Let me continue. Obviously you know WAY more about these guys so I'm genuinely curious. To me Cook is an elite athlete playing running back. That's great.....get all those types you can. Don't get me wrong I would go nuts if we land him. I just don't see him having the instant impact Duke did on the ground, but he will probably be used in some special packages to showcase his skills. Yearby to me looks like a kid that gets by because he has elite vision and short area burst. Now picture him down the road with some weight on him. I like the thought of that since speed isn't his game.
Obviously Cook can be great but its going to take time at RB. Luckily we don't need either right away to dominate.
Yearby is a great back. Faster than I thought. Better than I thought.
But the one thing that still separates Cook from Yearby is size. It's one thing to be short. Yearby is short
and slight, with narrow shoulders and a thin frame. Cook outweighed Yearby by 17 pounds at the Opening and looks even heavier now.
Size matters, especially between the tackles. We saw that this year with Duke. Yearby makes his living between the tackles. I have some concerns about how that style will translate against bigger/stronger/faster players.
Physical freaks like Cook tend to make an impact early. Look at all the different ways Coley scored for us this year. Cook will score running, receiving and returning as a true freshman because he is that much more talented than everyone else.
Yoy say that "Cook is an athlete playing RB." I disagree. Sure, Yearby is the more natural back. But look at the run at 1:51 and tell me Cook is not a natural runner. It bears repeating that Cook has been the most productive back in South Florida the past two years.
He rushed for 1,940 yards (11 ypc) and 34 TDs this season against the toughest schedule in America. That's historic-type production.
To me, Yearby is Tracy Howard. Pure at his position, smooth, tough, instinctual. Cook is Patrick Peterson. I'd love to have both, but one has a higher upside than the other.