Last year before Cook got hurt (weeks 1-4) Diggs averaged 21.4 points a game over that span. The Viking have Diggs and Thielen taking almost all of the WR targets/yards. Gurley is better than Cook.WhatWouldDitkaDo wrote: ↑Fri Aug 24, 2018 10:44 amFair points, but here are my thoughts:Oddball456 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 24, 2018 10:31 amNot unless Gurley gets hurt, Gurley is the only guy featured on the Rams. Beyond him, they spread the ball around and don't pass as often as the previous teams Cooks has been on.WhatWouldDitkaDo wrote: ↑Fri Aug 24, 2018 8:16 am
Cooks complained while in NO because he wanted to be feature. He was probably quieter in NE because 1. he had a chance to win a title and 2. he knew it wouldn't be for more than a couple of seasons based on his contract. McVay traded for him and locked him up long term. You don't think Cooks is going to get featured in an efficient offense?
2014 Saints = 659 attempts (2nd in the NFL) 4764 (3rd)
2015 Saints = 667 attempts (2nd in the NFL) 4970 (1st)
2016 Saints = 674 attempts (2nd in the NFL) 5074 yards (1st)
2017 Pats = 587 attempts (7th in the NFL) 4418 Yards (2nd)
2017 Rams = 518 attempts (24th in the NFL) 3831 (10th)
I think it is safe to assume that Brees and Brady are both better (more accurate) QBs than Geoff is. So Cooks is moving from some of the very best pass Offenses in the past 4 years to an offense which is slightly below average in attempts and slightly above ave in yards last year, with not as good a passer.
Note that none of this is a knock on Cooks as a player but the Rams are just not a team that is going to need or want to be pass happy, especially into 1 WR.
1. Goff is still developing, and they will probably do more with passing concepts this year than they did last year. I don't know that he'll become elite, but Goff should show improvement this year. If not, then I'm ready to adjust my projections for Cooks. And of course the offense will run through Gurley, but Cooks should be very involved regardless.
2. If you're going to make this argument for Cooks, then the same holds true for Diggs. MIN's defense is on the same level as LAR's, so why should Diggs be projected to get that many more targets in an offense that shouldn't need to throw much either?
Basically: The viking have 2 WR splitting the WR targets/yards (the WR3 on MIN had 35 targets for 200 yards, Rams WR3 had 70 targets for 593 yards). The RB and TE output in the passing game seems like a wash between the 2 teams (I didn't add it all up but looks close). So Diggs / Thielen have a larger % of roughly the same sized pie compared to Kupp, Woods, and now Cooks. Diggs last year, even with missing games/playing hurt in a couple more games was only 20 yards behind the Rams WR1.
2018 will be a new year: Cooks on a new team and Diggs has a new QB. Most people would say the Cooks is not moving into as stat friendly situation in LA as he has had throughout his career (we can all agree on that I would think) while Diggs biggest issue has always been his health. Dynasty ranking have Diggs firmly out ahead of Cooks. If people think that Cooks > Diggs that is fine, that aren't that far apart, but I do think that we have likely seen Cooks best years for at least while while Diggs best years are clearly ahead of him