see in May, when those ADP rankings come out. If you aren’t a believer of him, in his new landing spot, then I’d look to sell him. Below are some trades that could be made, as of now, using the IDP Guys trade calculator. I realize that not everyone is going to agree with these trades as being possible, but there are people, in the dynasty community, who might consider these.
Trade 1 Possibility
Trade 2 Possibility
At the time of this trade, I feel the biggest beneficiary on the Los Angeles Rams side is the tight end, Tyler Higbee. Josh Reynolds also gets a slight increase in value, but his value will become clearer after the NFL Rookie Draft. Cooks’ departure leaves 72 targets, from last season, up for grabs. Thank you for reading this article, on the Brandin Cooks trade. If you have any comments or feedback please let me know. Good luck to everyone during this unprecedented time and stay safe.
