CFB Player Bracket: Chris Wormley vs. Dalvin Cook

Today’s first-round matchup features two stars from two national powerhouses. Although Dalvin Cook and Chris Wormley play on different sides of the ball, both have become leaders of their respective teams. Let’s see if the Michigan defender’s consistency and versatility is enough to knockout Florida State’s Cook:

To view the entire bracket and every Round 1 matchup, click here. 

The case for Chris Wormley

You rarely see a player line up outside the tight end and at nose tackle in the same season, but that is just what Wormley did in 2015. He has literally played every position along the Michigan defensive line and become a Swiss Army Knife for the unit. As a result, it is difficult to compare his performance to others, since he played 371 of his snaps outside the tackles, 160 shading them and the remaining 80 inside. In addition to his power, he has quickness that you rarely see from a player of his size. Wormley also knows how to beat offensive tackles with his power and get past interior linemen using his quickness. However, his speed can sometimes be too much for tackles as well, which is highlighted by his sack against Oregon State.

The fact that Wormley’s run defense grade was almost identical to his pass rush grade also adds to his versatility. Furthermore, the Michigan lineman missed only two tackles to his 32 defensive stops.

The case for Dalvin Cook

Cook is a member of a group of elite running backs that will make the position the most intriguing in college football in 2016. The Florida State player separates from the pack with his speed, being probably the fastest among the best running backs in the nation. As a result, defenses have a hard time stopping Cook once he gets to the second level, which he does very often. No other running back in the nation had as many big plays as Cook did since he earned 62.9 percent of his yards on plays that went for 15 yards or longer.

Pure speed is not the only weapon of Cook as he can be very elusive and did a nice job of evading tackles in 2015. Overall, he forced 56 missed tackles on runs last year, with 14 of them coming in one game against USF. While there is space for improvement for Cook in pass protection and receiving, his skill set as a runner makes him one of the biggest threats in college football. This was highlighted numerous times last season, including in Week 7 against Louisville.

The Verdict: Dalvin Cook advances

While Wormley is a very consistent and versatile player on one of the better defenses in the nation, he did not have a chance against the speedster Cook in this matchup. Cook will be the cornerstone of the Seminoles offense with the departure of quarterback Everett Golson and he can, once again, become one of the most productive running backs in the nation if he can stay on the field.

Here's what you're saying on Twitter…

Who should advance between @FSU_Football's Dalvin Cook and @umichfootball's Chris Wormley?

Cast your vote!

— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 13, 2016