Respect Your Elders: Brandin Cooks (Fantasy Football)

It’s NFL kickoff week and most fantasy drafts must be already in the books. Still, I figured I’d write a final article for the Respect Your Elders series to highlight a player that you can still get in the vast majority of leagues even if your draft is already over.

I’m talking about the Dallas Cowboys’ WR Brandin Cooks, a player who has been disrespected by ageists for many years. And of course, now that he is 30 years old he is being left for dead in fantasy drafts. Let’s take a look at his situation and find out if he can still bring something interesting to your fantasy roster.

If you want to check out what Andy, Mike, and Jason think of Brandin Cooks and in what tier they have him ranked among the rest of WRs, don’t forget to get the UDK+.

How Is He Being Disrespected?

Brandin Cooks is not a young wide receiver. That’s for sure. But after finishing as the WR36 last season, he is being drafted as the WR58 (156th overall). In other words, he is not being drafted at all in most leagues. And now he’s been sidelined from practice for personal reasons since last week, which gives fantasy managers another reason to fade him in drafts. But he should be ready for Week 1 and he definitely deserves a little more respect. Allow me to show you why.

A Respectable 2023 Season

I already mentioned Brandin Cooks was the WR36 in 2023. You might think this is his ceiling. Well, what if I told you that he was the WR16 during the second half of the season? He might have had a slow start, but he finished inside the top 12 in receiving touchdowns. His volume was closer to WR3 territory but that’s still well above his current ADP. 

Possible Signs of Decay

Brandin Cooks has already crossed the feared 30-year-old age cliff for wide receivers. He has eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark six times in his career and it’s not very likely he’ll do it again. He hasn’t even reached 700 yards in the last two seasons. So he might not have what it takes to be an alpha WR anymore, but he can still make an impact in fantasy football.

He didn’t have a special amount of targets but he was pretty efficient with what he got, averaging 2.14 fantasy points per target. Only 11 WRs averaged more than that in 2023. He excelled at contested catches and had a 94.7% true catch rate, which considers only the targets that were deemed catchable. This means Brandin Cooks can still fight for the ball and make the best of his opportunities, especially in the red zone and as a deep threat. 

If you’re wondering if he can still run at his age, he ranked 21st in aDOT, averaging 13.2 yards per target. Going deep is one of his specialties. Since his 2014 debut, he’s had 36 receptions of 40+ yards. Only Tyreek Hill and Mike Evans have more. He is still a deep threat and an important weapon in Dak Prescott’s arsenal.

Let them Cook(s) @dak @brandincooks for the TD!

: #WASvsDAL on CBS
: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/N5H8Nc0xKc pic.twitter.com/WiTYcrkG0g

— NFL (@NFL) November 23, 2023

What to Expect in 2024

Michael Gallup is gone and he left 51 targets up for grabs. Cooks should inherit enough of this volume to get closer to TE Jake Ferguson, who was the Cowboys’ second-most targeted receiver. Jalen Tolbert could be the only menace to Cooks’ volume, but he should at least get a little more than what he got in 2023.

When asked about the Cowboys’ offseason moves, Brandin Cooks said that their lack of important moves is a compliment to the team, because the front office feels they have a group that has what it takes to win games. He likes to compete and will fight to prove them right. He has also said in some interviews that after his first season as a Cowboy, Mike McCarthy now knows what he is capable of doing and he expects to become more involved in the game plan. If he was the WR16 during the second half of the season and Dallas is trying to maintain the structure and momentum they built during that stretch, it’s not crazy to consider Brandin Cooks a WR3 in fantasy with WR2 potential.

Ceedee Lamb recently became the second-highest-paid WR in the NFL. His name and personality are big enough now for defenses to focus on guarding him at all costs. This will open some great opportunities for Brandin Cooks to become Dak Prescott’s go-to guy in certain situations and exploit his ability to run deep routes and win contested catches.

Conclusion

It would be unfair to compare him to his teammate Ceedee Lamb, but Brandin Cooks is a solid wide receiver on a team that will pass the ball a lot. It might not be exciting to draft him but the good news is you don’t have to. In the great majority of leagues, you can get him for free after your draft as a free agent and see how things go in the first weeks. Worst case, you get a bench player with flex upside. Best case, you get what Brandin Cooks did during last season’s final stretch: perform as a trustworthy WR2 with solid volume and red-zone involvement in a high-passing volume offense. If he is still available in your league, don’t miss this opportunity to respect an elder who might be a big contributor to your fantasy football season.