Kansas City Chiefs Scouting Report: Connor Cook

The Kansas City Chiefs appear to be all set at the starting quarterback position, but could they look to draft their future starter? If so, Connor Cook could gain interest from Kansas City.

While Alex Smith has the starting quarterback spot locked up in Kansas City for at least another year or two, it never hurts to look ahead to the future. Chase Daniel is in Philadelphia now (and with a monster contract), so the Chiefs have Tyler Bray and Aaron Murray on their roster at the moment.

Whether or not either of those guys are the answer for the position after Smith leaves is debatable, but John Dorsey could make it a point to draft another young guy this year. Connor Cook out of Michigan State is considered to be the fourth best quarterback in this year’s draft.

Cook played for four seasons at Michigan State, but became the full-time starter during his sophomore year in 2013. In four years as a Spartan, Cook threw for 9,194 yards, 71 touchdowns, and 22 interceptions. His final two seasons with the Spartans were the most impressive, as he tossed for over 3,000 yards and 24 touchdowns both years.

Combine Results

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• 40-yard dash – 4.79 seconds
• Vertical jump – 33.0 inch*
• Broad jump – 113.0 inch
• 3-cone drill – 7.21 seconds

*=Combine top performer

Combine results courtesy of NFL.com’s Draft Tracker

He ended his Michigan State days with a record of 34-4 and went 23-2 in the Big Ten. CBS Sports notes that had Cook opted to forego his senior season last year, that he’d likely have been an early first round pick. Cook decided to stay at Michigan State for his senior year and ended up hurting his shoulder during the season.

The positives about Cook are that he played for four years at Michigan State and has the size that teams want for their quarterback. He’s terrific at reading the safeties and scans the field before tossing the ball.

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It appears that Cook does have some issues though, but most of them are personality based. The biggest controversy surrounding the Spartans quarterback was after the Big Ten Championship game in which Cook received the MVP trophy from Archie Griffin. Rather than shake his hand and seem excited to be receiving an award from Griffin, Cook brushed past him and immediately got into his interview.

This caused quite the stir, and Cook did apologize for it. Still though. He was never elected captain by his teammates and that’s concerning. How often is the quarterback (especially the senior quarterback) not elected captain? It’s rare, and probably not a good sign.

Next: First Round Wish List in the Draft

My personal take on Cook is that he’s an experienced quarterback, but he might not have what it takes to lead an offense in the NFL. If his teammates didn’t respect him in college, it’d be difficult to see much changing in the pros.

Pass.