Yahoo Sports 
Florida State running back Dalvin Cook declares for NFL draft
Florida State running back Dalvin Cook is heading to the NFL.
The junior made the unsurprising announcement Saturday on Instagram, hours after his Seminoles beat Michigan 33-32 in the Orange Bowl on Friday. Cook ran for 145 yards on 20 carries vs. a staunch Wolverines rushing defense and also had three catches for 62 yards.
Florida State’s all-time leading rusher, Cook will likely be one of the first three running backs selected in the 2017 draft among LSU’s Leonard Fournette and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey. Don’t be surprised if Cook is selected in the top-half of the first round or even if he’s selected ahead of both Fournette and McCaffrey.
The Orange Bowl performance meant Cook finishes the 2016 season with 1,765 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns. After running for 228 yards in Florida State’s first three games of the season, Cook exploded over the last 10, only failing to break the 100-yard mark once.
He finishes his Florida State career with 4,464 rushing yards in three seasons. He surpassed 1,000 yards rushing in all three of those seasons and also has 48 career touchdowns.
In addition to his success as a runner, Cook was a weapon in Florida State’s passing game in 2016. After having 46 catches for 447 yards in his first two seasons at the school, he had 33 receptions for 488 yards this season.
With Cook’s departure, sophomore RB Jacques Patrick is the team’s leading returning rusher for 2017. Patrick had 61 carries for 350 yards and four scores in 2016. FSU also has a commitment from five-star running back Cam Akers for 2017. Akers is the No. 2 running back and No. 8 overall recruit in the class of 2017 according to Rivals.
– – – – – – –
Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
