Could Dalvin Cook fall to the 2nd round?
Florida State’s Dalvin Cook, by most scout’s power rankings, is listed as the second best running back in this year’s stacked draft class. A couple weeks ago most mocks had him a lock going in the first round on Thursday night. Some even having him being a top ten pick. However, his off-field issues and combine performance has NFL teams asking questions. It is such a major question to teams that, Bleacher Report's Matt Miller, projects him to slide all the way to the second round. Could this happen?
Cook has not been a perfect citizen of the state of Florida in the past. As a juvenile in 2009 and 2010, he was charged with robbery, firing a weapon, and possession of a weapon on school property. He seemed to gain a hold of himself after signing his NLI and enrolling at Florida State, until his sophomore season in 2014 when was charged for criminal mischief for causing damage to property with a BB gun. The most recent arrest came last season, when he was accused and later acquitted of a charge of misdemeanor battery against a female student at a Tallahassee bar. While he was not found guilty of any of these charges, Miller suggests that he trusts Oklahoma’s Joe Mixon more than Cook at this point. His history is making it hard for teams to possibly take a chance on him. They are just hoping at this point that he does not get himself into any more trouble while on their team.
Not only has is off the field issues been a question, but is on-field problems, especially at the combine last month. His combine performance did not live up to his potential. While his 40-yard-dash time was fairly good (4.49), and he led running backs in the bench press (22); his 20-yard shuttle (4.53), 3-cone drill (7.27), vertical leap (30.5”) and broad jump (116.0”) were all below average. Especially for a player that is projected to be drafted in the first round. According to the SPARQ rating, Cook was ranked in the ninth percentile of perspective running backs in this year’s class. No running back with that low of a percentile has been selected in the first round since 1999. As Matt Connor of Arrowhead Addict points out, teams will solely have to judge his performance based on his on-field success and game tape in his three-year college career. Cook was one of the best running backs in the nation last season, rushing for 1,765 yards for 19 touchdowns. He could really help teams in the running game. But, will teams take a chance on him?
Questions also arise on the state of Cook’s shoulder. After his sophomore season, Cook had surgery on his shoulder, and despite claiming that he is 100% healthy, teams take that into consideration. With his performance last season, it is hard to see if he had any pain.
If it wasn’t for his on-field performance, this wouldn’t be a question of whether he would slip into the second round but a question if he were to fall to the third or even fourth round. Multiple teams are in need for a running back. So, if Cook happens to fall to the second round, look for teams to trade up to potentially get him. Cook has the talent, but can his off-field issues and poor combine drop him to the second round? We can only speculate for now, but expect it to be a story once April 27th rolls around.
