In 9 NFL seasons thus far, 31 year old TE Jared Cook has been a mostly pedestrian tight end. With stints on the Titans, Rams, Packers, and now the Raiders, Cook has been in and out of a starting role, and has usually been a secondary receiving option in the offenses he has been a part of.

With the departure of Amari Cooper, Cook has been by far the most consistent receiving option on the Raiders. On a team that hasn’t had much of anything to be proud of this season, Jared Cook is showing he still has some left in the tank, and has emerged as a top TE in a very down year for the position. Here are Cook’s receiving numbers this season:

REC YD TD Stat 61 825 6 TE Rank 5th 4th 3rd

Cook is having a great year based on his raw receiving numbers, surpassing the likes of Rob Gronkowski and Eric Ebron. While his game by game numbers haven’t been very consistent this season, Cook is still one of the most productive tight ends this season and is 1st in the Raiders in REC, YD, and TD. Cook’s advanced statistics are also very impressive:

Air Yards YAC Production Premium DYAR DVOA Stat 500 325 +14.1 184 23.3% TE Rank 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 4th

Air Yards: “The total distance that a football is thrown beyond the line of scrimmage to the point of reception”

Production Premium: “Production Premium compares the outcome of all pass attempts, carries, and targets to league-average outcome in those same game situations (yard line, down, and distance). Positive values indicate that a player is more efficient than the average player, while negative values indicate that a player is less efficient than his peers with similar opportunities in similar situations.

Defense Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA): “Calculates a player’s success based on the down-and-distance of each play during the season, then calculates how much more or less successful the player is compared to the league average.

Defense Adjusted Yards Above Replacement (DYAR): “Gives the value of the performance on plays where this WR caught the ball, compared to replacement level, adjusted for situation and opponent and then translated into yardage.”

Cook has been able to get the job done on deep targets, and still ranks top 3 in yards after catch. His DYAR and DVOA stats show that his exceptional production is not just due to heavy usage. With a mix of both raw and advanced stats showing top 10 ranks, Cook has shown he is firmly in the upper echelon of tight ends (as desolate as the position may be).

As the Raiders look to continue rebuilding under head coach Jon Gruden, Jared Cook may be a forgotten talent, sitting at 32 years old when his contract expires at the end of the season. Despite his age, Jared Cook can clearly still produce, and will be a valuable receiving option on whatever team he may end up on this season.

Sources:

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/te

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CookJa02.htm

https://www.playerprofiler.com/nfl/jared-cook/