Prospect Profile: One Of The Nation's Top 2022 Linebackers
Prospect Profile: Jordan Crook
Year: 2022
Position: Linebacker/ATH
School: Duncanville (Dallas, TX)
Notable offers: Oklahoma State, Baylor, USC, Washington (9 total)
Crook has quickly become one of my favorite prospects in the class of 2022 after watching film on a large number of prospects in the last few weeks.
Jordan Crook is a phenomenal athlete that has shown to excel at linebacker, running back, safety and has even shown skills at the wide receiver position. At 6’0” 220 pounds, Crook projects as an inside linebacker in the college ranks, an idea most can get behind after watching his film.
In his sophomore season, Crook played at Bishop Dunne HS, a private school in Dallas but decided to transfer to one of the country's most talented programs in Duncanville for his junior and senior campaigns. At Duncanville, Crook will be paired up with one of 2021’s top linebackers in Kendrick Blackshire, who holds nearly 30 offers. To go along with them will be 6 other Duncanville defenders who all hold multiple power 5 offers, making up arguably the best defense in the nation.
What I love most about Crook on the defensive side of the ball is his ability to track down a ball carrier and his physicality in his tackles. He is ruthless when engaging a ball carrier and will make them feel his presence even before he hits them in order to break or disrupt plays.
He is extremely quick in his reads and even quicker with his foot speed, as he has shown chasing down running backs and receivers.
“I also think versatility is one of my best attributes on the field.”, Crook told me. “It's not often you’re gonna see a guy move from linebacker to running back then move over to wide receiver and also able to play safety, so I feel like that's something pretty unique for me.” One of the best ways to showcase his versatility is the fact that Crook was named a first team All District running back while at Bishop Dunne.
Just a few months removed from his sophomore season, Crook is already ranked by many as a 3 star recruit and the top inside linebacker in Texas and top 10 in the nation, but after watching him, there is no doubt in my mind he will end up as an overall top 5 linebacker in the country and well within upper 4 star status, for those who pay attention to rankings.
Crook is the exact kind of linebacker Oklahoma State would love to have commanding their defense, facing some very fast and explosive playmakers in the Big 12. With a guy like Crook, you are able to have a field general that can take on any task you need him to.
Need a QB spy? He can do it. Need an edge rusher? He can do it. Need to cover an inside receiver, tight end or running back? He can do it.
The good thing for Oklahoma State is that they entered their name into his recruiting process very early and have formed a great relationship with him.
Crook said that he has a great relationship with Ryan Simmons, the linebackers recruiting analyst. “We’ve had a relationship since this time last year when he offered me. We facetime every week and just talk about life, not even just football but really anything so me and him have a great relationship, especially with him being one of the first to offer me.”
With the spread of the coronavirus, the NCAA has face to face recruiting on hold for the next month or so, meaning no campus visits can be made but luckily for OSU, Crook has previously made two separate visits to Stillwater. One visit was for a normal day visit last year and the second was for Bedlam this past November.
“The first visit was real cool.”, Crook said. “Coach Simmons showed us around the school and the all the facilities and I enjoyed that but the gameday visit was real special, they showed a lot of love towards me and I actually got to speak with Coach Gundy in the tunnel right before the game. That was real cool to me because not many people get to go down there, so for him to bring me down there and to speak to him, that’s what I remember the most about the trip. It was special that I was brought down there and got to speak with Gundy.”
Jordan also told me how the coronavirus has affected his recruitment. “I was actually going to be all over the place with Kendrick [Blackshire], we were going to Georgia, Tennessee, Memphis, LSU and some other places but those all got canceled so it sucks but I’ll make it back to those places, I got some time.”
Crook mentioned that some schools that have not offered but have been talking to him the most have been LSU, Texas, and Oklahoma but that Oklahoma State remains one of his best relationships.”
I hope to catch Jordan at some camps this summer, which have also recently been postponed, but I am excited to see him in action at some point this summer.
For now though, Jordan is training and getting ready for his season with Duncanville, where they will try to make their third straight appearance in the state championship. “I feel like we [Duncanville] really run Dallas so I’m confident we can get it done this year, I really am.”
If you are an Oklahoma State fan, I recommend you watch Crook’s film from his sophomore season to see his talent. Jordan Crook will soon become a true national recruit and will most likely hold upwards of 25-30 offers or so. Oklahoma State has put themselves in a great spot to remain high in his recruitment for the whole process and his relationship with the staff will give the Cowboys a great chance to land one of the top linebackers in the class of 2022.