3 things that Cowboys fans were dead wrong about from this offseason

2. Brandin Cooks will propel Cowboys offense to new heights

When the Cowboys traded a fifth and sixth-round pick for Brandin Cooks, it was a move that was necessary to propel Dallas’ offense. That’s how most fans saw that move as well. 

Owner Jerry Jones gave up just two Day-3 picks and acquired one of the fastest playmakers in the entire NFL. In nine NFL seasons, Cooks has 643 catches for 8,725 yards and 50 touchdowns. He also has six 1,000-yard seasons throughout his career. 

So, it was expected that Cooks would come in and make an immediate impact. His speed and big play ability would bring another element to Dallas’ offense and make things harder on defenders all around. 

Yet six games into the season, Cooks is hardly used in the passing game and used in the wrong way. The veteran wideout has just 13 catches for 109 yards and one touchdown in five games. That averages out to just 2.6 catches for 21.8 yards per game, which is not encouraging.

When watching Dallas’ games, Cooks seems to never run a deep route. It’s always a 2-5 yard out route or curl route. That’s not how the wideout has made his money in the NFL over the years. His deep-threat ability has, and that hasn’t been shown at all this season. 

Cooks is averaging just 8.4 yards per reception this year, which makes him on pace to set a career-low in that department. In 2022, the 30-year-old veteran averaged 12.3 yards per reception, while he set a career-high 16.6 yards per reception in 2017 with the New England Patriots. 

It’s still early in the season. So this can obviously change, and the bye week might actually help the Cowboys see that. But right now, Cooks has not brought his speed and/or big play ability to Dallas’ offense. It's on Mike McCarthy and Brian Schottenheimer to get Cooks more involved after the bye week.