The drop off for Brandin Cooks has been staggering.
The 29-year-old receiver has 44 catches for 520 yards and a touchdown through 10 games, all of which he has started. Cooks’ yards per game are down significantly from 64.8 to 52.0.
Ostensibly the Houston Texans’ passing attack was supposed to be better with Davis Mills getting all of the first-team reps going back to offseason workouts. However, the Texans have been among the worst in the NFL, ranking 27th in passing offense.
According to Seth Walder from ESPN, Cooks made their list as one of five “declining stars” in the 2022 season.
Cooks’ decline has been apparent in his production numbers. He dropped from 2.3 and 2.4 yards per route run in 2020 and 2021, respectively, to 1.8 this year. His fantasy managers are likely aware of the lack of production.
Could this just be the Davis Mills/Kyle Allen effect? The Receiver Tracking Metrics — which attempt to isolate receiver performance from the quarterback — suggest, no. There is more to it than deficient quarterback play.
Over the past three years, Cooks’ Overall Score has dropped from 67 in 2020 to 60 in 2021 to 37 in 2022. The drop-off has been across the board: Cooks’ Open Score/Catch Score/YAC Score triple-slash currently sits at 52/38/31, the lowest scores in his three seasons in Houston.
While Mills surely has had a negative impact on Cooks’ traditional box score statistics, Cooks also played with him for much of last season. Cooks has long been a steady and underrated performer but might be starting to slow down at age 29.
Cooks won’t be present in Week 14 as he will miss with a calf injury. The last time Cooks missed two games or more in a regular season was in 2019, his final year with the Los Angeles Rams. Cooks had a down year with 42 catches for 583 yards and two touchdowns as the Rams finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs.