Faceoff - TE Chris Cooley, Washington Redskins

Posted 8/3, exclusive to Footballguys.com

Upside - by Marc Faletti

Chris Cooley's never missed a game in his 4 year career. As a rookie he was a top 15 tight end, and since then he's never ranked lower than 6th at the position. His 8 TDs last season were spread out among 8 different games, meaning he was one of the most consistent threats at TE. His excellent finish last year came in spite of pretty ho-hum numbers to start the year. And now he's got a head coach who loves to throw the ball and reportedly has made tremendous progress with his quarterback this offseason. Yep, things are really lining up for Chris Cooley.

His production isn't a fluke -- Cooley suffered some drops early last year but otherwise has sure hands and knows how to get himself open. He's consistently able to shake linebackers in the red zone, especially. When Jason Campbell needs to get rid of the ball, he almost always looks for Cooley first, and that shouldn't change anytime soon. Overall, Clinton Portis is option #1 for the 'Skins, but Cooley isn't far behind.

Some folks are concerned about Washington drafting Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly, and Fred Davis, but with an aging WR core and no other TE threat besides Cooley, it made sense for Washington to reload at the pass-catching positions. Besides, one could argue those players were simply the best overall values at each of their draft slots. With all the extra passing we can expect from Jim Zorn's offense, the rookie additions won't be cutting into Cooley's numbers. If anything, it just ensures he'll have a solid enough cast around him to continue his dominance for years to come. Honestly, though, the future is now -- don't be surprised if Cooley vaults into the Witten/Gates class of tight ends this year.

Downside - by Cecil Lammey

Chris Cooley has certainly developed into one of the biggest weapons for the Washington Redskins. Cooley lines up all over the field to create the best matchup possible. Last season he started it off with 5 TDs in the first 8 games, but ended up with only 3 more (for a total of 8) on the season. The last 3 years Cooley has finished as the #4, #5, (and last year) the #6 fantasy TE. When you take a closer look at the numbers there are trends that stand out -- and they don't seem to bode well for Cooley.

Yes, I know some of 2007 was spent with Todd Collins throwing him the ball, but Al Saunders and that offense are gone. This means Collins will go back to being ineffective (IMO) if he gets in for an injured Jason Campbell. JC gets to learn another offense in what seems to be a yearly ritual for him, dating back to his days at Auburn. It seems that 2008 will be a make or break year for Campbell under new head coach Jim Zorn. It's apparent that Cooley's role in this offense is up in the air too.

The Redskins spent a couple of early picks on big time WRs. In the 2nd round they drafted Devin Thomas, the large and fast WR from Michigan State. Later in the 2nd they brought in the fabulous Malcolm Kelly, who can take any catch to the house. Just those 2 additions would be enough to hurt anyone's fantasy stock. But to top it off, in the middle of the 2nd round they took TE Fred Davis from USC. These new faces will almost assuredly take away from Chris Cooley's targets. Six of Cooley's eight TDs came from inside the red zone, but zero came from inside the 5. All three rookies are fantastic red zone threats, and I can help but think that Cooley's TDs will go down.

When looking at the breakdown of Cooley's stats it's easy to see that the Redskins rely on him when the game is on the line. Most of Cooley's numbers come when Washington is playing from behind. Jim Zorn and company knew that they had to diversify their passing game in order to turn those losses into wins. With Thomas, Kelly, and Davis (to go along with ARE, and Santana Moss) it means that defenses will have their hands full when the 'Skins have to air it out. Fantasy football is about value, but too many owners are looking for Cooley to improve in a situation that is stacked against him doing so.