Elijah Cooks

Elijah Stephen Cooks (born October 13, 1998) is an American football wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Nevada Wolf Pack before transferring to the San Jose State Spartans and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Jaguars after the 2023 NFL draft.

Early life
Born in Santa Maria, California, Cooks grew up there and initially attended St. Joseph High School, where he played football and basketball. Midway through his tenth grade year, Cooks moved to Atascadero and transferred to Atascadero High School.

As a senior at Atascadero in 2016, Cooks tallied 56 catches for 966 yards and 15 touchdowns, winning the Pac 5 Offensive Player of the Year award.

Nevada
Cooks committed to play football for the University of Nevada at Reno on February 1, 2017. He chose Nevada over Hawaii, Wyoming, Fresno State, and San Jose State, the team he later played for.

In five seasons at Nevada from 2017 to 2021, Cooks had 115 receptions for 1,478 yards and 18 touchdowns. Having played 35 games from 2017 to 2019, Cooks sat out all of 2020 due to a shoulder injury. In 2021, Cooks played in three games before a season-ending injury.

Cooks also briefly joined the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball team in the 2017–18 season as a temporary replacement for an injured player. Cooks played four games, averaging one minute per game.

San Jose State
After five years with Nevada, Cooks moved on to San Jose State University as a graduate transfer. It's at San Jose State where he had his most productive year, garnering selection to the first-team All-MW.

Professional career
After not being drafted in the 2023 NFL draft, Cooks signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent on May 1, 2023. On August 29, 2023, the Jaguars announced that he had made the initial 53-man roster.