The top-rated recruit of Florida State’s 2014 class has been ruled out for spring practice.
Coach Jimbo Fisher announced on Tuesday that freshman running back Dalvin Cook, No. 21 in the 2014 ESPN 300 and an early enrollee, tore the labrum in one of his shoulders and will miss spring practice, which begins on Wednesday. Cook had surgery to repair the shoulder and should be ready for fall practices.
“It’s a labrum. He went up the steps, tripped in the weight room and put his hand down to catch himself at an angle,” Fisher said.
The injury occurred right before the Noles broke for spring break on March 8.
During the offseason, Fisher has raved about Cook, who was expected to compete for the Noles’ backup running back position. Cook, No. 3 among running backs in the 2014 recruiting class, looked like a player in his third season instead of his first, Fisher said multiple times in the last few weeks.
Cook will still benefit from being a part of the team this spring, though.
“Dalvin will be in all the meetings,” Fisher said. “He had a great offseason; he’ll be fine.”
The backup running back position figures to come down to redshirt sophomore Mario Pender and true sophomore Ryan Green. Pender missed the last two seasons, and Green played sparingly as a freshman.
Two of the top 32 prospects in the 2014 ESPN 300 enrolled in January classes at Florida State, but neither will take a single snap during spring practice. Inside linebacker Kain Daub has an NCAA Clearinghouse issue that will keep him from participating in spring drills. Fisher also expects Daub, who is in Tallahassee, to be cleared in time for fall practices.
