KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs turned to defense once again with their fourth selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, landing versatile and physical Cinncinati safety Bryan Cook.
Cook is a late bloomer who weighed just 165 pounds entering Howard University as a freshman before maturing into a 6-foot, 206-pound physical defender. He transferred to Cincinnati after two seasons and earned first-team All-AAC honors last season with 96 tackles, 11 passes broken up and two interceptions.
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler projects Cook as a potential year-one starter in his draft guide.
“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,” Brugler wrote.
Another key factor for the Chiefs in landing Cook — he’s a highly experienced special teams players, and coordinator Dave Toub is rebuilding that unit with core players such as Dan Sorensen and Armani Watts departed and stalwarts Dorian O’Daniel, Ben Niemann and Marcus Kemp remaining unsigned.
“Dave Toub was really high on him,” Borgonzi said “He was a core teams player in ’20 for them, and Toub had him rated really high on special teams as well.”
