5 Minnesota Vikings who need to be great in 2020

1. RB Dalvin Cook

Cook had a breakout season in 2019, with 1,135 rushing yards, 53 catches for 519 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground (fourth in the league). His 1,654 yards from scrimmage was seventh-best in the league, on 303 touches (ninth-most).

But the story with Cook is incomplete without injuries, and last year was no different. He missed two games with a shoulder injury, but it’s fair to say he was limited in two or three others too. After missing five games with a hamstring issue in 2018 and 12 games with a torn ACL as a rookie in 2017, durability concerns have to be intertwined with any idea the Vikings will give Cook a new contract toward the top of the market. For what it’s worth, even though he’s not getting a deal like Christian McCaffrey did, Cook seems to know the team pretty much has to pay him.

With the departure of Stefon Diggs, and question marks beyond Adam Thielen at wide receiver, Cook is in line to easily surpass last year’s 63 targets this year. He averaged a nice 8.2 yards per target last year, with most of his production coming after the catch on screens and such, so even if Diggs was still around there would be a strong case for Cook to get more work as as a receiver.

Cook is the engine of the Vikings offense, off of which everything else functions. Kirk Cousins is more effective if the running game is working, and play-action works a little better when Cook has to be accounted for. Not to mention the space and matchups the other pass catchers can generally operate in when Cook is on the field and has to be accounted for.

Cook is probably going to get a contract extension before the season starts. But he’ll have to justify that investment in the last year of his rookie deal, ideally over a fully healthy 16 games. If he misses significant time or doesn’t put up at least a comparable repeat of 2019, the Vikings may go nowhere fast in 2020.