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UW Roster Review, No. 2-99: Cook Looking for Another Big Break

The versatile player has started as both a wide receiver and a free safety.
Dan Raley|
UW Roster Review, No. 2-99: Cook Looking for Another Big Break
UW Roster Review, No. 2-99: Cook Looking for Another Big Break

Six months ago, Alex Cook was a University of Washington football success story, a wide receiver who not only switched to free safety, he became the starter in a secondary hard to crack. 

He was hailed for his athleticism that enabled him to get on the field on Saturdays on both sides of the ball. 

Cook opened three of the four games held during the pandemic season, giving way only to the versatile and NFL-bound Elijah Molden in what would be the final outing against Stanford as he hit a learning curve.

Which is why this past spring practice would have been especially important for the 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior from Sacramento in his quest to reclaim his No. 1 safety role.

Except Cook missed nearly all of the 15 workouts that were set aside for everyone's personal development. He was forced to watch from the sidelines with an undisclosed injury and occasionally climb on an exercise bike. He couldn't compete with a host of players paraded through what was once his position.

Going down the roster in numerical order, this is another of our post-spring assessments of all of the Husky talent at hand, gleaned from a month of observations, as a way to keep everyone engaged during the offseason.

Cook, who wears jersey No. 5 on defense opposite his offensive counterpart Sean McGrew, no doubt will be healthy when Husky football reconvenes in August. What's unclear is whether he's fallen too far behind to reclaim what was once his. 

It's the cold-hearted side of football that gives you everything and then takes it all away in one injury swoop, robbing a player of his good health and consequently minutes. 

Cook currently is in limbo before the Huskies pull on the pads again. He could return and win back the job. Or settle for a special-teams assignment.

Or simply wonder why this happened to him at all after receiving his big break. 

2021 Outlook: Projected free-safety reserve, former starter

UW Service Time: Played in 29 games, started 4, including once at wide receiver in 2019 Rose Bowl against Ohio State

Stats: 11 tackles, 1 reception for 26 yards 

Individual Honors: None

Pro prospects: Currently none

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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