Should I Drop Brandin Cooks In Week 5? Fantasy Football Outlook

October 4, 2023

Should I drop Brandin Cooks for fantasy football Week 5? Is Brandin Cooks a safe player to cut? Read the fantasy football waivers outlook.

Brandin Cooks has been a 1,000-yard receiver for four different teams. When he joined the Dallas Cowboys, there was optimism that he could add another receiving threat to a team that desperately needed production out of its WR2.

But it was not to be. Cooks has only caught eight passes for 66 yards in the first four weeks of the season. At this rate, he could be in for the worst season of his career. He's not the No. 2 WR on the Cowboys. He's not even the No. 3 WR. Cooks ranks No. 5 on the team in terms of receiving yards.

Is it time for Brandin Cooks to once again look for a new (fantasy) team? Should you cut him?

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Is Brandin Cooks A Good Fantasy Football Wide Receiver?

Brandin Cooks has been targeted 15 times, but he has only caught eight passes. Cooks is not able to get open or haul passes in. He only graded at 56.8 in PFF's system. Cooks has typically been a good deep threat. In both 2021 and 2022, Cooks had almost 20% of his targets from 20 yards or deeper. He graded at 99.5 on deep passes last season.

However, this season, only one (6.7%) of his targets was deep, and he did not catch it. More than half of the targets to Cooks have been for less than nine yards. There has been some criticism of the Cowboys' scheme and the Cowboys' quarterback play.

Cooks is 30 years old, and he is starting to decline in terms of talent and production. His key statistics, including yards, touchdowns, first downs, success rate, and catch rate have all been declining every year since 2020. The problem might be more with Cooks than with the team. Wide receivers just start to decline at his age, and there's a reason other teams didn't want to keep him.

Can I Drop Brandin Cooks in Fantasy Football?

Brandin Cooks has never finished better than WR55. He missed Week 2, but when he went back in Week 3, he only finished as the WR86. He is the WR98 through four weeks, and he only surpassed 5.0 PPR points once.

Cooks is only rostered in 54% of Yahoo fantasy leagues, and it should probably be fewer than that. There are other wide receivers who are more widely available than Cooks who have scored more points than him. Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed, for example, has outscored Cooks in three of four weeks, including to games in double digits, but he's available in 59% of Yahoo leagues.

Texans wide receiver Robert Woods has also outscored Cooks most weeks and ranks only a couple of spots lower than Shaheed. He is available in 79% of leagues. Even some like Chargers WR Joshua Palmer, who has scored double-digit points in the past two weeks, are available in almost as many leagues as Cooks is.

Should I Start Brandin Cooks in Week 5?

The Dallas Cowboys face the tough San Francisco 49ers defense in Week 5. The 49ers have only allowed the 14th-fewest fantasy points to opposing wide receivers. Opponents struggle to move the ball against the 49ers, but they have to attempt a lot of passes, which leads to high total numbers.

The 49ers limit their opponents to 5.0 yards per pass attempt, the third-fewest in the league. They have a relatively low sack rate (4.9%, No. 5 lowest), but edge rusher Nick Bosa is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

Still, the Cowboys might have to throw the ball a lot to try to compete. Opponents are averaging 43.8 pass attempts per game against the 49ers, the most in the league. To give you an idea of how often the 49ers have been leading their opponents, 49ers QB Brock Purdy has attempted 107 passes while leading or tied. He has only thrown five passes while trailing.

Cooks is a poor-quality start in Week 5, as he is unlikely to be heavily involved in the game.

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