Name: Brandin Cooks
Position: Wide Receiver
College: Oregon State
The 2013 Biletnikoff Award winner put up 128 receptions for 1,730 yards and 16 touchdowns for Beavers last year. In the process, he earned consenus All-American honors.
The 5'9" receiving threat utilizes athleticism and agility to make plays in the passing game, which helps him overcome the lack of size. He's also a threat on special teams.
How Brandin Cooks Meets Team Needs
Needless to say, San Francisco is looking to add another wide receiver or two this offseason. Its reported interest in DeSean Jackson is a prime example of that. Even if the 49ers are able to add a receiving target for Colin Kaepernick through free agency, we can fully expect them to pick one up in the draft as well.
Being a wide receiver is the first step as it relates to meeting team needs. More than that, however, he fits the 49ers need for a deep threat after the A.J. Jenkins experiment failed so miserably. Cooks has great straight-line speed and an amazing second-level burst. He makes it hard for defensive backs to react to his speed by utilizing that elite first step.
With Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree entrenched in as starters, Cooks could fill the slot role immediately. He would have that working for him from day one.
Impact as a Rookie
As I mentioned above, Cooks would immediately be San Francisco's slot guy. While it runs the least amount of three-wide sets in the league, I am pretty sure that Jim Harbaugh and Co. would find a way to get Cooks involved in the offense relatively early.
With that said, Quinton Patton may have something to say about this. He was injured for the majority of his rookie season, but came up big time in both Week 17 and in the wildcard round of the playoffs. Despite those injury concerns, San Francisco still has high hopes for the former fourth-round pick. Cooks would have to beat him out in order to earn a regular spot in the 49ers receiver rotation.
What Brandin Cooks Does Well
First step, great initial burst and elite second-level speed. These are three things I covered above. Defensive backs are going to have a hard time playing press against Cooks because of his athleticism and the fact that he's much stronger than given credit for, especially as a small receiver.
He possesses above-average hands, catches the ball at its highest point and can beat defenders to the ball on the comeback. More often than not last season at Oregon State, Cooks was facing safety over the top coverage, and he still excelled. That's something he won't see early on in the NFL. Given a one-on-one situation, he'll win a vast majority of the time.
What Brandin Cooks Struggles With
Cooks willingness to try to make a play after the catch could be an issue. More often than most would like, I noticed him giving up ground after the catch. While that turned into some big plays for the Beavers, the NFL is an entirely different ball game.
Don't expect Cooks to beat defenders at the point of contact. That's just not his game, as he won't do a good job on the jump balls against more physical corners. Tends to loop around on the slant, something that needs to be fixed in the NFL.