In averaging a tick under 1,150 receiving yards over the last four seasons of his NFL career, Brandin Cooks has been about as consistent a wide receiver as any team owning his services could ask for. Luckily for the Rams, his talent and explosiveness will be in their huddle for the foreseeable future after impressing in his Los Angeles debut a season ago with 1,204 receiving yards and 5 TD. Linemakers at online sportsbooks expect Cooks to be a major contributor to Sean McVay’s offensive attack once again with his number to beat checking in at just over 1,100 yards. With Todd Gurley expected to take on a lighter load so as to have him rested and healthy come the playoffs, his opportunities to become even more of an electric pass catcher are likely to increase making him one of the more attractive over bets heading into the 2019-20 season.
Total Rushing Yards: 1100.5
Offensive Philosophy
The Rams checked in at No. 9 in rushing play percentage doing so 43.6 percent of the time. It likely would’ve come in at a higher clip had Gurley not gotten injured and been a shell of his former self the tail end of the season. Though LA was fortunate to be able to plug C.J. Anderson into the mix and hardly skip a beat, I’m not sold on Malcolm Brown, John Kelly or rookie Darrell Henderson being able to match that duo’s production. With that, I’m banking on the Rams greatly increasing their pass play percentage this season after ranking No. 24 in that department a short season ago.
Though the offense looked to the ground at a higher clip than most other teams, it was still extremely effective when it decided to take to the air evidenced by Jared Goff and company racking up over 4,500 passing yards and averaging 8.3 yards per attempt. But with so many other viable targets to get the pigskin to in Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Josh Reynolds, Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett, just how much of the pie will be there for Cooks to take advantage of?
Los Angeles Rams Football Schedule
Week 1: @Panthers
Week 2: Saints
Week 3: @Browns
Week 4: Buccaneers
Week 5: @Seahawks
Week 6: 49ers
Week 7: @Falcons
Week 8: Bengals
Week 9: Bye Week
Week 10: @Steelers
Week 11: Bears
Week 12: Ravens
Week 13: @Cardinals
Week 14: Seahawks
Week 15: @Cowboys
Week 16: @49ers
Week 17: Cardinals
Schedule Breakdown
Through the first eight weeks of the season, Cooks and rest of the Rams’ wide receivers won’t oppose a defense ranked higher than No. 14 when going by last season’s pass defense rankings. The season kicks off with cushy matchups against the Panthers and Saints secondaries before the aforementioned toughest test in Cleveland against the Browns. From there, The Seattle Seahawks look to be the stiffest challenge with cake walks also lined up against the Buccaneers, 49ers, Falcons and Bengals. In other words, LA’s passing attack is primed to get theirs leading up to the Week 9 bye.
Coming out of it, things look to be much tougher. A trip to the Steel City to battle Pittsburgh won’t be a walk in the park, and neither will back-to-back home games against the Bears and Ravens. Of the final five games, only the rematch against San Francisco looks to be a plus matchup for Goff and company. While there’s certainly some tasty matchups on the menu, there are also others that will likely force the Rams to make hay on the ground. With so many excellent targets to get the ball to, it’s hard to envision Cooks being able to mimic last year’s effort in his debut season with the Rams.
The Bet
Los Angeles ended up with two wide receivers that went for 1200+ yards last season with the other being Robert Woods. That was likely attained due to Kupp suffering a season-ending injury in Week 8. Well, Cooper is said to be 100 percent recovered from the ACL injury that sidelined him, so more targets are expected to go his way in 2019-20; especially in the red zone where he proved to be Goff’s safety valve for as long as he was in the huddle.
With that, it’s a tough sell to figure two wide receivers eclipsing the 1,100 yard threshold once again. But with the coaching staff already coming out and saying Gurley’s reps will be tapered down, it’s highly likely the offense will rely upon the passing game even more. One of the three main receivers is going to go for a big tally, and Cooks has consistently been in the ballpark of his current impost at top rated sportsbooks a bulk of his career. My moneys on him doing so once again!
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