Will Brandin Cooks be the Texans’ team MVP for 2022?

How important is Brandin Cooks to the Houston Texans? He’s good enough to be the team MVP for 2022.

There has been a lot written and discussed about the Houston Texans’ number-one wide receiver Brandin Cooks this offseason. Whether it be on the pages of the Toro Times or elsewhere that discusses NFL football, Cooks’ name has been mentioned more than a few times this offseason.

It is evident the Texans have a top player in Cooks being on the roster, but is he the Most Valuable Player on the team for the upcoming 2022 season? That’s a big-time honor to have a chance to earn for any player on any NFL team — to be the MVP — but for the Texans this upcoming season, the veteran Cooks has to be one of the leaders on the roster to help Houston progress in the rebuild.

Jordan Dajani of CBS Sports this week wrote an article predicting an MVP for each team in the NFL, and you guessed it, that player for Houston is Cooks. In the article, he had the following to say about Cooks and what he means to the Texans:

"“Everyone understands that the Texans aren’t competing for a Lombardi Trophy in 2022, but Cooks is again going to be a focal point on offense.”"

It seems that the Texans will use Cooks as their number-one target at wide receiver, and even more than that, he’ll be one of the leaders of the team.

What success can Cooks have with the Texans in 2022?

Cooks can not only gain a second consecutive 1,000-yard season with the Texans with Davis Mills as his quarterback, but just imagine the knowledge he’ll give to second-year wide receiver Nico Collins and rookie John Metchie III during training camp, the preseason and the upcoming 17-game regular season.

Last season, Cooks finished with the 12th-most targets in the NFL (130) according to PFF — who graded him at 77.4 (out of 100) for the ’21 season — and he was tied for 13th overall in receptions with 90 catches, resulting in 1,037 yards receiving, which was good for 20th in the NFL. Cooks also was ranked 18th in touchdown receptions with six for the season.

With those kind of stats, Houston was smart to give Cooks a two-year contract extension, and they will reap the benefits down the road with not only the success of Cooks, but the success of those who are around him, learning on a daily basis.