Brandin Cooks traded to the Houston Texans: Fantasy football impact

The Rams have been rumored to be shopping Brandin Cooks all offseason, and they finally found someone to take the bait. To no one's surprise, it was Bill O'Brien and the Houton Texans who were willing to trade a high-equity pick from one of the most loaded WR draft classes in quite some time to acquire the overpaid Cooks, marking just the second-most head-scratching move O'Brien has pulled this offseason.

After the trade, SportsLine's model has the Texans' projected win total improving by 0.2 wins. But how does Cooks' move from the NFC to AFC affect the 2020 Fantasy football landscape?

Houston, We Have a Problem

Deshaun Watson looked like one of the biggest Fantasy losers of the offseason following the DeAndre Hopkins trade, but after acquiring Cooks and signing Randall Cobb, well, he's still a big-time loser in Fantasy. Concussions limited Cooks' time on the field in 2019, and he ended up enduring his worst professional season. A bounce-back is possible, but far from guaranteed. It's been half a decade since Cobb was anything more than a league-average receiver, and he's dealt with his own issues remaining out of the trainer's room. You can count the receivers who can come close to replicating DeAndre Hopkins' impact on one hand, and neither Cooks or Cobb are anywhere near being in that conversation.

Watson has enough talent to remain in the top-five Fantasy QB conversation, but personally, I'd take Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, and Russell Wilson over him. All four of his receivers have struggled with inconsistency and injury over the past few seasons, and none are particularly strong red zone weapons.

Speaking of said inconsistent and injury-prone receivers, Will Fuller's perceived Fantasy value will take a hit with the addition of a similar player in Cooks. There's a chance that his ADP doesn't rise as much as it should without Hopkins, which will allow him to remain one of the strongest best ball targets at any position. The Watson-Fuller connection has been among the most efficient in the NFL when Fuller is healthy, and the upside remains immense if this is the year that Fuller puts together close to a full 16-game season.

The move from L.A. to Houston is a definite win for Cooks. He was clearly the odd man out in L.A., and he now has a chance to claim the WR1 role for one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Watson's 14.9 percent deep ball rate was nearly double Jared Goff's 8.9 percent mark, and he ranked second in the NFL in adjusted completion percentage on deep attempts. The Watson-Cooks downfield connection could be deadly if Cooks can remain on the field. He's a high-risk, high-reward option, which is more than could be said while operating as Goff's third receiver.

No Longer Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

With Cooks and Todd Gurley no longer on the roster, L.A. suddenly has a lot of touches to go around. In 2018, Cooks was one of just eight receivers to top 1,500 air yards. He also ranked second on the Rams in target share, receiving 22 percent of Goff's targets. His 2019 season was derailed by injuries, but Cooks still was on the field and targeted heavily when healthy. Even after scuffling through most of 2019, Cooks still saw nearly as many snaps and targets as Cooper Kupp over the final three weeks of the season.

Now that Cooks is removed from the equation, the more efficient pass-catchers in Kupp, Robert Woods, and Tyler Higbee should be allowed to shine.

Jared Goff's pass-catchers' yards per route run since the start of the 2018 season:

Kupp -- 2.14 on 808 routes run
Higbee -- 1.98 on 518 routes run
Woods -- 1.96 on 1,198 routes run
Cooks -- 1.73 on 1,035 routes run
Everett -- 1.47 on 495 routes run
Reynolds 1.24 on 589 routes run

For what it's worth, here's what Woods and Kupp have averaged in games Cooks has played fewer than 50 percent of the snaps over the past two seasons:

Woods in four games -- 5.3 catches on 7 targets for 80.3 yards and 0.25 touchdowns
Kupp in three games -- 4.3 catches on 7.7 targets for 103.3 yards and 0.67 touchdowns

Kupp was the WR2 in Fantasy through the first eight weeks of the season, and he's currently being drafted as the WR10 heading into 2020. That ADP is likely to rise after the Cooks trade, and rightfully so. Woods' ADP as WR19 will almost certainly climb into the top-15 as the offseason progresses. Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett are being selected as the TE16 and TE21 at the moment, and I'd expect both to end up being drafted as top-15 tight ends come August. Higbee took advantage of Everett's absence late in the 2019 season, and his 2.60 yards per route run mark was the third-highest at the tight end position. He is a clear-cut top-10 tight end with the upside for more with Gurley and Cooks no longer on the roster.