As was the case last season, Florida Football's approach to the transfer portal is more of a slow and steady one rather than a sprint. As such, nothing is ever official until it is official.
So while earlier in the week it looked like the Gators were on the doorstep of landing former five-star wide receiver Johntay Cook out of the transfer portal from Texas, a new insider prediction makes it seem like that might not happen.
Florida Football: Ebbs and flows
Back on Christmas Eve, Pete Nakos of On3 logged a prediction that Florida was going to be Cook's destination out of the portal. The allure of DJ Lagway was one of the primary reasons why Cook would come to Gainesville.
Well, with each passing day, the official commitment announcement never dropped, and last night Mike Roach of 247 Sports logged a crystal ball prediction that Cook would wind up at Washington, citing that Cook would be a priority in the Husky offense.
What does it mean?
Admittedly, we jumped the gun earlier in the week when we started thinking out loud about what the wide receiver room for Florida would look like in 2025 and included Cook in our projections based on the On3 prediction.
Even then, we noted that it would be difficult for Cook to crack the primary rotation for the Gators in 2025. With Eugene Wilson coming back from an injury and the commitment of J.Michael Sturdivant from UCLA, it feels like there is one spot up for grabs, and there will be competition from Aidan Mizell, Dallas Wilson, Tank Hawkins, and Vernell Brown.
Cook was the 4th highest rated wide receiver in the class of 2023 but just never cracked the rotation at Texas. The Longhorns brought in three transfer portal receivers themselves in 2024, all of whom wound up ahead of Cook this season.
Nothing is official until it is official, but it is another twist in the winding path of figuring out where Cook will land in 2025.