Connor Cook
| No. 8 – Oakland Raiders | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Quarterback |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | January 29, 1993 Hinckley, Ohio |
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College: | Michigan State |
| NFL draft: | 2016 / round: 4 / pick: 100 |
| Career history | |
| |
| Roster status: | Active |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Connor Cook (born January 29, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans and was their starting quarterback from 2013 to 2015. He holds the record for most career wins at Michigan State.
Early years
Cook attended Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He was ranked as the nation's 13th best quarterback recruit by Rivals.com.[1]
College career
Upon enrolling at Michigan State, Cook was redshirted as a freshman in 2011. He spent the 2012 season as a backup to Andrew Maxwell.[2] After Maxwell was benched, Cook helped lead the team to a win in the 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, completing four of 11 passes for 47 yards and a touchdown.[3] Overall, he appeared in three games, completing nine of 17 passes for 94 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He entered the 2013 season as the backup to Maxwell again. After Maxwell struggled, Cook took over as the starter after the first game and remained the starter the rest of the year.[4] He led Michigan State to a 34-24 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Big Ten Championship Game and was named MVP after throwing for 304 yards with three touchdowns.[5][6] He then led the Spartans to a 24–20 victory over the Stanford Cardinal in the 2014 Rose Bowl. He was named the offensive MVP after throwing for 332 yards and two touchdowns.[7] Cook finished the season with 2,755 passing yards and 22 touchdowns.
As a junior in 2014, Cook passed 3,214 yards with 24 touchdowns. He led the Spartans to 2015 Cotton Bowl, where they defeated the higher-ranked Baylor Bears, 42–41.[8] As a senior in 2015 Cook led the Spartans to a 16–13 win over Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Championship Game and was named MVP for the second time in three years. The victory earned them a spot in the College Football Playoff (2015 Cotton Bowl), where they lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide, 38-0. Cook finished the season with 3,131 passing yards and 24 touchdowns, completing 56% of his passes. For his career he completed 673 of 1,170 passes for a school record 9,194 yards with 71 touchdowns and 22 interceptions.
Statistics
| Season | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Yds | Pct | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |
| 2012 | 9 | 17 | 94 | 52.9 | 1 | 1 | 107.0 | 4 | −3 | −0.8 | 0 |
| 2013 | 223 | 380 | 2,755 | 58.7 | 22 | 6 | 135.5 | 69 | 76 | 1.1 | 1 |
| 2014 | 212 | 365 | 3,214 | 58.1 | 24 | 8 | 149.4 | 51 | 80 | 1.5 | 2 |
| 2015 | 229 | 408 | 3,131 | 56.1 | 24 | 7 | 136.6 | 52 | 56 | 1.1 | 0 |
| NCAA career totals[9] | 673 | 1,170 | 9,194 | 57.5 | 71 | 22 | 139.8 | 176 | 209 | 1.2 | 3 |
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
217 lb (98 kg) |
33 in (0.84 m) |
9 in (0.23 m) |
4.79 s | 7.21 s | 33 in (0.84 m) |
9 ft 5 in (2.87 m) | |||||
| All values from NFL Combine[10] | ||||||||||||
Cook was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the 4th round with the 100th pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. He was the seventh quarterback chosen in that draft.
References
- ^ "Connor Cook".
- ^ "Michigan State backup QB Connor Cook knows he's behind Andrew Maxwell ... for now at least". MLive.com.
- ^ "Michigan State redshirt freshman quarterback Connor Cook emerges in Spartans' 17–16 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl win over TCU". MLive.com.
- ^ "Michigan State to start Connor Cook against South Florida, with Tyler O'Connor as his backup". MLive.com.
- ^ Big Ten Championship: Michigan State’s Connor Cook wants a repeat
- ^ MSU quarterback Connor Cook still hungry after feasting in 2013
- ^ Michigan State's Connor Cook rebounds from interception, grabs Rose Bowl offensive MVP
- ^ Michigan St. scores 3 TDs in 4th, bests Baylor in Cotton Bowl
- ^ "Connor Cook". www.sports-reference.com. USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
- ^ "NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Connor Cook". National Football League.