KC Chiefs safety Bryan Cook is grossly under-hyped

With the 62nd pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs selected Cincinnati Bearcat safety Bryan Cook. Initially speaking, most seemed to be under the impression that Cook would be the replacement for Juan Thornhill as the team’s third safety, while Thornhill would return to the second safety position and replace Dan Sorenson, who left the team in free agency. Some even speculated that the former First Team All-ACC selection could find himself in a starting role with Kansas City at some point during his rookie campaign.

Despite how we felt from the outset, and despite the Chiefs using a premium draft pick on the safety, Cook has been largely overlooked by both the local and national media as Kansas City has gone through the offseason. It makes no sense at all, and as training camp opens and the Chiefs’ ability to control narratives diminishes, we should expect to see and hear much more about the athleticism and intelligence of Cook and how it translates to Kansas City’s defense, and the NFL.

Despite being drafted early by the Chiefs, and despite a need at the position, rookie safety Bryan Cook has received essentially zero hype this offseason.

Prior to being drafted, NFL writer for The Athletic Dane Brugler opined that:

"“Cook is one of the most reliable tacklers in this draft class with his ability to come to balance on the move, maintain a wide stance and strike low and physical through his target. In coverage, he has the athleticism and awareness to stay on top of routes, although he can be better with his body positioning downfield. Overall, Cook has room to raise his consistency level in coverage, but he is an above-average run defender with the physical traits and overachieving attitude to see the field early and often in the NFL.”"

In addition to Cook’s potential, presumptive starter Juan Thornhill has even been mentioned as a possible trade candidate by multiple media outlets. If such a trade came to fruition, it would demonstrate that the Chiefs have a tremendous amount of confidence in Cook’s ability to produce early, as it would almost certainly thrust the former Academic All-American into a starting role for the six-time defending AFC West Champions.

In fact, it’s arguable that Cook could end up being the Chiefs’ best safety by season’s end. Certainly, Kansas City brought in Justin Reid to captain the defense, to take over the role left by the departure of All-Pro Tyrann Mathieu. However, given his potential for growth, we should not be surprised if Cook eventually ascends beyond Reid as the team’s top man on the back end of the defense.

It could be that the Chiefs are keeping a lid on the Cook hype heading into his first training camp in St. Joe. The team has been known to do this in order to minimize the expectations/stress on young players who have yet to prove themselves in the NFL. It is possible that the team is merely trying to manage expectations by not featuring the rookie safety as part of the offseason storyline.

Often, Kansas City has also been mum on players it sees as being at to spring on the league as a bit of a surprise later during the preseason, or even the regular season. Perhaps the team is well aware of what they have in Cook and is simply trying to keep other teams from finding out before they have to. Oddly, this is the exact opposite approach the team took to Juan Thornhill after they selected him with the 63rd pick, just one selection later than Cook, in the 2019 draft.

After a breakout senior campaign, Cook catapulted himself from only starting two games for the Bearcats as a junior to a second-round pick in the NFL Draft. It seems clear that the safety still has tremendous room for growth. Couple his physical traits with his high intellect, and one can obviously deduce what defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, head coach Andy Reid and general manager Brett Veach saw in Cook when they used the latter of their two second-round picks in the 2022 draft on the ball-hawking safety.

The question remains why the rookie is receiving so little fanfare from the team and the media heading into his first training camp. Will Cook’s rookie season follows the arc of Juan Thornhill’s 2019 campaign, which saw him rapidly improve over the season and create tremendous excitement about his future potential; or, will the second-rounder end up being more along the lines of Armani Watts, a contributor throughout his rookie contract who never reaches the potential the Kansas City saw in him when they drafted him? It’s a question that only time can answer, but for now, Chiefs Kingdom should be tremendously excited about Cook’s potential in this defense and in the opportunities he’ll get early in his career to grow and prove himself.