Why Cooks’ return is huge for Rams with Woods away...

Why Brandin Cooks' return is huge for Rams with Robert Woods still away

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Cameron DaSilva

The Los Angeles Rams offense looked very different on Sunday night against the Bears than it did in Week 1. There were two new starters at wide receiver and three new faces on the offensive line, as well as Johnny Mundt replacing Gerald Everett as one of the two starting tight ends.

They had to thrust Josh Reynolds and Mike Thomas into larger roles with Brandin Cooks still recovering from a concussion and Robert Woods tending to a family matter. Being without both players was a big hit to the offense, given the importance of both players’ roles.

It’s unclear when Woods will return to the team and there’s a chance he could miss Monday’s game, but Sean McVay shared some good news on Cooks’ recovery Wednesday. He confirmed the wideout will be back on the field Monday night against the Ravens after missing two games.

“Brandin Cooks is back, he’s excited to be able to play,” McVay said. “He’s felt good for a couple weeks, so when he’s feeling good and we’ve gotten the thumbs up from everybody else, that makes us all feel good. He’s going to play and we’re excited about that.”

This is huge news for the Rams, to say the least.

Cooks has been the least impactful of the Rams’ top three wide receivers this season, but that doesn’t make him unimportant. He simply hasn’t gotten as many opportunities as Woods and Cooper Kupp.

His return to the field changes things dramatically for the Rams offense. With Cooks and Woods both out in Week 11, the Rams went with a completely different approach offensively. They utilized two-tight end sets on 34 plays, which is the highest total of the season. They ran the ball 34 times and Jared Goff only attempted 18 passes, the fewest in his career.

The Rams set out to run the ball straight at the Bears, and it worked to the tune of a 17-7 win. But as we’ve seen all season, McVay prefers to throw the ball over run it. It’s just that putting the ball in the air 40 times with Reynolds and Thomas as two of the top three receivers wasn’t a recipe for success.

We all know how reliant McVay is on 11 personnel, having three receivers on the field more than 90% of the time. The Rams can get back to that on Monday night against the Ravens with Cooks, Kupp and Reynolds, leaving Thomas and his unreliable hands in the No. 4 spot.

Cooks’ speed will also be very valuable. He can stretch a defense like few receivers can, and against the Ravens’ cornerbacks, that’s critical. While Marlon Humphrey has good speed, Marcus Peters and Brandon Carr are somewhat lacking in that area.

If the Rams can get Cooks matched up on Peters or Carr, they can take advantage against single-high safety looks when it’s essentially one-on-one outside. Thomas and Reynolds simply don’t possess that same level of speed as Cooks.

The biggest benefit of Cooks’ return is having three receivers Goff is comfortable with. The Rams clearly shied away from using too many three-receiver sets against the Bears because of his and Woods’ absences, but that should change on Monday night.