In his third year out of Florida State, running back Dalvin Cook is finally becoming the superstar the Minnesota Vikings have hoped for at running back.
It’s taken a little while, but the Minnesota Vikings have found their long-term replacement for Adrian Peterson in the backfield. They drafted running back Dalvin Cook in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Florida State. After an injury-riddled first two years in the league, Cook is becoming the star Minnesota has hoped for at the running back position.
Cook was outstanding in the Vikings’ 34-14 home rout of the Oakland Raiders in Week 3, as he had 16 carries for 110 yards and a touchdown, as well as four catches for 33 yards as a receiver. He has been the best part of the Vikings’ offense, as quarterback Kirk Cousins has largely underwhelmed through the first three games of the season.
Frankly, Minnesota is probably not thrilled with the amount of coin the Vikings organization has paid Cousins to be its starting quarterback. That being said, Minnesota has to feel great that the Vikings are finally getting a positive return on their investment from the former All-American and national champion with the Seminoles in college.
What we have seen these first three weeks out of Cook are reminiscent of what he did for three years in Tallahassee. Minnesota drafted him to be the Vikings’ bell-cow, as well as catch passes out of the backfield, something Peterson was never all that great at, to begin with.
Minnesota improves to 2-1 on the year with big wins at home over the Raiders and the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1. The Vikings’ road loss to the division rival Green Bay Packers wasn’t great, but winning on the road at Lambeau Field is never easy.
Though the Vikings will need Cousins to step up big time in the coming weeks, at least they can feel confident about the play they are getting out of Cook. Winning with great defense and a solid ground game is the recipe that head coach Mike Zimmer loves more than anything. In short, the Vikings can use Cousins as a high-priced game manager at this point with Cook’s emergence.
Of course, we will need to see more than three games out of Cook before we can consider him to be one of the best running backs in football. The talent is there, but he has to stay healthy. Cook only played in 11 games last year and four as a rookie out of Florida State the year before in 2017.
All that aside, the Vikings have to like the way he has played this season. Hopefully, this is a sign of more good things to come for the new Minnesota bell-cow. If he’s able to play all 16 games, look for Cook to surpass the 1,000-yard rushing plateau for the first time in his professional career.