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One of the best trades from the 2020 offseason for the Houston Texans may be the addition of receiver Brandin Cooks.
According to Pro Football Focus data gathered by football researcher Pat Thorman, Cooks has a proficiency for catching deep passes. In 2019, Cooks had a down year in that area as only 35% of his deep targets were catchable, according to Thorman, ranking 47th among receivers. However, before his final year with the Los Angeles Rams, Cooks had zero drops on 51 consecutive catchable deep balls.
The kicker to all the data is that Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson was first in the NFL among passers in deep ball accuracy.
Only 35% of Brandin Cooks' deep targets were catchable in '19 (47th among WR)#Texans WRs saw a catchable ball on 57% of deep targets
D. Watson: 1st among QBs in deep ball accuracy (50% snaps min.)
Prior to 2019 Cooks had 0 drops on 51 straight catchable deep passes, per PFF
— Pat Thorman (@Pat_Thorman) May 3, 2020
One of the reasons why Cooks is excited about joining the Texans’ receiving corps is because Watson is proficient in connecting with deeper targets.
“He throws the deep ball so great,” Cooks told reporters on April 30.
If Watson can reactivate the deep ball aspect of Cooks’ game, bringing it back to 2017 or 2018 levels, then Houston will have yet another threat to take the top off defenses.
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