SENSE OF NEWNESS
Offseason acquisitions Cooks, Cobb, Johnson are intriguing weapons in arsenal
Playing without All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins for the first time in his four-year career, quarterback Deshaun Watson has been adjusting to three new teammates on offense — receivers Brandin Cooks and Randall Cobb and running back David Johnson — at the Texans’ training camp.
Cooks is starting opposite Will Fuller. Cobb is playing inside. Johnson, acquired in the Hopkins trade with Arizona, is a starter who gives the Texans their most dangerous receiver out of the backfield since Arian Foster.
If all goes according to Bill O’Brien’s plan, Cooks, Cobb and Johnson will be vital components of an offense the coach believes could be one of the highest-scoring in the NFL.
Even though Watson no longer has his favorite target, he’s getting used to the new additions and planning to get the ball to them as much as possible. Watson is working with a new play-caller in offensive coordinator Tim Kelly, and they want to take advantage of having Cooks, Cobb and Johnson at their disposal.
“The chemistry is coming along well,” Watson said in a recent Zoom conference call. “We’ve been building that all summer. Each guy is a veteran, so they see different things, and their football IQ is very high.
“Those guys make plays. That’s the biggest thing.”
Watson knows what Johnson, Cooks and Cobb are capable of doing.
In Johnson’s best season, he rushed for 1,239 yards and scored 16 touchdowns for the Cardinals in 2016. He also caught 80 passes for 879 yards and four touchdowns that season.
In Cooks’ best season, he had 80 catches for 1,204 yards and five touchdowns for the Los Angeles Rams in 2018.
In Cobb’s best season, he caught 91 passes for 1,287 yards and 12 touchdowns for Green Bay in 2014.
The Texans aren’t asking their new players to duplicate those numbers. They want them to stay healthy to see what they can accomplish playing with Watson.
“We want for each one to do their job and produce as veterans and All-Pros, and that’s what they’ve been bringing to this team, a different type of energy than we’ve seen in previous years,” Watson said.
O’Brien, who’s also the Texans’ general manager, is banking on Johnson, Cooks and Cobb staying healthy.
Last season, Johnson was injured and benched at Arizona, where he rushed for 345 yards, caught 36 passes for 370 yards and scored six touchdowns. Cooks caught a career-low 42 passes at Los Angeles, where he missed two games because of a concussion. In his one season at Dallas, Cobb had 55 receptions for 828 yards and a career-high 15.1-yard average.
“All those guys have done a great job,” O’Brien said. “They’re good pros, and they understand what we’re asking them to do.”
O’Brien has been a Johnson fan for years. He wanted the running back included in the Hopkins deal, believing he can bounce back in a season in which he makes $10.2 million.
O’Brien signed Cobb as a free agent and hopes he can become the consistently productive slot receiver who’s been missing in the offense.
Because the Cardinals gave the Texans a second-round pick in the Hopkins trade — used on defensive tackle Ross Blacklock — O’Brien felt comfortable trading his secondrounder to the Rams for Cooks.
Not surprisingly, O’Brien is paying close attention to the newcomers and how they bond on and off the field with Watson. He’s been impressed so far.
“Just the way they work,” O’Brien said. “They put the time in every day. They’re great guys in the locker room. They communicate well. They want to do what Deshaun needs them to do within the route.
“They’re smart, and they understand what we’re trying to do. They’re good teammates, what we call DTS — dependable, tough, smart. That’s what’s great about them.”
Because the coronavirus pandemic kept players from getting on-field coaching during a virtual offseason program, the Texans have been fortunate that Johnson, Cooks and Cobb are savvy veterans who know how to prepare and be ready for the first game of the regular season Sept. 10 at Kansas City.
It’s been a smooth transition for them to go from an offseason of Zoom calls to finally working in person with their new teammates, especially Watson.
“They were able to work out during the offseason, no doubt about it, but not really with us,” O’Brien said. “They’re all on these different ramp-up periods for what they needed from a load standpoint. Everybody’s on track to be ready to go when the season starts.”