The New Orleans Saints continued their aggressive offseason plan by trading the No. 27 and No. 91 overall picks to the Arizona Cardinals for their pick at No. 20 overall. Wide receiver was one of the team's greatest needs, and they promptly addressed it with their first pick by selecting Brandin Cooks out of Oregon State. The Saints have made it clear that they are playing to win now, and with a roster that is limited on salary cap space this year and next, you can't blame them. It's very likely that they saw Cooks as the last of a four wide receiver first tier that included Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans, and Odell Bekcham Jr. From my film study, I would find it hard to argue with that assessment.
While a few wide receivers left on the board offered past college production or upside, Cooks was the final wide receiver left who can make a case that he offers both. Cooks measures in at a shade under 5-foot-10 and 189 pounds. At the NFL Combine, he ran a 4.33 forty-yard-dash, which stood as the fasted at his position and the second-fasted overall. According to Mock Draftable, his 10 yard dash (1.50 seconds), 20 yard shuttle (3.81 seconds), and 60 yard shuttle (10.72 seconds) put him in the 96th, 99th, and 99th percentile, respectively among other players at his position.
Aside from his unique athleticism, he also produced on the field. Over his 38 game career, he's compiled 226 catches for 3,272 yards and 24 touchdowns. In college, he offered production in the running game as well, adding 61 rushing attempts for 340 yards and two touchdowns. With Markus Wheaton in the NFL, Cooks broke out in 2013. In 13 games, he caught 128 passes for 1,730 yards and 16 touchdowns. Including his rushing stats, he finished with just less than 2,000 yards from scrimmage at 1,947 with 18 touchdowns.
On tape, he shows some areas where he needs improvement, but other areas where he is already dominant. During the pre-draft process I evaluated every snap from four of his games in 2013, which included games against Stanford, Colorado, Hawaii, and Utah. Cooks ranked number four on my wide receiver big board, which has played out as I designed until now. From what I saw, every time Cooks got his hands on the ball, he was a threat to take it to the house. He displayed a unique speed, as mentioned above, but he was also very quick in the open field and showed great lateral agility and explosion. Cooks saw a lot of double teams in the games I watched, and his stats prove that he was able to consistently defeat them.
When watching Cooks, I worry about how his size might translate to the NFL. He is not a consistent receiver when he tries to run crossing routes and other routes over the middle, and given his tiny size, it's hard to see this improving against NFL-caliber cornerbacks. Cooks also has an arm length of 30 and '¾ inches, which is uniquely small for his position. According to Draft Mockable again, his arm length slots him in the 16th percentile among all wide receivers. Combined with his height, this has the potential to be a major problem because it leaves him with a very small catch radius. He struggled to make the catch on high passes around his shoulder level and above.
If Cooks struggles with consistency as an outside receiver due to his size and strength, he still has the potential to make an impact right away. Quite simply, Cooks is a great fit for Sean Payton's offensive scheme. Payton can use him in the slot, where Marques Colston struggled to make any big plays in 2013 despite playing over 299 snaps in the slot, according to Pro Football Focus. Cooks can also be used out of the backfield and replace the role Darren Sproles has played since 2011. This was one of the major questions facing them this offseason, and they addressed it right away.
Overall, Cooks presents a great value for the Saints. From reviewing them both, I think he projects to be a better version of last year's No. 8 overall pick, Tavon Austin. While both players have similar speed, lateral agility, and lateral explosion, Cooks is already a more established vertical route runner.
The Saints made another aggressive move that is very likely to pay off right away.
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