Fantasy Football Debate: Brandin Cooks vs Rashod Bateman

Brandin Cooks and Rashod Bateman have nearly identical ADPs on Underdog and are currently being drafted as the WR25 and WR26. In this debate, Jeff Hicks explains why he prefers the Texans' number one wideout while Chris Allen makes the argument for Bateman.

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The Case For Brandin Cooks

Jeff: My brothers and sisters in Christ(ian McCaffrey). It is 2022 and fantasy football players are still skipping over Brandin Cooks in drafts.

Stop. Especially if Rashod Bateman is the other option.

Receivers that produce like Cooks do not grow on trees, especially ones that have been consistently good in multiple offensive systems. Despite the questionable optics of being on his fourth team entering his ninth season, the former top-20 pick has only had one “bad” season. Since entering the league in 2014, Cooks has played at least 10 games every season and at least 14 in seven straight. Over those seven seasons, he has had one season below 1,037 yards. His quarterbacks since 2015 include Drew Brees, Luke McCown, Tom Brady, Jared Goff, Deshaun Watson, Tyrod Taylor, and Davis Mills.

Cooks has played with some top-end talent, but has also done well to adapt to new schemes and signal-callers. Adapting has led him to at least five touchdowns in six of eight seasons. That includes six last season with the transition from Watson to Taylor/Mills.

Let’s focus on the Mills-Cooks connection for a second. The duo connected well enough for Cooks to have three 100-yard receiving games (four for the season) and five scores. Mills threw 16 scores in his rookie season. There is enough evidence to show that Cooks is Mills’ favorite target and the two will have a full offseason to continue to build a bond in an offense that is returning only three pass catchers of note: WR Nico Collins, and TEs Brevin Jordan and Pharaoh Brown. Brown gets a nod because he has been a red zone target. Collins and Jordan are expected to take leaps forward this season as well, but neither are a threat to Cooks’ workload. If anything, Mills’ place atop the QB depth chart is great for all the holdovers. Houston has lacked consistent contributors for a few seasons in part to the trade of DeAndre Hopkins.

Another reason to like Cooks is Texans quarterbacks coach turned offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton. He is most known for his work with Andrew Luck at Stanford and the Indianapolis Colts, but Hamilton has been part of the reason Justin Herbert and Mills played well in their respective rookie seasons as he was the QB coach for Herbert and Mills during their rookie seasons. Talent and player personnel aside, Mills finished with a 0.2% completion percentage lower than Herbert, as well as a yards per completion 0.8 yards below the 2020 Offensive Rookie of the Year. Mills is not Herbert and showed why at times in 2021, but there is something behind taking and accepting coaching and translating it to the field.

This is Hamilton’s first NFL OC gig since Indy, a mixed bag at times, and it may be his last if he fizzles under head coach Lovie Smith. But his time spent with rookie signal-callers the past two seasons shows promise for the Texans' passing game.

Between roster continuity and improvements, Cooks is in a better spot than Rashod Bateman. Bateman is the top receiver for Baltimore, but not the top pass-catcher. Mark Andrews is going to dominate targets in the run-first Ravens offense. That speaks to how the Ravens coaching staff trusts the second-year wideout, but that means more pressure for a receiver group that got notably worse. Baltimore drafted two tight ends and a catch-passing running back and added zero receivers of note. Bateman is set to line up in three-wide sets with Devin Duvernay and James Proche II. Opposing defenses will not be afraid of those two and will focus their attention on QB Lamar Jackson, Andrews, and Bateman.

Quality of competition matters, too. Houston will face the AFC south (each team twice), AFC West, and NFC East. As of July, there are numerous defenses that are beatable in each of those divisions, especially teams such as the Giants and Titans. The Ravens get the AFC North (twice), AFC East, and NFC South.

Cooks is ranked 15th in 4for4’s 2022 full season rankings (half-PPR), 11 spots ahead of Bateman. The difference in their projections is 18 points or slightly more than one point per game—small when written, but important when winning and losing in fantasy comes down to decimal points. Bateman averaged 6.7 points per game his rookie season but would need to nearly double his production to match Cooks’ 11.7 points per contest. That is a lot to ask of a second-year wideout with very little comparable talent to keep defenses from game-planning around him. Cooks’ consistency and place in the Texans passing hierarchy make him the definitive choice over an improving but still green Bateman.

The Case for Rashod Bateman

Chris: Rashod Bateman and Brandin Cooks have ADPs at the backend of the early rounds. At this point, we’re past the wide receivers with clear top-20 potential. However, our draft targets should still have the ability to exceed their cost. Cooks has a WR26 price tag after finishing in the Top 20 in three of the past four seasons. His ceiling is certainly higher than his cost. But Bateman’s is much higher.

At first glance, Bateman’s rookie season looks like a disaster. He didn’t see the field until Week 6, was 38^th in receiving yards over the span, and only scored one touchdown. His advanced metrics weren’t much better. Amongst all wide receivers with 50 targets, Bateman was outside the top 40 in targets per route run (TPRR), yards per route run (YPRR), and YAC per reception. And Cooks was ahead of him in every category. So, instead of diving into more stats, let’s look at where Bateman was successful in 2021.

As always, Reception Perception lays the groundwork. Matt Harmon’s charting highlights Bateman’s success on intermediate routes like curls and dig, patterns requiring not just technique at the position but trust from the quarterback to make the throw. And most importantly, Harmon’s analysis contextualizes Bateman’s usage. He was their X-receiver, with 18.3% of his snaps played in the slot. His ability to be top-20 in success rate against both man and press coverage gave Baltimore’s passing game a boost. But they were only scratching the surface.

Elevated three WRs in my fantasy rankings at ESPN…



• Rashod Bateman

• JuJu Smith-Schuster

• Russell Gage



Projected target volume + offensive deployment/scheme. pic.twitter.com/xBmuHpuWwN

— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) June 28, 2022

Matt Bowen’s clip hints at what the Ravens’ coaching staff has in the works for this season. As noted in Reception Perception, Bateman’s calling card was gaining separation, but he could wreak havoc across the middle of the field on crossing concepts. We’ll see more of these plays from him in 2022, but with a healthy Lamar Jackson and the preferred starters along the offensive line and in the backfield, all of which add to the hype surrounding Baltimore’s WR1.

But we can’t extrapolate one clip over an entire season. And we already know Bateman’s on-field metrics didn’t translate to high-end fantasy results. Let’s zoom in on how Baltimore deployed him when Jackson was active. It’s a six-game sample, but our only window into the Ravens’ vision for the offense.

Now we’re talking. We already knew injuries mired not just Bateman’s rookie campaign but Baltimore’s season. He played nearly half of his games with Tyler Huntley. Adjusting for his alignment data and games played with Jackson put him ahead of Cooks in everything but TPRR. The film conclusions and his (adjusted) analytical profile indicate he would excel with more opportunities. And with Marquise Brown’s departure, we don’t have to wonder if he’ll see more volume this year.

Compare Jackson's passing grid with Bateman’s success by route chart. Jackson was average across the middle of the field at every level and struggled within 10 air yards. The exact areas Bateman shined. He’s the perfect fit for this offense with the need for a true alpha receiver. And Bateman’s profile points to this role being in his range of outcomes.

Again, I’m looking for ceiling outcomes at either receiver’s ADP. Cooks has had the targets and athleticism to buoy his fantasy value on an anemic offense. But Bateman will have a similar role on a team that ran more plays, passed more often, and still scored more touchdowns than the Texans despite all the injuries. And, he was more efficient and created more on his targets. I’ll take him ahead of Cooks in drafts every time.