BSJ Vault: Looking back at the (mostly) ups and downs from Brandin Cooks in '17

Brandin Cooks had a little bit of a strange season with the Patriots. In many respects, he did exactly what he was supposed to when the Patriots traded for him: he brought the chunk back to the offense even without Julian Edelman.

Cooks had some expected issues getting on Tom Brady's precise page, but he did show improvement during the season. But in the second half, he regressed back to struggling to get off man coverage and was sloppy with his route running until he was suddenly razor sharp (except for one route) in the AFC Championship Game.

Looking back and dissecting Cooks' up-and-down season with the Patriots through the #BSJFightClub lens:

Before halftime against the Texans, here's an example of how Cooks and Tom Brady weren't quite in sync early in the season on timing routes like comebackers. You'll notice how much a more experienced receiver in the system like Chris Hogan was more precise on his mirror route.



But they were in sync on this touchdown to beat the Texans, which was the best play of the season (mostly Brady being Brady, but great clutch catch).



This is a play in the Panthers game that should have been a touchdown. I couldn't tell if it was on Cooks or Brady (was leaning Brady) but a Patriots source confirmed that Brady should have made a better pass and was likely hearing footsteps and rushed it.



Cooks and Brady starting to get on the same page with their comebackers.



Bad Dolphins defense, great design by Josh McDaniels, threat of Rob Gronkowski and subtle brilliance of Brady leads to 37-yard catch for Cooks.



The incompletion to Cooks vs. Bills that led to Brady's blowup with McDaniels on the sideline.



Among Brady's struggles at Miami was a comebacker to Cooks on third down.



Improved route running from Cooks in AFC Championship vs. Jaguars.



Showing why Brady throws deep to Cooks when it appeared to be double coverage.



Did Cooks run the wrong route in AFC Championship Game?