Based on Combine numbers, you do have a point. Personally, i don't see them as reliable marks, because plenty of those results can have multiple reasons for happening. So, it's not because he, or anyone else, posted X in a test, we would see it translated into the field
A player's testing numbers, taken out of context, prove nothing. I only rely on testing numbers for a rough baseline of a player's physical
potential to succeed at the specific tasks required by a specific role. Some players may perform better than their numbers would project because they have excellent technique, "football IQ", etc. Others may fail to achieve projected results in the short term because they lack one or more of those things.
However, technique
can be acquired/corrected, and a player
can improve aspects of his game from one season to the next.
From the games and film that I've seen from him, I don't think that he looks like a guy who would thrive in the slot. One thing that i noticed from him is that he tends to run with his arms very separated, which makes it harder to catch ball that goes straight towards his body ( Hogan does the same thing, which might be a reason to why he isn't really used as a Slot, IMO).
I'm not sure why Cooks needs to "thrive in the slot." I'm certainly
not supporting the notion that Cooks convert to a slot-specialist or that he could become "the next Edelman". That's silly. I'm simply disagreeing with the assumption that what we've seen out of Cooks in his first season with the Pats represents all he'll ever be (which seems equally silly to me).
There's still time and potential for coaching and hard work to result in improvements that will enable Cooks to run a greater range of routes (including slot routes) more successfully. He doesn't need to improve to Edelman-level, or even to Amendola level, - next season or ever - to become a better (more useful) player.
Anyway, arm-positioning, like footwork, seems like a technique issue to me.
Sill, I don't think I have numbers to disagree with you... like you said, maybe they can try it during the offseason, but I guess I don't really see it happening. BB is not known to "sugarcoat" the playbook, so if he thought that Cooks was able to play the slot, i think we would have seen it, even if a little bit
I'm not certain what the "sugarcoating the playbook" is all about. In my experience watching players develop over time with the Pats, BB and his coaches consistently emphasize putting players into roles that optimize their
current skill set and reduce exposure of their
current weaknesses - and then work vigorously to improve each player's weak areas and help them diversify their skill set over time - because it makes them more useful.
In any case, Hogan's role this season did change a bit from 2016 (which may or may not have been the result of Edelman's late-Camp injury). Before he was injured, he appeared to be running more intermediate-range route patterns this year than last, including some out of the slot. His productivity declined in terms of YPC (17.9 to 12.9) and catch rate (65.5% to 57.6%), but he increased his receptions/game (2.5 to 3.8) and yards/game (slightly). So, he wasn't great at it, but he didn't suck, either.
Cooks also ran a smattering of intermediate-range routes, including out of the slot (Dorsett also ran a handful). Just because it was low-volume and irregular
this season (when the Pats had three very good receiving RBs) doesn't mean it will always be that way.
