Brandin Cooks in the NFL
In the NFL. Photo: Christopher Michel from San Francisco, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Receiver, Oregon State, 2011–⁠13

Brandin Cooks

Number
No. 7
Height
5′10″
Hometown
Stockton, CA
Born
Sep 25, 1993

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Brandin Cooks played receiver at Oregon State (2011–⁠13). He won the 2013 Biletnikoff Award. He was a consensus All‑American in 2013. The New Orleans Saints took Cooks in the first round, No. 20 overall in the 2014 NFL Draft.

At a glance

Best season
1,730
Receiving yards, 2013 (Oregon State, 7–⁠6)
Best game
210 yards
At Utah, week 3, 2013: No. 2 receiving game in FBS that week
National rank
No. 1
In the nation in receiving yards, 2013
Drafted
No. 20
Overall, 2014 NFL Draft (New Orleans Saints)

Career highs

14catches, career highat San Diego State, 2013232receiving yards, career highat California, 20133receiving touchdowns, career highat Utah, 2013

Honors

Receiving

Receiving yards, season by season, with his team’s record
SeasonTeamRecYdsAvgTDLong
2011Oregon State3139112.6359
2012Oregon State671,15117.2575
2013Oregon State1281,73013.51655
Career2263,27214.52475

Returns

SeasonTeamKRYdsTDPRYdsTD
2011Oregon State81790–––
2013Oregon State–––18720
Career8179018720

Rushing

SeasonTeamCarYdsAvgTDLong
2011Oregon State10414.1014
2012Oregon State19824.3017
2013Oregon State322176.8229
Career613405.6229

Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls. A dash: the source has no number for that season (often an FCS season), and career totals count only the numbers on file.

On the roster

SeasonTeamNo.PosHt
2011Oregon State7WR
2012Oregon State7WR
2013Oregon State7WR5′10″

As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.

Per play

SeasonTeamPlaysEPA/playPctileMedianTotalUsage
2013Oregon State1420.8048th (n=341)0.81113.516%

Expected points added: how much the player’s plays moved the team’s expected score, per play and in total. Plays: total EPA divided by EPA per play, the plays the source credits to him (for a receiver roughly his catches and runs, not every target; for a passer, not every attempt), so it can differ from attempts plus carries. Percentile: against the position’s regulars that season across all divisions on file (quarterbacks with 150+ plays, backs 60+, receivers and tight ends 30+), with how many there were (n) and their median; a dash means too few plays to rank. A season in progress uses the full-season bar scaled by games played, never below 75 plays for quarterbacks, 30 for backs and 20 for receivers. The cohort grows or shrinks with the source’s coverage each season (2025 lists far more players), so compare percentiles rather than raw EPA across years. FCS seasons are marked. Usage: the share of the team’s plays the player was part of (shown from 20 plays). From CollegeFootballData, 2013 on.

Game by game

2013 Oregon State 13 games, 128 catches, 1,730 yards, 16 TD
DateOpponentResultRecYdsTDLongRush
Aug 31vs.Eastern WashingtonL 46–⁠491319624814
Sep 7vs.Hawai’iW 33–⁠147922261
Sep 14atUtahW 51–⁠489210355−2
Sep 21atSan Diego StateW 34–⁠301414104612
Sep 28vs.ColoradoW 44–⁠17916825247
Oct 12atWashington StateW 52–⁠241113723034
Oct 19atCaliforniaW 49–⁠171323215010
Oct 26vs.StanfordL 12–⁠2098011418
Nov 1vs.USCL 14–⁠3168813140
Nov 16atArizona StateL 17–⁠3099904211
Nov 23vs.WashingtonL 27–⁠69101171291
Nov 29atOregonL 35–⁠36101100322
Dec 24 ✦vs.Boise StateW 38–⁠2386012129
2012 Oregon State 13 games, 67 catches, 1,151 yards, 5 TD
DateOpponentResultRecYdsTDLongRush
Sep 8vs.WisconsinW 10–⁠768012613
Sep 22atUCLAW 27–⁠20617517511
Sep 29atArizonaW 38–⁠359149057–
Oct 6vs.Washington StateW 19–⁠6582032−5
Oct 13atBYUW 42–⁠24817305910
Oct 20vs.UtahW 21–⁠7180810
Oct 27atWashingtonL 17–⁠20912315422
Nov 3vs.Arizona StateW 36–⁠2661161495
Nov 10atStanfordL 23–⁠276730231
Nov 17vs.CaliforniaW 62–⁠14260148–
Nov 24vs.OregonL 24–⁠48574040–
Dec 1vs.NichollsW 77–⁠31707–
Dec 29 ✦vs.TexasL 27–⁠3133102015
2011 Oregon State 12 games, 31 catches, 391 yards, 3 TD
DateOpponentResultRecYdsTDLongRush
Sep 3vs.Sacramento StateL 28–⁠293260123
Sep 10atWisconsinL 0–⁠35219012−1
Sep 24vs.UCLAL 19–⁠27110010−1
Oct 1atArizona StateL 20–⁠3521308–
Oct 8vs.ArizonaW 37–⁠27112012–
Oct 15vs.BYUL 28–⁠38390159–
Oct 22atWashington StateW 44–⁠21370138–
Oct 29atUtahL 8–⁠2754301621
Nov 5vs.StanfordL 13–⁠381130138
Nov 12atCaliforniaL 6–⁠23331014–
Nov 19vs.WashingtonW 38–⁠2128054
Nov 26atOregonL 21–⁠495561237

Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.

Before the draft

DrillCombine 2014
Height5′9¾″
Weight189 lb
Arm length30¾″
Hand size9⅝″
Wingspan73″W
40-yard dash4.33 s
10-yard split1.54 sW
Vertical jump36″
Broad jump10′0″
Bench press16 reps
3-cone drill6.76 s
20-yard shuttle3.81 s

Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

In the NFL

13 seasons, 171 games with a stat; latest team: San Francisco 49ers.

SeasonTeamGRecYdsTD
2014New Orleans Saints10535503
2015New Orleans Saints16841,1389
2016New Orleans Saints15781,1738
2017New England Patriots16651,0827
2018Los Angeles Rams15801,2045
2019Los Angeles Rams14425832
2020Houston Texans15811,1506
2021Houston Texans16901,0376
2022Houston Texans13576993
2023Dallas Cowboys16546578
2024Dallas Cowboys10262593
2025Buffalo Bills13242790
2026 (so far)San Francisco 49ers2171
NFL career1717359,81861

Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0), matched to him by his draft pick and college (Player ids: DynastyProcess (GPL-3.0)). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.

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