Cookie Desiderio brings bruising downhill potential, but has yet to turn limited UMass touches into production
Desiderio’s appeal is his old-school power profile: at 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds, he built a high school reputation as a physical, tackle-breaking runner and finished with 5,004 rushing yards and 73 touchdowns, including a 1,569-yard senior season. At UMass in 2024, however, he logged only eight carries for 20 yards and one catch for 2 yards across two games, so his college résumé is still more projection than proof. If you want a tough, contact-seeking back with transfer upside, he’s intriguing; if you need an immediate high-volume producer, the current sample is too small.
