Georgia Football: James Cook making early waves in camp

Georgia Football already had four very talented running backs when James Cook arrived less than a month ago, but he’s wasted no time in standing out.

Athlon Sports recently did their rankings for the running back position throughout college football. The Georgia Football team dropped quite a bit in their rankings compared to last year. They found themselves in seventh what with Nick Chubb and Sony Michel graduating.

But there are two new players who have arrived to ‘replace’ those guys. I’m not sure anyone can entirely replace what Sony and Nick brought to UGA the past 4 years. However, from a talent perspective, Zamir White and James Cook might actually bring something more to the team. Both are athletic freaks who really impressed before arriving in Athens.

While White has got a lot of attention as the nation’s top-ranked running back, Cook himself looks special. He was the last member of the 2018 class to arrive in Athens and he’s already making an impact. If you want to see why check out his highlights from the Army All-American game earlier this year.

Reporters and people who have been to practice have been very impressed with Cook. His explosiveness and elusiveness seem to really set him apart. While he doesn’t have the size of White, he’s also close to 200lbs so he’s by no means a ‘scat back’.

What makes Cook so intriguing going into 2018 is his ability to catch the ball. He played wide receiver quite a bit in high school and he’s a natural doing that out of the backfield. That’s going to cause defenses incredible headaches, especially if they put a linebacker on him. No backer in the country is going to be able to stay with a guy this quick. Even most CB’s are going to struggle.

I’m really excited to see how the Dawgs use Cook this season. I do not expect him to get too many touches with all of the other players in front of him. However, he does have a unique skillset and I can’t imagine that Kirby Smart will ignore it. I can see him on the field 5-8 plays a game, sometimes as a decoy and others, trying to get him the ball in space. I just can’t imagine that UGA’s coaches don’t make that happen and if they do, he’s a touchdown waiting to happen. Let’s just say I do not expect UGA to be 7th in the nation when it comes to RB’s for much longer.