Brandin Cooks missed the Dallas Cowboys’ last two games with a knee infection that caused him to land on injured reserve. What is the latest on Cooks’ injury? Is he trending toward returning when first eligible? What is the implication for fantasy football?
The Latest on Brandin Cooks’ Injury
In late September, Cooks contracted a knee infection that was expected to sideline him for a game or two. However, the situation quickly became more serious, and Cooks was placed on IR, sidelining him for at least four weeks.
This is a unique set of circumstances and one we don’t have a ton of data to lean on. This isn’t an injury in the traditional sense — it’s an infection. Those can heal at varying rates. Plus, there’s always a risk the infection returns or gets worse when it seems to be getting better.
Since Cooks went on IR, we haven’t received any news on how he’s progressing. Sometimes, no news is good news. But in this case, no news is just no news — it’s neither good nor bad.
Cooks missed Weeks 5 and 6, and the Cowboys were on bye in Week 7. Therefore, he has to miss two more games before a potential Week 10 return. More than likely, we will receive some sort of update following this week.
Potential Fantasy Impact of Cooks’ Return
Cooks is now 31 years old, and even before getting hurt, he showed signs of slowing down.
Through four games, Cooks’ EPA (expected points added) per target was 0.01. He was the most average player you could imagine. By comparison, back in 2021, for example, it was 0.22.
The Cowboys had already shown a desire to have Jalen Tolbert win the WR2 job. He was already in the process of doing that when Cooks went on IR.
Jalen Tolbert had a 25% first-read target share, tying Jake Ferguson, with CeeDee Lamb at 21.4% in Week 5.
In Weeks 1-4, Tolbert was 4th on the team at 14.2% behind Brandin Cooks (16%), Ferguson (20%), & Lamb (25.5%)
The opportunity uptick led to Tolbert averaging more… pic.twitter.com/aYqz7O5iBG
— Corbin (@corbin_young21) October 8, 2024
Upon Cooks’ return, Tolbert’s snap share would likely take a small hit. He probably won’t be at the 90% number he’s been at the past two weeks, but we should still expect him to play ahead of Cooks.
At 25 years old and having clearly improved over his first three seasons, Tolbert provides Dallas with much more than Cooks does at this point in his career. Tolbert may not ever be a weekly fantasy starter, but he does carry WR2 upside in what should still be a very good Cowboys offense.
Fantasy managers who roster Tolbert would be well-advised to hang onto him through the team’s bye. If you don’t have him, he’s worth adding if you can afford to stash him, as he’s available in over 60% of Yahoo leagues.