After a great career at Georgia, running back James Cook boosted his NFL draft stock with an impressive performance at the NFL combine.
A few weeks later, Georgia hosted its annual Pro Day on March 16, and one NFL team that was well-represented in Athens that day was the New York Giants, whose attendance was headlined by general manager Joe Schoen.
Matt Lombardo of GMEN HQ reports that the Giants “love” Cook — from their scouts all the way of up to Schoen himself.
“The Giants love James Cook,” a league source tells FanSided.
“The thing I like about him is he’s a solid change-of-pace guy,” an NFC Executive tells FanSided, on the condition of anonymity because he isn’t authorized to speak publicly on prospects. “He may not be a three-down back, but he runs hard and has a lot of talent.”
At the combine, Cook finished with the eighth best official 40-yard dash time among running backs at 4.42. In fact, Cook bested his brother, Dalvin Cook, in the event. Dalvin Cook was a second-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in the 2017 NFL draft. Dalvin Cook ran a 4.49 40-yard dash in the 2017 NFL combine.
Cook finished his Georgia career with 1,012 total yards, 11 touchdowns and a national championship. He was huge for the Bulldogs throughout the College Football Playoff and showed his versatility against Michigan, topping 100 receiving yards against the Wolverines.
From Giants Wire:
Although the Giants are open to trading Saquon Barkley, his market has not developed. If they can’t find a trade partner by late April and the early part of the 2022 NFL draft, he’s expected to remain in tow and start this coming season.
But that doesn’t mean the Giants won’t have to address the position.
Cook could quell some of those concerns for the Giants and even potentially play a significant role behind Barkley as a rookie. Early projections have him going anywhere from Round 3 to Round 5, so Schoen wouldn’t even need to burn any of his top draft capital in order to land him.