South Carolina Football: 10 times that star ratings didn’t matter for the Gamecocks
By Kevin Miller
The most rankings-busting recruits in South Carolina Football history:
Tight End Jared Cook
One of the freakiest athletes to ever play for South Carolina football, tight end Jared Cook (2005-2007) was somehow only ranked as a 3-star recruit and as the 17th-best prospect in the state of Georgia coming out of high school. Originally a 6’5″, 205-pound wide receiver, Cook’s frame made it obvious that he would add a lot of weight and become a tight end.
His ridiculous athleticism never left him as he gained 40 pounds but still ran the 40-yard dash in the 4.4s and posted a vertical leap of 41″ at the 2007 NFL Scouting Combine. Those testing numbers were the best among tight ends at the Combine, and he was a 3rd-round pick of the St. Louis Rams in the NFL Draft.
Cook was underutilized in college (in part due to quarterback instability), but he had a tremendous NFL career as he retired with the 13th-most receiving yards and 19th-most receiving touchdowns of any tight end to ever play in the National Football League, numbers that are better than the numbers posted by legends like Mike Ditka, Kellen Winslow, and Jay Novacek.
Whoever was responsible for Cook’s 3-star rankings should feel pretty badly about their missed evaluation.