What is Bill O'Brien thinking?
On Thursday, Houston traded their second-round pick in 2020 (57th overall) to the Los Angeles Rams for wide receiver Brandin Cooks and a 2022 fourth-round pick. This came a couple of weeks after the Texans acquired RB David Johnson from Arizona in a deal for star WR DeAndre Hopkins.
On paper, Cooks is a good receiver. He had four straight 1,000+-yard seasons from 2015-18. He averages 14.3 yards per catch for his career and has 34 touchdowns in six seasons.
But Cooks also is coming off his worst season, catching just 42 passes for 583 yards (13.9ypc) and just two touchdowns from a competent quarterback in Jared Goff. Deshaun Watson is an upgrade and Cooks still has some speed and can stretch the field. But a second-round pick for a receiver now playing on his fourth team with a big salary? In a draft stocked with many receivers, you can draft a solid one in the second round.
Another concern about Cooks is last season he suffered two concussions within 25 days and has five over his career. That certainly slowed him down and had an impact on his numbers. They owe him $47 million over the next four years, but just eight is guaranteed. But do you really want to trade a second-round pick for a receiver that is going to help you just one season?
That leaves Watson with Will Fuller, Randall Cobb, Kenny Stills and Cooks. Not a bad group, but you wonder if Cooks can be the number one receiver in this group. Well, he is by default because Fuller is coming off a sports hernia surgery and has played in just 42 games in four seasons. Cobb is an aging slot receiver and Stills is at best, a number two receiver.
For the Rams, they get rid of salary and get a nice draft pick to maybe draft a receiver in the second round. They have some cap relief and can address their needs in the draft.
It's all about reading the tea leaves. O'Brien could have added another receiver for a middle-round pick during the draft or did something after the draft. Giving up that much in today's market made very little sense. What was the rush to give up a second-rounder?
