FSU Football: Statistical Greatness Of Dalvin Cook
By Kelvin Hunt
FSU football has a special talent in Dalvin Cook. He has been so good that I don’t think FSU fans will fully grasp the concept until he’s gone.
This year will be the last year we see Dalvin Cook don the garnet and gold with FSU football. At least it should be since it would not make sense for him to return for his senior year.
I was working on a piece on Cook and how his junior year could go stat wise and got sidetracked when looking at his numbers compared to other running backs in the Jimbo Fisher era.
It’s staggering how good Dalvin Cook has been in his first two years.
Now, there are some things to consider that have indirectly helped Cook achieve his level of success:
- Much improved offensive line compared to Fisher’s early years when talent played too early because of lack of depth.
- Backfield hasn’t been as crowded as in years past.
- The 2015 season didn’t feature a a big passing game, relying on Cook to be a work horse.
It wasn’t that long ago that Christian Ponder and EJ Manuel were running for their lives when they dropped back to pass. You must remember the first half of the 2011 Champs Bowl when all of those young players were forced into action after halftime?
Devonta Freeman led FSU with 48 yards on 13 carries. The o-line is also why there were more quarterback running elements in Fisher’s offense back then too.
Cook has been able to run behind a very good offensive line in this time at FSU which has been a benefit to his success.
He has also benefited from not having to share the football with other running backs as much. He shared the ball with Karlos Williams in 2014, with Williams getting 150 carries to Cook’s 170 carries.
In 2015, Jacques Patrick was second on the team with 63 carries. Cook played in 12 games (really 11 as he got hurt early against Wake Forest) and averaged almost 21 carries per game.
To put that into perspective, Devonta Freeman averaged 12.4 carries per game his final season with FSU football while leading the team in rushing yards and carries.
Let’s Compare Freeman and Cook since they have been the two best running backs in the Jimbo Fisher era:
As you can see, Cook almost carried the ball more times in his freshman year than Freeman did in his final season and played in one less game.
Cook played in two fewer games (arguably three counting the Wake Forest game), but carried the ball 32 percent more.
Cook has 399 carries in 25 games compared to 231 carries in 26 games for Freeman, so Cook is averaging double the amount of carries through his first two seasons.
What can we glean from this other than Cook being ultra-talented and a NFL first round talent? Jimbo Fisher recognizes that Cook is a special talent and has leaned on him more than any running back since becoming head coach of FSU football.
That’s why Cook will have opportunities to crush the FSU football record books by the time he finishes his junior year at FSU.
Next: Dalvin Cook Gets Preseason Love From The Sporting News
Appreciate what he’s doing folks, much like Jameis Winston, this level of talent doesn’t come around often.