Brandin Cooks Flashing Superstar Potential With Drew Brees Early in Preseason

Say what you want about the significance of the preseason, but New Orleans Saints receiver Brandin Cooks sure looks on the verge of superstar status. 

The second-year receiver torched the New England Patriots during the first half of the Saints' 26-24 loss, catching four passes for 117 yards and an electrifying 45-yard touchdown from quarterback Drew Brees. He made good on all three of his targets from Brees during the first half. 

The scoring play was a thing of beauty. The NFL shared highlights: 

On first down just inside New England territory, the Saints went to a bread-and-butter play in the Sean Payton offense. Brees executed a play-action fake from a running formation, while Cooks used a double move on the outside against Devin McCourty and Duron Harmon's coverage. 

Applying his timed 4.3-second 40-yard dash speed, Cooks blew past both defenders on the deep post and hauled in Brees' perfectly thrown ball in the end zone for the score. 

"Obviously, Drew puts the ball where it needs to be," Cooks said, per Evan Woodbery of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "All I have to do is catch the ball. He did all the hard work."

After several joint practices this past week and a live game Saturday night, Bill Belichick and the Patriots were ready to say goodbye to facing the 5'10", 189-pound receiver.

"Starting with Brandin Cooks, I'm glad we don't have to play him twice a year," Belichick said (via the team's official site). "He's a really good player."

The Mercedes-Benz Superdome crowd should probably get used to seeing the Brees-Cooks combination in action. With Jimmy Graham in Seattle, Kenny Stills in Miami and Pierre Thomas still unsigned, the Saints have an abundance of available targets for an ascending player like Cooks to devour.  

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

It's only August, but he's already getting fed. The 20th pick in the 2014 draft has a pair of touchdown catches to start the preseason. Against the Baltimore Ravens in the exhibition opener, Cooks caught a short pass from Luke McCown and raced 28 yards to the end zone. He had a similar play on Saturday night, turning a short completion from McCown into a 36-yard play in the first half. 

Cooks now has five catches for 145 yards over just a handful of series this preseason. He also rushed for seven yards on an end-around against the Patriots.  

It remains easy to forget that Cooks was well on his way to producing a standout rookie season last year. While a broken thumb ended his season in Week 11, the Oregon State product was leading all rookie receivers in receptions at the time of his injury. Cooks' 53 catches through 10 games put him on pace for almost 85. 

	G	Rec	Yards	TD
2014 Regular Season	10	53	550	3
2015 Preseason	2	5	145	2

"That injury has made me more hungry," Cooks said, per Woodbery. "I worked my tail off (during the offseason) to able to shock the world. That's the ultimate plan."

Being the No. 1 target in a Brees-led offense should ensure Cooks threatens—and likely eclipses—his rookie-pace totals. Shocking the world isn't out of the question. 

While the Saints seem intent on becoming a more run-based offense in 2015, any team with Payton calling plays and Brees under center is going to produce high-volume passing numbers. In fact, Brees hasn't attempted fewer than 650 passes since 2009. He's averaged 628 attempts and nearly 4,900 passing yards per season since arriving in New Orleans in 2006. 

The Saints have had at least one player see 125 or more targets in each of the last five seasons. Cooks should assume the role in 2015. 

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

If he does see somewhere in the ballpark of 125 targets, and he recreates his catch rate from last season (almost 77 percent), Cooks could easily catch close to 100 passes this season. Throw in the big-play ability (Cooks caught four passes over 20 yards and another two over 40 in 2014) and versatility (he rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown as a rookie) and it's easy to see how the 21-year-old may position himself among the best of the NFL's ridiculously deep receiving group. 

Former NFL great Randy Moss, who worked out with Cooks this offseason, agrees. 

"He's in a great offense," Moss said (via Nick Underhill of the New Orleans Advocate). "He's got a great quarterback in Drew Brees. The sky's the limit for whatever he wants to do in this offense, and I think Sean Payton's going to put him in a position to make plays."

Everything Moss mentioned was put into action Saturday night. A great offense, led by a great quarterback, put Cooks in a great position to attack. And despite this being the preseason—a time of great overreaction—there's really no reason to think Cooks' early-August dominance is fool's gold. 

The sophomore receiver looks like a star. He's shining now, and he'll shine again when the games actually matter. 

Zach Kruse covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. 

Follow @zachkruse2