James Dalvin Cook (born September 25, 1999) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Early life and high school

Cook grew up in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, and attended

Miami Central Senior High School Miami Central Senior High School is a secondary school located at 1781 NW 95th Street in West Little River, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States.0.1% 80.7% of students were eligible for free or reduced lunch. Miami Central has a large Hait ...

. He rushed for 709 yards and eight touchdowns on 99 carries as a freshman. After his freshman year, Cook took extra courses and

reclassified ''Reclassified'' is the reissue of Australians, Australian rapper Iggy Azalea's debut studio album, ''The New Classic'' (2014). It was released internationally on 21 November 2014 by Virgin EMI Records, and in the United States on 24 November ...

from a sophomore to a junior. As a senior, he rushed for 782 yards and 10 touchdowns on 91 carries. Cook rushed for 2,019 yards and 30 touchdowns during his high school career. Cook was a highly rated recruit and initially committed to play college football at Florida State, where his brother was playing, after his freshman year of high school. He later decommitted during the summer before his senior year. Cook later signed a letter of intent to play at Georgia after considering offers from Louisville and Florida. Cook transferred to

Miami Northwestern Senior High School Miami Northwestern Senior High School is a public four-year high school located in Miami, Florida, United States History Academics Northwestern has long been known for its academic challenges; however, the school has shown an unprecedented ...

after his senior football season for his final semester of high school.

College career

Cook played in 13 games as a freshman and gained 284 yards and scored two touchdowns on 41 carries with eight receptions for 89 yards. He played in all 14 of Georgia's games and rushed 31 times for 188 yards and two touchdowns while also catching 16 passes for 132 yards in his sophomore season. In 2020, Cook was the team's second-leading rusher with 303 yards and three touchdowns on 45 carries and caught 16 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Cook missed the 2021 Peach Bowl following the death of his father. Cook rushed for 728 yards and seven touchdowns and caught 27 passes for 284 yards and four touchdowns as a senior as the Bulldogs won the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship. He was the leading receiver for Georgia with 112 yards and one touchdown on four receptions in the team's 34-11 win over

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

semifinal game. After the end of the season, Cook declared that he would be entering the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

Professional career

Cook was drafted by the

in the second round, 63rd overall, in the

. In Week 5, against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, Cook scored his first professional touchdown on a 24-yard rush in the 38–3 victory.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Personal life

Cook is the younger brother of fellow running back

Dalvin Cook Dalvin James Cook (born August 10, 1995) is an American football running back for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State, where he finished his career as the school's all-time lea ...

References

External links

Buffalo Bills bioGeorgia Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, James Living people American football running backs Georgia Bulldogs football players Players of American football from Miami 1999 births Buffalo Bills players