re: Jason Verrett & Jarvis Landry...What could have been...

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DatNolaClap

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Jarvis Landry is 1 of my favorite players that has ever played at LSU. From his attitude to his work ethic to his physicality to his hands... I love everything about the kid and he's done very well in the NFL and is a good player. That said, Cooks was the correct draft pick and I would still take him over Landry. And for a couple of reasons.

First off, when we drafted Cooks we had just gotten rid of Sproles and still had Jimmy Graham. And Colston was coming off a season where he went 74/943/5 in 15games. We had 2 big targets that could go up and make plays for Brees. By letting Sproles go, we we're without a big play, X factor type of guy that every offense needs. Cooks is just that. Now, we traded Graham and Colston and declined at a rapid rate. Cooks is not a true WR1 in the NFL but is being treated as such. We are missing a tall, rangy, big bodies and athletic WR that could go up and make plays over DBs like an Allen Robinson, Martavis Bryant, Moncrief, etc. That would open things up for Cooks because that type of WR would be seeing the CB1 and it would allow us to use Cooks as a mismatch and line him up in diff spots and up against CB2 / nickel CB, etc.. Landry would play the role that Snead is playing right now. And Snead has done an excellent job for us and is actually outproducing Landry in yards and TDs despite seeing 14 less targets than Jarvis this year.

Secondly, you are acting like Landry is clearly a superior player to Cooks. And he's not. In 24games, Landry has 189targets, 137rec for 1293yards (9.4ypc) and 7 TDs. In 19games, Cooks has 141targers, 98recs for 1153yards (11.8ypc) and 7 TDs. So Landry has been in 5 more games than Cooks (will be 6 when Saints have their bye week) and seeing 48more targets than Cooks, he's had just 140yards more than Cooks. And I get people saying that Landry is playing with Tannehill and the Dolphins while Cooks is with Brees and the Saints so that has an impact on stats. But Tannehill peppers Landry with targets and his role for the Dolphins is what his skillset is. They use him very well and how most teams would use him. And it's not like Tannehill is some scrub. I mean DeAndre Hopkins is putting up ridiculous #s with Brian Hoyer as their QB. And it's because he gets peppered with targets.

I'll give you that Landry is a better special teamer and return guy, even though I think Cooks sample size is too small to make a realistic judgement. But you don't take a player early in the draft because of what they can do on special teams. You take them for what they can do as an offensive or defensive player. Getting special teams production from them is just a bonus. But I'll take the better player on offense and defense than a worst player on offense and D but a better returner.

And they are both still very early in their careers. A lot of things can change in 3 years or so. Cooks has the higher ceiling and more potential than Landry. Landry has a higher floor and will always be a solid player in the NFL, but his ceiling is limited due to his athletic limitations. Cooks has a very high ceiling due to his athleticism and talent. He has the ability to have some massive #s for us in the future. And if you pair him with a more tradition WR1 in the NFL, I think you will see him do just that. If Treadwell is when we are up to draft, it will be extremely hard to pass him up. He's exactly what we need.

And again, I love Landry and am a huge fan. Would love for him to be in the black and gold. But if I had to choose between Cooks and Landry, I'll take Cooks. The 1 thing you could argue in favor of Landry is that his value has been better based on their draft status so far. But that's it. And it will likely change in the future.