Brandin Cooks

Summary

Brandin Cooks was selected in Round 1 (#20 Overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft out of Oregon State University. Cooks finished his Beavers career with 226 receptions, 3,272 yards, and 24 touchdowns, winning the Biletnikoff Award (2013) and earning Consensus All-American honors. At the NFL level, Cooks has enjoyed a long, productive career across multiple teams, surpassing 9,500 career receiving yards and 60+ touchdowns through the 2024 season, with six 1,000-yard receiving seasons on his résumé. He has been selected to the Pro Bowl and has played key roles on multiple playoff teams. Now with the Buffalo Bills, Cooks brings veteran experience, vertical speed, and professionalism to a receiver room seeking spacing and explosive elements. He is widely regarded as a high-character, resilient, and respected professional, praised for work ethic, accountability, and the ability to quickly integrate into new offensive systems.

Strengths

• Elite Speed: Still possesses legitimate vertical juice and stresses coverage deep. Consistently wins on posts, go routes, and deep crossers.

• Route Running: Sharp, efficient breaks married with an understanding of leverage and pacing. Creates space through speed and route discipline.

• YAC Potential: Dangerous in space with acceleration and vision. Track record of chunk gains and field-flipping plays.

• Football IQ: Quickly learns systems and understands coverage structures. Proven ability to contribute immediately in new environments.

Weaknesses

• Size & Catch Radius: Smaller frame limits contested-catch success. More effective between the 20s than inside tight spaces.

• Physical Coverage: Can be disrupted by strong press corners, especially when it comes to beating jams at the line of scrimmage against press coverage.

• Durability History: Has dealt with concussions and soft-tissue injuries. You may see a very steep production drop off as a result of this catching up to him.

• Blocking Impact: Effort is present, but size limits effectiveness.

Outlook

Cooks is an excellent fit in Buffalo’s vertical, spacing-oriented offense, where his speed can stretch coverage and create space for Josh Allen’s arm talent. He thrives in systems that emphasize play-action shots, deep overs, and motion-based releases, allowing him to avoid consistent press and maximize separation. His presence forces safeties to respect the deep ball, opening intermediate windows for other pass catchers. Looking ahead, Cooks projects as a high-end WR2 or explosive WR3 depending on target distribution and health. While no longer a volume-dominant receiver, his speed, experience, and route discipline give him a high-impact complementary profile. In a Bills offense built around aggressiveness and downfield stress, Cooks can remain a valuable veteran weapon capable of producing chunk plays, mentoring younger receivers, and contributing to playoff-caliber passing attacks.