Connor Cook

Connor Cook
No. 18 Oakland Raiders
Position: Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth: (1993-01-29) January 29, 1993
Place of birth: Hinckley, Ohio
Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight: 220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school: Walsh Jesuit
College: Michigan State
NFL Draft: 2016 / Round: 4 / Pick: 100
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2016
Pass attempts: 21
Pass completions: 14
Percentage: 66.7
TD–INT: 1–1
Passing yards: 150
Passer rating: 83.4
Player stats at NFL.com

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. Cook was selected in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. After initially serving as the third-string backup to Derek Carr and Matt McGloin, Cook played in his first NFL game in the Raiders' last regular season game of the 2016 NFL season after Carr and McGloin suffered injuries. Following this, he was named the starter for the Raiders' playoff game against the Houston Texans and became the first quarterback in NFL history to make his first career start in a playoff game.

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. He won the 2015 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the nation's outstanding senior or fourth year quarterback. 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

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt Arm length Hand size 40‑yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20‑ss 3‑cone Vert jump Broad
6 ft 4 in 217 lb 33 in 9 in 4.79 s 1.68 s 2.79 s 4.28 s 7.21 s 33 in 9 ft 5 in
All values from NFL Combine[10]

Cook was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the fourth round with the 100th pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. He was the seventh quarterback chosen in that draft.[11]

On May 9, 2016, the Raiders signed Cook to a four-year, $2.95 million contract with a signing bonus of $619,890.[12]

He began his rookie season for the Raiders as the third quarterback on the depth chart behind starter Derek Carr and second-string Matt McGloin. On December 24, 2016, Cook was raised to backup quarterback after a season-ending fibula injury to Carr. On January 1, 2017, Cook made his NFL debut, entering the game late in the second quarter after starter Matt McGloin suffered an injury.[13] Cook completed 14 of 21 passes for 150 yards and one touchdown, which was to Amari Cooper and the first of Cook's career, with one interception as the Raiders lost to the Denver Broncos by a score of 24–6.[14] On January 4, Cook was named the starter for the AFC Wildcard Game against the Houston Texans.[15] McGloin was limited in practice due to his injury but was still active as Cook's backup for the playoff game.[16][17][18] Cook became the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to make his first career start in a playoff game.[19][20]

On January 7, 2017 in the AFC Wildcard Game against the Texans, Cook completed 18 of 45 pass attempts for 141 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions in a 27–14 loss.[21] In the loss, he threw his first career postseason touchdown to Andre Holmes in the fourth quarter.

Statistics

Year Team GP GS Passing Rushing
Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD
2016 OAK 1 0 14 21 66.7 150 7.1 1 1 83.4 0 0 0.0 0

Source:[22]

References

  1. ↑ "Connor Cook".
  2. ↑ "Michigan State backup QB Connor Cook knows he's behind Andrew Maxwell ... for now at least". MLive.com.
  3. ↑ "Michigan State redshirt freshman quarterback Connor Cook emerges in Spartans' 17–16 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl win over TCU". MLive.com.
  4. ↑ "Michigan State to start Connor Cook against South Florida, with Tyler O'Connor as his backup". MLive.com.
  5. ↑ Big Ten Championship: Michigan State’s Connor Cook wants a repeat
  6. ↑ MSU quarterback Connor Cook still hungry after feasting in 2013
  7. ↑ Michigan State's Connor Cook rebounds from interception, grabs Rose Bowl offensive MVP
  8. ↑ Michigan St. scores 3 TDs in 4th, bests Baylor in Cotton Bowl
  9. ↑ "Connor Cook". www.sports-reference.com. USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  10. ↑ "NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Connor Cook". National Football League.
  11. ↑ "Raiders help kick off fourth round with pick of Connor Cook". espn.com. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Sportrac.com: Connor Cook contract". sportrac.com. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  13. ↑ Paskal, Eddie (January 1, 2017). "Oakland Raiders Wrap Up Regular Season With 24-6 Loss To Denver Broncos". raiders.com. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  14. ↑ Gutierrez, Paul (January 1, 2017). "Rookie QB Connor Cook takes over for Matt McGloin in Raiders' loss". espn.com. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Raiders Announce Connor Cook To Start Playoff Game Vs. Texans". Associated Press. sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com. January 1, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Matt McGloin expected to be active as backup". nfl.com. January 7, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  17. ↑ "With Matt McGloin Available, Raiders Decide to Stick With Connor Cook". Associated Press. nytimes.com. January 8, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  18. ↑ DaSilva, Cameron (January 8, 2017). "Raiders coach Jack Del Rio admits he considered benching Connor Cook". foxsports.com. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  19. ↑ Orr, Connor (January 3, 2017). "Raiders expected to start Connor Cook vs. Texans". nfl.com. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  20. ↑ Gutierrez, Paul (January 4, 2017). "Raiders' Connor Cook to make first career start Saturday vs. Texans". ESPN.
  21. ↑ "NFL Game Center: Week 18-2016: Oakland Raiders @ Houston Texans". NFL.com. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Connor Cook". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
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