Is Brandin Cooks Playing This Week? Should I Start Nico Collins in Week 16?

As fantasy football managers are finalizing their lineups for Week 16, some last minute injury situations will shape their decisions and separate the winners from the losers

Let's check in on the COVID situation for the Houston Texans and their Week 16 Sunday afternoon game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Is Brandin Cooks playing this week? Should I pickup and start Nico Collins instead? Below we take a quick look at the updated status for Cooks and attempt to answer these questions.

Is Brandin Cooks Playing In Week 16 Against the Chargers?

Brandin Cooks has been placed on the COVID-19 for the Week 16 game against the Los Angeles Charges. COVID is tearing through the NFL and the Houston Texans aren't immune to that. Among the Houston players who are on the COVID-19 list is wide receiver Brandin Cooks, who has been a strong fantasy option all season.

Cooks is the WR15 overall this year in PPR scoring. He's averaging 11.9 points per game. And he's heated up lately. In Week 14, Cooks was targeted 11 times, catching eight passes for 101 yards, and then last week he turned 10 targets into seven catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns. Cooks being out would create some issues for this Texans passing attack, as it would lose its most consistent player.

As for whether or not the Texans will be without Cooks, we'll have to see. There have been no reports about Cooks being unvaccinated, so the NFL's new updated COVID protocols means that Cooks just has to test out of the protocols and be asymptomatic for 24 hours. You should be concerned about Cooks availability this week, and he's unlikely to play, but it's too early to completely rule out a return.

Should I Start Nico Collins? Is He Worth A Pickup?

Rookie Nico Collins hasn't produced anywhere close to what Cooks has, but he's also been playing with Cooks all year. Collins has had one game in which he saw a snap rate of 70%. That happened to be his best game, catching five of his 10 targets for 69 yards.

Fantasy managers who need a Cooks replacement could be worse than Collins, who will likely be on the field for most of the plays if Cooks can't go. He'd have value as a WR4-type play, with some upside.

That, of course, depends on if Cooks plays. If Cooks clears protocols, Collins is instantly downgraded to a non-option for fantasy managers. Be sure to check back for further updates on Cooks as we get closer to game time.

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