NFL Draft 2016: Why All the Connor Cook Hate?

Despite all of the various criticisms and outspoken detractors, Connor Cook’s draft stock is slowly rising and he now finds himself a dark horse candidate to be selected in the first round.

In a draft that is not the strongest when it comes to the quarterback position, no signal-caller has had more disparaging remarks and criticism thrown his way than Michigan State’s Connor Cook.

Hey, that’s the way the NFL works, right? It’s fairly normal to start seeing a rise in critiques once a player’s status begins to ascend.

Yet, leading up to the draft, it’s all been so different with the standout Spartan, and the intense scrutiny only really started when an adrenaline-filled Cook plowed through 2x-Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin after the Big Ten championship game.

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Obviously, it wasn’t a good look for Cook, but you’d think he’d earned himself a little leeway considering the incredible player he was at Michigan State.

With a 34-5 record, Cook is the most winningest quarterback in school history. He led the Spartans to victories in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Rose Bowl, and the Cotton Bowl, including a College Football Playoff berth in his senior season. Cook finished his career as Michigan State’s all-time leader in passing yards (9,194), passing touchdowns (71), and total offense (9,403).

The much maligned quarterback did all of this in a pro-style offense against many of the best teams in the country on the biggest of stages. So why all the hate?

Is it because of his unintended display of disrespect towards Griffin?

He’s apologized since and never had any issue before that point questioning the makeup of his character.

Well how about the lack of a meager patch that signified him being a captain, certainly that must mean he’s a poor teammate?

Numerous former teammates have come out in support of Cook, stating he was viewed a trusted leader of the team.

Some say his footwork, ball-placement, and accuracy are all not on an elite prospect level.

At the NFL Combine and more recently at Cook’s pro day in East Lansing, he silenced critics with back-to-back impressive outings.

Throwing roughly 65 passes at his pro day on Mar. 16, Cook thought he efficiently proved himself to scouts.

"“Can he drive it?” Cook said, via The Detroit Free Press. “Can he throw it deep? Can he bang out a 20-yard comeback down the field? And I showed that I can do that. There was things like that I wanted to prove and obviously why I’m one of the best QBs in the country.”"

Cook went on to address more questions about his ability to be a leader and a good teammate.

"“When you have a quarterback that’s that successful and a team that’s that good and he’s not voted captain, there’s going to be some issues,” Cook said. “So people immediately jump to conclusions: ‘Oh, he must have done something to not be voted captain. Did he break a team rule? Did he get arrested?’ No. ‘Well, he must not get along with his teammates.’ That’s not true, either. ‘He must have a really bad attitude or a bad personality.’ And that’s not true, either.”"

So, the question is posed again: Where is all of this hate for Cook coming from?

The fact of the matter is, no quarterback in this year’s draft is NFL-ready. The former Spartan is not alone in this, as all of his peers coming out have various aspects in their game that they need to work on.

And this newly-created stigma following Cook around regarding his leadership skills is really just a manufactured narrative based mainly off of one unfortunate instance.

In spite of all of the negative talk, Cook’s draft stock is indeed rising and he’s proved doubters wrong, something he’s been doing since he came to Michigan State as a three-star recruit.

Who knows, maybe Cook will sneak into the first round. It’d be foolish to doubt his capabilities at this point.