Texas WR commit Johntay Cook on Texas A&M WR Evan Stewart: ‘Y’all gonna see us on the same team’

For Texas Longhorns wide receiver commit Johntay Cook, recruiting can take on different forms. A current college player might not even need to be in the NCAA transfer portal to hear the teasing pitch from the consensus five-star prospect from DeSoto.

In a video that surfaced on Tuesday, Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver Evan Stewart, a one-time Texas commit who enrolled early in College Station this spring as a member of the 2022 recruiting class, thought he could get away with joking about Cook wearing Adidas gear.

Narrator: “He did not.”

“He gonna be in that portal,” Cook responded. “He gonna be in that portal — y’all gonna see us on the same team.”

Stewart was left shaking his head and looking at the ground. “Don’t let him lie to y’all,” he said.

But Cook wasn’t done.

“That boy Evan don’t want 14 catches. What you think he here training for? To block? No way.”

Cook’s comments echo recent criticisms of Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher’s offense — in 2021, junior Ainias Smith led all Aggies wide receivers with 47 catches for 509 yards and six touchdowns on 10.8 yards per reception. Former consensus five-star prospect Demond Demas, the No. 3 wide receiver in the 247Sports Composite rankings in the 2020 class, had 15 catches for 235 yards and one touchdown before his A&M career ended this spring after multiple accusations of assault.

The 2021 season marked the second straight year for subpar wide receiver production under Fisher after Smith notched 43 catches for 564 yards and six touchdowns in 2020 to lead A&M.

In fact, during Fisher’s four seasons in College Station, junior Jhamon Ausbon was the only wide receiver go over 616 receiving yards with an 872-yard season in 2019. Aubson opted out of the 2020 season and was not selected in the 2021 NFL Draft.

The last wide receiver Fisher coached who was picked in the NFL Draft was Auden Tate in 2018 with one of the final picks in the seventh round. Tate had 40 receptions for 548 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2017.

Sarkisian has had more recent success, including with freshman All-American Xavier Worthy, whose 62 catches for 981 yards and 12 touchdowns last year marked arguably the best freshman season for a Texas wide receiver in school history.

In 2020, Sarkisian helped mold DeVonta Smith into the Heisman Trophy winner, a season that certainly helped influence Cook’s decision.

And while it’s impossible to say whether Stewart, the nation’s No. 11 player and No. 2 wide receiver, will become Fisher’s first NFL success story since Kelvin Benjamin was selected in the first round in 2014, his body language certainly conveyed some doubt about the offense he’ll play in this fall.