Jared Goff, Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods' Fantasy Stock After Brandin Cooks Trade

Fantasy football players looking toward the Los Angeles Rams offense for points will have one fewer playmaker to choose from during the 2020 campaign.

According to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, the Rams traded wide receiver Brandin Cooks and a 2022 fourth-round pick to the Houston Texans for a second-round pick in this year's draft on Thursday.

While Cooks had just 583 receiving yards last year when the Rams missed the playoffs, he surpassed 1,000 yards the previous four seasons as a go-to option for the New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots and Los Angeles.

Losing someone like that, even with Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods on the team, is not good for Jared Goff's overall fantasy ceiling.

Cooks is just 26 years old and a prime candidate to bounce back in 2020 with the speed to beat press coverage and the agility to make tacklers miss in the open field. Throw in the loss of running back Todd Gurley this offseason, and there will be plenty of pressure on Goff to run the offense with fewer weapons available.

The University of California product led the Rams to the Super Bowl as a Pro Bowler during the 2018 campaign but saw his numbers drop across the board last year.

In 2018, he completed 64.9 percent of his passes for 4,688 yards, 32 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. By comparison, he attempted 65 more passes in 2019 and completed 62.9 percent of them for 4,638 yards, 22 touchdowns and 16 picks.

Goff trended in the wrong direction last year and will not have two of his top options from the past in 2020. Fantasy players should operate with a high degree of caution and consider him nothing more than a late-round pick.

The same cannot be said for pass-catchers Kupp and Woods.

While the loss of Cooks means opposing defenses will focus more of their attention on the pair, their presence also helps cancel some of that out. Defenses that choose to double Kupp risk leaving Woods in single coverage, and vice versa.

Kupp was a dominant fantasy player last year with 1,161 receiving yards and 10 touchdown catches, while Woods turned heads with 1,134 receiving yards and two touchdown catches. It was Woods' second straight year with more than 1,000 yards through the air.

While Goff's already tenuous fantasy value takes another hit with this trade, Kupp and Woods figure to see even more targets. Don't hesitate to draft either one.