When watching Brandin Cooks, I personally see one of the fastest players in the league. He always appears to be the fastest guy on the field when running routes, and if he gets behind the defense he’s never getting caught from behind. You often see him catching a lot of passes wide open with DBs nowhere near him because of that speed.
HOWEVER, what I will concede is that he does lack is the level of elusiveness that typically accompanies a player with his size paired with his speed level.
What I mean is he lacks cat-like reflexes and suddenness unless it is scripted, scheduled quickness and suddenness (I.E. designed routes). He’s not making guys miss when bottled up in traffic hardly ever, seems to ramp down his speed level a bit when in said traffic and makes a lot of business decisions, which isn’t surprising giving his size and injury history.
Guys with his size, speed, and pedigree usually bring a lot more to the table to showcase that speed, like a Desean Jackson. Heck, it has always been odd to me that a guy with Cooks’ size and speed isn’t returning kicks and punts. We tried it early in his career, but it’s just not a part of his skill set due to reasons noted above. He was downright terrible at it.
So I think I understand what you’re saying; I just wouldn’t quite describe it the way you did. He uses his elite speed to get open, but doesn’t necessarily use it with the ball in his hands unless the coast is clear.