No, I am not solely questioning a second-year player’s abilities or production (especially after being injured for a large portion of his rookie season). I am primarily questioning the front office’s decision to take Cooks 20th overall in the 2014 draft. He is diminutive in stature but with elite speed and agility. Yes, you need that kind of quickness to spread the field and open up opportunities in the vertical passing game, but perhaps the importance of size at the wideout position is understated. After all, football is a game of inches. When it comes to outleaping a defensive back for the football, it helps to have as much of a height advantage as possible.

Sure, a player of Cook’s athleticism and talent can make for a hell of a number two option, but it doesn't seem to translate to a Pro Bowl level receiving threat.

I thought it was a reach when we drafted him, and I still think it was a reach. The guy struggles to get off jams at the line of scrimmage because of his lack of size and will seldom outleap a defender for a jump ball despite his phenomenal vertical ability.

His measurables for both lateral quickness and straight line speed are off the charts, but remember that he is barely 5'10" and around 190. He can be a massive compliment to a big-bodied receiving threat such as Jimmy Graham or perhaps Marques Colston circa 2009, but I just don’t think he can put this receiving corps on his back and be that number one guy.

I have compiled a list of the top-50 receivers in the NFL last season, based on yards receiving, and have provided their height and weight for comparison. Tight ends were excluded from the list and rookies from the 2014 draft class are designated with an ‘R’.

1. Antonio Brown 5’10” 181
2. Demaryius Thomas 6’3” 229
3. Julio Jones 6’3” 220
4. Jordy Nelson 6’3” 217
5. Emmanuel Sanders 5’11” 180
6. T.Y. Hilton 5’9” 180
7. Golden Tate 5’10” 198
8. Dez Bryant 6’2” 220
9. Jeremy Maclin 6’0” 198
10. Odell Beckham Jr. (R) picked 12th overall 5’11” 198
11. Randall Cobb 5’10” 192
12. DeAndre Hopkins 6’1” 218
13. DeSean Jackson 5’10” 178
14. Alshon Jeffery 6’3” 216
15. Calvin Johnson 6’5” 237
16. Steve Smith Sr. 5’9” 195
17. Anquan Boldin 6’1” 220
18. Mike Evans (R) picked 7th overall 6’5” 231
19. A.J. Green 6’4” 207
20. Kelvin Benjamin (R) picked 28th overall 6’5” 245
21. Vincent Jackson 6’5” 230
22. Sammy Watkins (R) picked 4th overall 6’1” 211
23. Julian Edelman 5’10” 200
24. Eric Decker 6’3” 214
25. Brandon LaFell 6’3” 210
26. Rueben Randle 6’2” 208
27. Andre Johnson 6’3” 229
28. Kenny Stills 6’0” 198
29. Roddy White 6’0” 211
30. Marques Colston 6’4” 225
31. Jordan Matthews (R) picked 42nd overall 6’3” 212
32. Mike Wallace 6’0” 205
33. Malcom Floyd 6’5” 225
34. Malcolm Floyd 6’2” 220
35. Doug Baldwin 5’10” 189
36. Andrew Hawkins 5’7” 180
37. Mohamed Sanu 6’2” 210
38. Larry Fitzgerald 6’3” 218
39. Keenan Allen 6’2” 211
40. Reggie Wayne 6’0” 203
41. Eddie Royal 5’10” 185
42. Torrey Smith 6’0” 205
43. Jarvis Landry (R) picked 63 overall 5’11” 202
44. Dwayne Bowe 6’2” 222
45. Pierre Garcon 6’0” 216
46. Kenny Britt 6’3” 223
47. Greg Jennings 6’0” 198
48. Brandon Marshall 6’4” 230
49. Kendall Wright 5’10” 191
50. Robert Woods 6’0” 190

Receivers Under 5’11” 11/50 22%
Receivers Over 6’0” 27/50 54%
Mean Height of Top-50 Receivers 73.04 inches or 6’1”
Mean Weight of Top-50 Receivers 208.6 lbs
Ideal Receiver Size 6’1” 208

As you can see, there are several players comparable to Cooks’ size who have had massive success at the professional level. However, this tends to be the exception rather than the norm. Of the smaller group of receivers highlighted in bold, only Brown, Hilton, Jackson, and Smith, have had multiple 1000-yard seasons.

My point is that when it comes to playing the odds, which is just as important as instincts when drafting a player, selecting larger receiver has proven to be the better bet.

Here are a list of receivers selected after Brandon Cooks who meet or exceed the aforementioned desired size and have shown potential after rookie season:

Donte Moncreif 6’2” 221 picked 90th overall
Jordan Matthews 6’3” 212 picked 42nd overall
Allen Robinson 6’2” 220 picked 61st overall
Martavis Bryant 6’4” 211 picked 118th overall
Davante Adams 6’1” 212 picked 53rd overall

Personally, I always liked the idea of us selecting Matthews and Bryant was also a very intriguing option, particularly as a third-round pick.

When you select skill position players in the first round, you need to hit it out of the park. This will probably go down as one of the deepest and most talented wide receiver draft classes in the history of the NFL. It pains me to think that we reached by selecting a smaller receiver who everyone assumed would just run away from people.

I want the guy to succeed, truly I do. I will gladly eat crow if he proceeds to tear it up from here on out.

Still, I just don’t think Cooks was the guy for us to take. Additionally, I didn’t see the point of picking a receiver until at least the second round. I understand that they wanted someone who could stretch the field and provide Drew with a deep outlet, but in my opinion Stills was just as good of an option (and a hell of late round steal which I figured would pay dividends after watching him at Oklahoma) and we traded him away like it was nothing.

This post was edited on 9/14/15 at 11:05 am