Texans draft: Three wide receivers to draft to support Brandin Cooks

The Houston Texans just secured their franchise wide receiver. So how do they make that position better in the draft?

On Thursday night, Brandin Cooks got a well-deserved contract extension, keeping him on the roster through the end of the 2024 season. However, more work is still to improve the Texans’ 28th-ranked passing offense (in terms of yards).

A lot of that had to do with Davis Mills’ rookie season. Mills did the best he could after being thrown into the fire in Week 2 when Tyrod Taylor got hurt. But Cooks was a one-man show last year, and the absence of a running game around made it pretty easy to shut down Houston’s offense once teams took Cooks out of the game.

So which players in the 2022 NFL Draft can help support Brandin Cooks so that way he’s even more effective? Let’s start with the 13th overall pick, where it’s most likely that Houston would take a wide receiver.

The Texans’ best chance to help Brandin Cooks: Drafting Treylon Burks

In my opinion, Burks is the best wide receiver in the draft and can go deep with solid speed and skill. It’s the best way to take the roof off the defense, which would let Cooks work underneath and have the chance to rack up the YAC (yards after the catch).

Burks’ skillset reminds some of Josh Gordon (without the off-the-field issues). Burks has also been criticized for taking run plays off, but there won’t be much of that in Houston’s offense led by Pep Hamilton.

Houston is a team that will pass to set up the run. So expect Burks and Mills to be making lots of connections if he’s taken at the 13th overall pick.