It feels like we sort of took him for granted. Brandin Cooks did not reach 1,000 yards receiving for the Dallas Cowboys during his first year with the team last season, and given that his reputation is that he does that everywhere he goes, it feels like some people believe that he had a poor season for the team.
It is certainly true that things started off rather slowly for Cooks in 2023 but, as we have talked about before, they finished rather impressively.
Cooks did not reach the endzone for the first time in a Cowboys uniform until the second half of October (just barely as it was the 16th), but did you know that he caught one in 8 of his final 12 regular season games with the team? That isn’t anything to sneeze at.
But again, it seems like many entered the 2024 season with rather pedestrian expectations for him. As training camp continues to unfold and with Cooks serving as the leader of the wide receiver group while CeeDee Lamb holds out, his value is more apparent than ever.
We may have not placed enough importance on Brandin Cooks entering a second season with the Cowboys
The last time that Brandin Cooks entered a second season with an NFL team was 2021 with the Houston Texans. Notably he did not have the same starting quarterback that he did for his first season with the team. It goes without saying that the era that Cooks was around the Texans was not the best one for that franchise.
Cooks appears to be the type of player that thrives in leadership roles and entering a second season with a team offers that in general. As indicated though, CeeDee Lamb is obviously not in camp with the Cowboys at the moment while he is holding out for a contract extension of his liking and this has forced the issue for someone (namely Cooks) to lead in his absence.
By now you are likely well-aware of how the Cowboys offensive players took a trip to Oregon over the offseason to work together and bond. Many of them reportedly stayed at Cooks’ offseason home. Any time any young receiver has spoken so far they have mentioned the value that Cooks provides to them.
Thursday’s joint practices against the Los Angeles Rams (one of Cooks’ former teams by the way) offered an opportunity to see the Cowboys against a different squad for the first time this year. Cooks was featured prominently as one can imagine.
While the value of Cooks as a leader off of the field is clearly an important thing, we may have glossed over the value that he can have contributing to the important stuff, you know, the football, with another year of experience with regards to all variables involved.
Cooks is entering a second season with the same quarterback for the first time in forever and entering the second season with the same offensive play-caller in Mike McCarthy at the same time. All fundamental pieces remained in place as far as his standing for the team and Lamb’s absence has allowed more opportunities for the necessary trial and error to come together.
Remember that not just CeeDee Lamb was at training camp last year absorbing targets that have seemingly gone to Cooks this year. Michael Gallup was also in attendance, and while Cooks was ahead of him on the depth chart, the sheer divide of opportunities was smaller for everyone involved. That is not the case this year.
The point here isn’t to say that Brandin Cooks is destined for a major season with the Cowboys, but he appears incredibly more in sync with everything involved. Some of that is time, some of that is the Lamb situation and some of it is the call for Cooks to lean into a level of leadership that appears to come to him naturally.
Whatever the case and however it is packaged, it stands to be a good thing for the team overall.
