On Jared Cook's Role in Titans Offense

Jared Cook is not happy with his role in the offense. It has even gotten to the point where his agent has reportedly asked the Titans for a trade. That is clearly a ridiculous request that will not be honored, but does Cook have a legitimate beef based on how he has been used this season. Let's look at some numbers

First we look at snaps played on the year by all receivers and tight ends:

You see there that Cook is third on the team in snaps played, and that he has been on the field for almost 57% of the team's offensive snaps. Keep in mind that the 57% includes two games where he was limited because of an injury.

Next we will look at percent of targets in the passing game:

You can see there that Cook trails only Kendall Wright and Nate Washington in percentage of the teams targets, and neither of those guys have missed any time due to injury. While Cook does pose more of a match-up threat that either of those guys, it is hard to fault the QBs for looking at the receivers first.

Next we look at targets per snap played:

Britt moves to the top of this list because it doesn't factor in the time missed due to injury. Again, it is tough to argue with that order. I would probably like to see Cook second on this list behind Britt, but Washington and Wright have been making plays.

These numbers lead me to believe that on just a pure numbers basis, Cook is not being underutilized currently. However, they have not done enough to really take advantage of the match-up problems that he can create. Palmer saying that the defense will dictate when they can get the ball to Cook is ridiculous. They should have a package of plays in each game plan to get him isolated on a linebacker or safety- you know, play offense.