INDIANAPOLIS -- We won't know how fast Dalvin Cook will run the 40-yard dash until Friday. But on Thursday afternoon, he certainly didn't waste any time.
The Florida State product is one of the top running backs in a draft class full of good ones.
In fact, he thinks he's the best.
"We got the top guys in this class at running back," Cook said, answering the first question thrown his way at the combine. "It's probably one of the best you've seen yet. I think what separates me, I can do it all. I can stay on the field all three downs. I'm just a do-it-all back. And I just feel like I am the best back in this class."
We won't know for years if Cook is right about being the best running back in this year's class, but we will find out what teams think on April 27 when picks start getting announced in Philly.
The Eagles will have either the 14th or 15th pick in the draft (a coin flip will decide). Depending on how the draft shakes out, Cook, who has been the desired pick for many Eagles fans, could be a real option.
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After stepping down from the podium on Thursday afternoon, Cook said he had a meeting set up with the Eagles on Thursday night. Meanwhile, LSU's Leonard Fournette said he hadn't yet met with the Eagles and Tennessee's Alvin Kamara said he had.
For now, Fournette is forecasted to go earlier in the first round and be the first back taken off the board. If that happens, he won't be available. And Kamara might sneak into the first round but might be a stretch at 14 or 15. Same with Christian McCaffrey.
Cook might go off the board around where the Eagles pick.
But will the Eagles pick him?
It's hard to tell. Last season, while the Eagles still had the eighth pick, de facto general manager Howie Roseman didn't discount the possibility of taking Ezekiel Elliott in that spot. Since then, Roseman has acknowledged that everything he said back then in regard to the draft was nonsense; they were just trying to move up to snag Carson Wentz.
While the Eagles moved up and drafted Wentz, the Cowboys took Elliott off the board at No. 4, put him behind a great offensive line, paired him with another electric rookie and watched him blossom into arguably the league's top back.
Cook thinks he can have similar success.
"It goes to show if a running back gets put in the right system and put in the right place, he can do a good amount of things for a team," Cook said. "I feel like if I get put in the right system, I can do the things Zeke did."
While the Eagles' needs at wide receiver and cornerback have been more publicized -- and probably for good reason -- they need some help at running back, too.
Ryan Mathews is coming off a serious neck injury and will likely not return to Philly. Kenjon Barner is a restricted free agent. Darren Sproles will play his final season in 2017 and Wendell Smallwood showed promise, but not enough to feel confident with him carrying the load.
The good news for the Eagles is that this is a really good draft class for running backs. Maybe better than ever.
"Certainly when you look at the running back position," Roseman said, "we think it's a possible historic class with how many guys and where they would have gone in previous drafts."
Even if the Eagles don't use their first-round pick on a running back and even if they don't take one of the top prospects in the class, it seems rather likely they'll snag one at some point during the seven rounds.
Players like D'Onta Foreman, Kareem Hunt, Jamaal Williams, Corey Clement and plenty of others could be options after the first round.
And, yes, Cook is still in play in the first. After all, he's pretty fast on the field as well as at the podium.
What will his 40 time look like on Friday?
"I'm gonna run something fast," he said with a smile.
