Purdue Football Recruiting: Cook spurns Terps for Boilers

Wyatt Cook decided that a turtle is an absurd mascot, and that spending 4 years looking like a failed abstract art project on the football field is ridiculous. Subsequently, Cook has declared that real men wear black and gold, and joined the recent rush to play for Coach Hazell and the soon to be resurgent Boilermakers. Cook is 3* 6'2, 230 pound middle linebacker from Owings Mills, Maryland. He will enter Purdue boasting grown man size and a desire to destroy any ball carrier in his path.

Cook joins Andy Chelf and Sawyer Dawson as defensive commitments to Purdue's 2015 recruiting class. Cook plays for McDonogh High School, one of the premier private school football programs in Maryland, and helped lead the Eagles to an undefeated season, MIAA state championship season, while garnering all state honors. Cook was long considered a Maryland lean, but Purdue swooped in and secured Cook's commitment in somewhat of a recruiting coup.

Strengths:

Hits Like a Mule: When Cook hits people, they stay hit. Progress is immediately stopped, and opposing team trainers prepare to take the field. A good number of runs stopped by Cook end with the question, "Son, do you know where you are?" He has prototypical size for the position, and uses solid technique: dropping his butt, wrapping his arms, and leading with his facemask.

Gets off Blocks: I was impressed with Cook's ability to work his way through the line, get off blocks, find the ball carrier, and destroy him. This skill is paramount for a middle linebacker in the Big 10. Most running plays require the middle linebacker to recognize the play, and subsequently, the ball carrier, flow to the ball, deal with pulling guards, and get the runner on the ground. It's easy to make a tackle when nobody blocks you, it's an entirely different ball game when you're dealing with a 300 guard diving at your ankles, and you're trying to find a 5'10 running back behind a 6'8 linemen. Cook looks like he is able to handle the job.

3^rd and 17: Forget the crushing hits, forget the tackles for loss, one play sold me on Cook. I'm not sure what down it was, but I like to imagine it's 3^rd and 17. At the snap Cook takes a deep drop, and keeps his eyes in the quarterback. The quarterback looks for the crossing route over the middle, a play that vexed Purdue to no end last year, but Cook maintains his discipline, locates the ball, jumps up and knocks down the pass. That's all I needed, sign me up, I'm on the Cook bandwagon until further notice.

Weakness:

Not Sure: Honestly, it's tough to find much at fault with Cook's highlight film. I'm going to need to see an actual game and I can't find one right now. He really looks like a prototypical middle linebacker. He does play on a stacked team, so it might be a little different when he doesn't have as much talent (comparable to the other team) surrounding him.

Overall:

This kid reminds me of Niko Koutouvides, and I hope he has a similar career. Cook is a great tackler, anchors a great defense, and is an all around great athlete (he's also an exceptional wrestler at a premiere wrestling school). Welcome to Purdue Mr. Cook. It's time for teams to fear the Boilermaker defense again, and I expect you to bring the pain in copious amounts.

Highlights:

Wyatt vs Big 10 running backs:

Junior Highlights: