Couch: Connor Cook will have his NFL chance, draft be damned
Connor Cook sat alone on a bench next to the Michigan State practice fields. He’d been passed over to be MSU’s starting quarterback.
A scrum of reporters surrounded QB Andrew Maxwell, their backs to Cook, the battle supposedly decided.
“I’m not worried,” Cook said, sitting there in August of 2013.
Thirty-four wins later, he was right.
Saturday, after his NFL draft plunge came to a merciful end with the Oakland Raiders selecting him early in the fourth round, Cook replied in kind.
“I’m not worried,” he responded in a message.
He shouldn’t be. He’ll get his chance in the NFL. It may or may not be in Oakland or Las Vegas or wherever the Raiders land. But no one of his talents gets put on ice forever. The NFL is a quarterback-driven league short on capable quarterbacks — which made Cook’s slide two rounds beyond projections more stunning, regardless of concerns about leadership and attitude.
“I don’t think you can win that many games and be that successful at a program without being a leader,” Cook told Raiders’ reporters during a Saturday teleconference. “I think all that stuff was so far from the truth. Everything will work itself out.”
Like in 2013, that’ll be up to him, even if his opportunity doesn’t come as quickly.
The fit doesn’t appear ideal. The Raiders have an emerging young quarterback in Derek Carr. I can’t imagine Carr loves the idea of having a determined and gifted rookie behind him. Dallas would probably have been a better spot for Cook, where he could learn behind aging star Tony Romo and have more of a path to be an heir apparent. The Cowboys, who had the pick after Oakland in the fourth round, reportedly wanted Cook, too, though not enough to choose him Friday night in the second or third rounds.
When you’re a fourth-round pick, the path to playing time is never clear. For fourth-rounder Kirk Cousins in Washington, Robert Griffin III’s injuries and struggles opened the door. In the case of Russell Wilson in Seattle — a third-round pick — he beat out the presumed starter and free-agent signee in his first training camp.
The best comparison — and perhaps the example for Cook — might be Cincinnati Bengals quarterback AJ McCarron, who two years ago plummeted to the draft's fifth round over concerns about his demeanor. The former Alabama QB won the backup job to Andy Dalton last season and led the Bengals to two wins late in the season after Dalton broke his thumb. His performance has him on the radar to become a starter somewhere soon.
Like McCarron, Cook played in a pro-style offense, giving him a jump on other rookies making the transition.
“I mean he can read coverage. He’s played, started 39 games. I projected him as a second-round pick, possibly pushed up to the first round,” ESPN analyst and former Philadelphia Eagles QB Ron Jaworski said on television Saturday morning. “When I look at the tape on Connor Cook, I see a quarterback that has the attributes to be an NFL quarterback.”
Others have said the same. Cook’s completion percentage (57.5) isn’t up to NFL starting standards, but as NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock told me in October, “He throws the ball down the field vertically more than most of the quarterbacks in the country. So his percentage of completions is going to be lower than a lot of those guys.”
Mayock, then, had just finished breaking down Cook’s performance in the Spartans’ win at Michigan.
“As the game progressed and the pressure (grew), and it became a bigger and bigger game, I thought he got more accurate,” Mayock said. “And especially with a bunch of those back-shoulder throws that are anywhere from 15 to 25 yards down the field — he made several big-time throws.
“The highest compliment I can give him is that, under pressure, with several free runners on the blitz, where he knows he’s going to take a shot, he stayed in and delivered the football with accuracy. I like his toughness, he’s got good arm strength. The accuracy got better as the game went on.”
Cook’s feel for the pocket and his courage with traffic at his feet are rare, even among NFL passers. That’s his ticket.
He should also heed the criticism that landed him as a backup in Oakland. Human nature is to be defensive. Cook can be a brash personality. But if he listens — even if he doesn’t agree — he’ll have a better chance at a long NFL career, a better shot at someone eyeing him as a starter.
Mostly, though, he’s got to perform when he gets the call. Just like he did at MSU.
“Obviously, I think I’m one of the best quarterbacks in this draft class, but nothing is ever easy and nothing is ever perfect,” Cook told reporters Saturday. “Everything that I’ve been able to accomplish at Michigan State (wasn’t) easy.”
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.
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MSU QBs in NFL Draft
2016: Connor Cook, 4th round, Oakland
2012: Kirk Cousins, 4th, Washington
2007: Drew Stanton, 2nd, Detroit
2004: Jeff Smoker, 6th, St. Louis Rams
1996: Tony Banks, 2nd, St. Louis Rams
1994: Jim Miller, 6th, Pittsburgh
1982: Bryan Clark, 9th, San Francisco
1973: Dan Werner, 8th, Dallas
1968: Jimmy Raye, 16th, LA Rams
1960: Dean Look, 20th, Detroit
1958: Jim Ninowski, 4th, Cleveland
1956: Earl Morrall, 1st, San Francisco