'Real No. 2!' How Brandin Cooks Changes Dak Prescott's Cowboys Offense
The Dallas Cowboys will enter next season with perhaps the best chance at ending the NFC Championship drought in recent memory, and part of that is due to the acquisition of Brandin Cooks.
After a year that saw CeeDee Lamb exist as the only consistent pass-catching contributor for Dak Prescott, another bonafide No. 2 receiver needed to come in, and that is Cooks, via a trade with Houston.
Still possessing the wheels that Dak labels "Real speed," what Cooks will not only be able to do for Prescott in the passing game but others in Lamb and Michael Gallup is something that has been lacking since Amari Cooper's trade-dump depature.
With what Cooks is projected to bring to the Dallas offense, CBS Sports has named the receiver the Cowboys' biggest X-Factor entering next season.
"Dallas basically had CeeDee Lamb and then A Bunch of Guys at wide receiver," CBS Sports writes. "Enter Cooks, who the Cowboys acquired for a ludicrously low price even while getting the Texans to take on some of his contract. Giving the team a real No. 2 wideout across from Lamb -- especially one who has deep speed -- should open things up considerably for an offense that needs to figure out a way to keep opposing defenses from condensing the field on it in big games."
Under the watchful eye of head coach/play-caller Mike McCarthy, Dallas will be adding wrinkles of the West Coast Offense that McCarthy ran in Green Bay ... an offense that yielded a Super Bowl win.
Quick, crisp routes that allow Prescott to get the ball out fast and on time will play right into Cooks' wheelhouse, and such is his quickness and route running ability; he could be devastating in the Cowboys' offense.
For Cooks, who is still seen as a "speed guy" and has the intellectual and physical capabilities to sell routes, his addition could end up being the best piece of business Dallas has done all offseason.
Alongside Lamb, Cooks now enables the Cowboys to spread the field, with defenses unable to double Lamb or shift coverage in his direction due to Cooks' home run threat. That's a win-win.
Lamb, Michael Gallup, and the young tight end group of Luke Schoonmaker, Jake Ferguson, and Peyton Hendershot could all get lots of good looks in the passing game.
Cooks being an "X-Factor" on the field feels like a no-brainer pick, as the potential that the offense possesses with his inclusion is exciting. After all, he has six 1,000+ receiving yard seasons in eight years. He does not have a Pro Bowl nod ...
Will that change next season in Dallas? With so many options for Dak to utilize, Cooks and his veteran smarts could unlock the Cowboys offense, give him some individual glory, and maybe bring an end to that ugly NFC Championship drought.
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