Illinois Football: Johntay Cook receives offer from the Illini

It is never too early to offer a talented recruit a scholarship, and that applied to the Illinois football team on Wednesday afternoon.

Snagging as many playmakers as possible is important. Illinois wants recruits who can fly all over the field and make big plays for the program. Getting those types of players into the program is the hard part. But offering someone like Johntay Cook is a step in the right direction.

Cook is a 6-foot, 170-pound athlete from DeSoto High School and resides in DeSoto, Texas. He isn’t rated or ranked by the recruiting sites yet because he is from the class of 2023, but there are already a good number of teams who are coming after the talented recruit.

With only his freshman season in the books, Cook is already looking at roughly five scholarship offers. Some of the bigger teams to offer him so far include Illinois, Oklahoma State and Arkansas. It doesn’t come as a surprise that this kid is already getting big-time offers. He brings an exciting skillset to the table.

It is crazy Cook is only entering his sophomore season in high school. He has the speed and ability to play at the next level right now. This kid can burn defenses over the top or he can jet past them via the bubble screen. I could watch him run all day long.

I think Cook will continue to develop over the next few years too. He has great hands and amazing speed now, just imagine what he is going to be able to do when he grows a couple of more inches. This kid is going to be one of the best players in the class of 2023 without a doubt.

Illinois might have a solid chance of pulling in someone like Cook. We are bringing in his quarterback, Samari Collier, from the class of 2021. That could be a great connection for him to come to Champaign.

Look for the Illini to make a splash in the recruitment of Cook. We need more playmakers who can burn the defense and get to the end zone. That is what Cook can bring to the Orange and Blue.