Freshman receiver Johntay Cook continues to impress coaches and teammates
There have been plenty of things and lots of players to be excited about from the first few days of Texas’ preseason football practice but one of the newest members of the team – true freshman wide receiver Johntay Cook II – has been a standout.
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But that should be no surprise. Cook, a 6-foot, 186-pounder from DeSoto, has been lauded by coaches and teammates for his performances and impact. He’s been uber-impressive since enrolling early at Texas and participating – and excelling – in the Spring game.
In his first game inside Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (albeit a glorified practice), Cook turned in arguably the biggest play, hauling in a 79-yard TD pass from backup quarterback Maalik Murphy that piqued the team and its fans for things to come.
Cook will likely see the field as a backup to preseason All-Big 12 wide receiver Xavier Worthy at the X receiver position. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday that what he’s loved about Cook so far is how coachable he is.
“I think Johntay is really trying to do what we’re asking him to do, and then when he doesn’t do it the right way he acknowledges that and tries to do it better the next time,” Sarkisian said. “I just think there’s a level of comfort for him schematically — I think what we are doing is making sense to him.
“And then he’s making the most of his opportunities. You’re not perfect this time of camp with receivers. How do we minimize the drops? How do we take advantage of opportunities and 50/50 balls and those things are going to happen?
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“But when you’re playing fast and you have an idea of knowing what to do and you’re coachable and you’re not making the same mistakes twice, you give yourself an opportunity to be successful in this system. And that’s what showing up so far.”
Cook was a five-star recruit and was a receiving and scoring machine as a prep player, hauling in 85 catches for 1,530 yards and 22 touchdowns in DeSoto’s run to the Class 6A Division 2 state championship in 2022. He had five catches for 168 yards and a score in the title game.
“They have really good coaches at DeSoto,” Sarkisian explained. “And Johntay’s been coached in a way that he believes in. Then he’s come into a new system or scheme… and he’s adapting and learning. Johntay runs hard and plays hard, and we critique effort first. We can deal with some of the errors but as long as you’re coachable, and you give us great effort, we’ll get it right with you.
“I think Johntay sometimes falls into the mold of Xavier where he’s a competitor (that can excel either) inside and or outside.”
