Fantasy Upside
In his one season in New England, Brandin Cooks caught 65 passes for 1,082 yards with seven touchdowns. That production was good for WR7, making it three consecutive years that Cooks has finished in the top 12. Coming off three-straight 1,000-yard seasons, Cooks now joins one of the best offenses in the NFL under Sean McVay. The Rams spent the entire offseason talking their new receiver up and committed to him long term by signing him to a new five-year, $80 million extension that runs through 2023. While there are plenty of mouths to feed in L.A., Cooks heads into the season as the team's No. 1 receiver.
Fantasy Downside
There's a couple of reasons to be cautious about drafting Cooks. For starters, he'll fight for targets with Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, and running back Todd Gurley. Secondly, while Jared Goff is coming off a breakout season, he still represents a downgrade for Cooks after the latter played with Tom Brady last season. Finally, the Rams traded for Sammy Watkins a year ago and were reportedly interested in committing to him long term but he was often an afterthought in McVay's offense. If Cooks is going to be relegated to only a deep threat, then he'll serve as a boom-or-bust fantasy option all season.
2018 Bottom Line
Be careful here. Cooks' role has yet to be specified and the Rams strive for balance offensively. The offense didn't generate a high volume of pass attempts a year ago and McVay strived to spread the ball around. Watkins did score eight touchdowns last season but he was basically a vertical threat that cleared space for Gurley, Woods, and Kupp. That made Watkins a frustrating fantasy player a year ago and if Cooks winds up having the same role, he'll have big games but will also be inconsistent week to week. Ranked as our No. 26 WR heading into the preseason, view Cooks as a WR3.
