N/S Pats fans going off on Cooks and Brady

sfidc3 said
As I said earlier the comparison to Smith is way off. He was nowhere near as strong nor had the vertical leap of Steve Smith....Smith was lineman strong in the upper body, which allowed him to easily get seperation most of the time....Cooks did not possess this ability.

I will repeat there may never be another 5;10" WR with the combination of speed, strength and leaping ability of Smith. He played like he was 6'2" and 220....

The comparison to Smith is way off now but during the draft a lot of talking heads compared him to Steve Smith as a ceiling.

This is why the Saints started him off at Punt Returner his rookie year. They were EXPECTING him to be good at this. They were EXPECTING him to be good at a lot of things.

There were several articles notions b4 the draft that were just flat out off. This quote was from ESPN

"His best attribute comes after the catch as he shows above-average elusiveness, open field vision and flashes an extra gear to take it the distance when getting into space," Weidl writes. "Cooks' game resembles that of Carolina Panthers WR Steve Smith and he could be in the early Day 2 mix should he declare after the season." We expect Cooks to declare for the draft and potentially earn All-American honors. Our own Josh Norris has compared him to Victor Cruz due to Cooks' ability to win from the slot and outside.

NFL Draft | Brandin Cooks draws a Steve Smith comparison - Rotoworld.com

Shows elusiveness, creativity and vision after the catch.

NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Brandin Cooks

As with any other player, there have been a lot of comparisons thrown around about Cooks, but one that seems to stick the most is that to Carolina Panthers wideout, Steve Smith.

https://fansided.com/2014/02/12/nfl...andin-cooks-welcomes-steve-smith-comparisons/

Cooks says his ideal NFL comparison is Steve Smith, an outside-the-numbers jump-ball winner undeterred by stature. He relishes traffic. He also happens to be the fastest receiver in this draft. Kiper has called him an “oh-so-slightly more athletic version of Tavon Austin,” who went eighth overall a year ago.

The Big Promise of Brandin Cooks «

Even an article from Duncan that seemed to zero in on what the Saints were "expecting" from Cooks vs what they got over 3 years.

He's a playmaker," Payton said.

At Oregon State, Cooks did it all. He split wide and ran go routes. He played in the slot and caught bubble screens. He took reverse handoffs and returned punts and kicks. Saints fans should expect to see him in a similar role in the Superdome.

"He's a threat," Payton said. "He's a guy that can be used a lot of ways."

Brandin Cooks is the new Reggie Bush, Darren Sproles for the New Orleans Saints | Jeff Duncan | NOLA.com

The last quote the most important and validates my point. They truly thought they were getting a multi faceted threat and he was not that. They got a good WR with strong hands and deep ball ability. He does/did make plays but just not in all of the ways they were "expecting"

He's a good not great receiver....yet. He's only 24 years of age and he'll continue to improve but he did not fit the new direction of this offense. Especially as a run blocker which Thomas, Snead, and Coleman have been putting in work there and Ginn barely used in those formations.

They did right to move on from him.