Rarely does it happen where you push for a player for the entire off-season knowing that the odds are against you and popular opinion in your fan base is they want another… and you still get your guy. The feeling of absolute elation I had last night when the Saints traded up to get Brandin Cooks is one I have not experienced in the draft before. It’s partly due to the fact that the guy goes to my school but also because of the impact I know he is going to have for the team. Cooks is far more than just a speedy receiver who can take the top off the defense, (a la DeSean Jackson or even Devery Henderson) Cooks is a true honest to God weapon that Sean Payton is going to take sadistic pleasure in torturing defenses with for the next decade. I could easily write an entire post simply crowing about how happy I am the Saints got him and the fact that I called both the trade and the pick, but I won’t (much). Instead let’s take a quick look at just what makes Cooks such a phenomenal pick up for the Saints.
EXPLOSIVENESS: Receivers come in all shapes and sizes and they also come with all sorts of skillsets, but when it comes to the ability to make explosive plays some combination of three things are needed. Speed, Quickness and fluidity. Speed and quickness sound like practically the same thing, but they are not. Darren Sproles wasn’t a deadly weapon because he was fast…lots of guys have straight line speed who weren’t nearly as effective. He was deadly because he possessed a rare blend of elite quickness and fluidity that allowed him to make defenders look positively stupid on a regular basis. In that regard the comparisons between him and Cooks are entirely warranted because Brandin may actually be a little quicker…scary right? However, what makes Cooks the bigger threat is that he also has the kind of top end speed that terrifies defenses; Cooks is a true threat from any spot on the field and in any formation which gives the Saints the ability to be dangerous literally from endzone to endzone…something they haven’t had in a while.
CONSISTENCY: Cooks isn’t just some slot guy with moves or a deep threat like DeSean (who some keep insisting on comparing him too even though they couldn’t be more different as players). If that’s all he was he would still have value, but wouldn’t necessarily be a total game changer for the team. What he really is is an all around receiver who runs a full route tree and can be lethal from the slot, out wide, and in the intermediary areas because he has taken the time to thicken his build and give himself the ability to take hits and keep going. Cooks might not be the tallest or the biggest guy, but he is tough as nails and has the tenacity to keep coming back for more. He has also been a true #1 in a pro-style offense where he faced double and triple teams…yet he still put up the best numbers in College Football which should tell you this isn’t just some flash in the pan player.
HEART: Cooks has a full-blown obsession with being the best and is willing to put in whatever work he needs to in order to accomplish that goal. He isn’t just a great talent, but an extremely diligent worker who is both humble and focused solely on winning. In other words, he is a perfect fit not only on the field but also in the locker room for the Saints. The article posted on Grantland the other day is almost a must-read because it gives us a glimpse into the character of this kid…and why he was a nearly unanimous pick by GM’s who were polled for best ‘guy’ in the draft. http://grantland.com/features/brandin-cooks-nfl-draft-oregon-state-wide-receiver/ Cook’s passion and willingness to work will make him a quick favorite of Drew’s and his humble nature will make him accepted by the rest of the locker room within short order.
FIT: The thing that makes me the most excited about this guy isn’t just what he can do on his own, (or to my opponents in Fantasy Football hehehe) but the effect he will have on our offense as a whole. The two guys who are going to benefit most from his presence are Kenny Stills and Jimmy Graham because they can now both function in the areas where they are most lethal. Graham should not have to worry about double and triple teams anymore because Cooks makes that a really really stupid idea (thus probable for the Falcons) just by walking in the door. Kenny Stills on the other hand is the other guy on our team with 4.3 type speed who will benefit from Cooks because now Sean can do what he does best…create and exploit mismatches. Both guys excel in the slot and have great hands and smooth routes, and both of them have the ability to go for the long ball as well. What will make this fun for Payton is that he can put them next to each other and the opposing side will have absolutely no clue what they are going to do. Stills is at his best in the slot and Cooks is the better deep threat, but the fact that they can both do similar things will give the Saints the kind of multiplicity that has made them so deadly in the past.
A sonic boom is what happens when an object breaks through the ‘sound barrier’ by moving with such velocity that it generates a shockwave in the surrounding air displacing air particles and creating the ‘boom’. That is the perfect nickname for Brandin Cooks because the ‘shockwave’ created by his play is going to affect every other part of our offense…and I am going to laugh myself to death if we get to see him matched up against Roman Harper this year (sorry Harper but you joined the enemy).
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