Dalvin Cook still thriving in an offense stuck in neutral

Dalvin Cook still thriving in an offense stuck in neutral

We are about a month into the 2019 regular season and the Minnesota Vikings’ offense has not looked like quite themselves at this time. In the first four games that the purple and yellow have played in, they find themselves sitting fourth in the NFC North at 2-2 with a lot of question-marks surrounding them.

The defense has been able to hold up their end of the bargain, ranking fifth in points allowed (15.8/gm), ninth in total passing yards given up (218.5/gm), and eleventh in total rushing yards surrendered (94.2/gm). The problem as mentioned earlier lies within the team’s offense. One that many critics believed would be in the upper echelon among the 32 teams in the NFL.

That has been quite the contrary. At this very moment, Minnesota finds themselves sitting in a very precarious situation with their ability to put up points on the board against their opponents. Their air-raid has looked flat as they are currently 20th in total points scored (21.0/gm), and next to last in passing yards (169.0/gm). One would think that after the Vikings signed Kirk Cousins to a mega-contract last offseason, the offense would not be hindered with so many issues. Sadly, that has not been the case.

The one bright spot that has illuminated some hope for Minnesota’s offense is their run-game. The only area where the team has been able to thrive despite the struggles from their quarterback and receivers.

While many fantasy managers have been feeling lost and frustrated with Kirk Cousins’ poor play at quarterback and the effects it is having on receivers like Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, others have been fortunate enough to bask in the warmth of Dalvin Cook’s superior ability to run the ball with authority.

Among all of the criticisms the Vikings have been getting from the media about how disappointing their offense as a whole looks, their rushing attack ranks third overall in total yards (155.2). That’s pretty impressive considering how defenses don’t need to focus as much of their attention on the passing game. This is something special that Cook has been stirring up lately and there doesn’t seem to be many signs of slowing him down either.

Through the month of September, Cook has scored the most fantasy points among active running backs in the NFL this year with an average of just over 26.0 points per game in full PPR formats.

I was a little concerned about Cook’s production during this past Sunday’s game against an extremely talented Chicago Bears defense, but he managed to still have a solid day, especially in the second half. Despite only rushing for 35 yards, Cook was able to find the end zone for the fourth consecutive game in a row and the fifth time overall in 2019. He also added to his stat line with an additional six catches for 35 yards through the air as well.

His receiving was more efficient than that of fellow teammate Adam Thielen who was targeted six times for a meager two catches and six yards. So while Cook’s efficiency wasn’t there in Week 4 as he averaged 2.5 yards per carry, we need to consider that he was going up against the Bears who are one of the best at stuffing opposing backs. In my opinion, I was still impressed with how Cook was able to produce against such a tough defense allowing just 13.3 fantasy points to backs (sixth-best).

Cook was able to put up roughly around 19.0 fantasy points in full-point PPR leagues, which is not bad considering who his opponent was. It’s rare for talent this special to grace the fields, and the Vikings are very lucky to have him on their roster.

While Cook has dealt with some lengthy injuries during his first two seasons in the NFL, his ability to run the ball and score points at an efficient pace makes us willing to take the gamble at plugging him into our starting lineups.

Even though it’s looking pretty bleak right now for the receiving corps in Minnesota, the run-game appears to be just fine for the time being. After looking ahead at the Vikings’ remaining opponents for 2019, Cook has a very interesting schedule in front of him.

Minnesota will be squaring off with teams like the Giants, Lions (twice), Redskins, Chiefs, Broncos, and Packers who are all in the top-15 in terms of the most rushing yards allowed to opposing backfields this season.

Cook already ran over the Packers once before in Week 2, carrying the rock 20 times for a career-high 154 yards and a score on the ground. He’s also rumbled over defenses like the Atlanta Falcons and Oakland Raiders for over 100 yards apiece in those games as well this year. His only hiccup was against Chicago this past week, but as I previously mentioned, that can be attributed to the fact that he was playing against one of the best defenses in the league.

Cook’s future in the NFL appears to be very bright with endless possibilities to soar even higher than he already has. His career is truly just getting started now after he missed 12 games in 2017 with a season-ending ACL injury and another five games in 2018 with a nagging hamstring strain.

Hopefully, this will be the first season of his career where we can see him fully healthy and not being hindered by any injuries. It’s impressive with how well he’s played, considering how poorly the rest of Minnesota’s offense has performed up until this point. It’s scary to ponder the thought, how much better or worse would he be if the offense was playing up to expectations?

I say scary because opposing fantasy managers might have to fear going up against an even more dangerous Dalvin Cook on a productive offense. Conversely, it could work in the opposite direction for managers who have Cook. If the offense is playing well, then there could be a decrease in his value because Cousins would be spreading the ball around to the other viable weapons in the system.

However, you want to slice it is up to you and it’s all just speculation at this point. What we do know is he is thriving well in the current system he is in now and that’s good enough for anyone who has him on their rosters. It’s like what they always say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

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