Fantasy football outlook, projection for Chargers TE Jared Cook
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By: Gavino Borquez
With fantasy football drafts soon to be in full swing, I am going to do a series for each Chargers skill player and how they will fare this upcoming season and the production I project them to put up.
Today, we start with tight end Jared Cook, who replaces Hunter Henry.
Cook signed with Los Angeles this offseason after playing the best football of his career over the past three seasons with the Raiders and Saints.
In 2018, under Frank Smith, the Chargers’ offensive line coach, who was his position coach with the Raiders then, Cook had a career year, catching 68 passes for 896 yards and six TDs en route to his first Pro Bowl.
Cook spent the last two seasons with the Saints alongside offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, who served the quarterbacks coach then. He had 80 catches for 1,209 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Cook’s 14.2 yards per reception over the past three seasons are more than any other tight end in the NFL with at least 100 receptions over that span, per Pro Football Focus.
This season, Cook will be joined by Donald Parham and Tre’ McKitty. Parham is an ascending option who could see an uptick in targets. McKitty will primarily serve as an in-line blocker, with potential to receive targets down the road.
As for Cook, he will provide a big frame in the middle of the field and in the red zone for Justin Herbert. 22 of Cook’s 41 career touchdowns were inside 20 yards and in 12 seasons, he has 100 career receptions of 20 yards or more.
With Lombardi transferring some of the New Orleans concepts over to L.A., the familiarity should only maximize his potential connection with Herbert.
During the final season that Lombardi called plays for the Lions, QB Matthew Stafford targeted the tight end on nearly 25% of his passes. In addition, Saints’ Drew Brees relied heavily on his tight ends.
At the moment, ESPN has him ranked 23rd out of 35 tight ends heading into the summer. But Cook, who has been playing the best football of his career since turning 30, is a strong TE2, with potential to finish top-12 at his position.
My projection: 68 Tgts | 47 Rec | 642 Yds | 6 Rec Tds
