Vikings Beat Reporter Delivers Sobering Take on Dalvin Cook

Courtesy of Vikings Dalvin Cook was fined for throwing the ball in the stands after his game-clinching touchdown in Week 6 over the Miami Dolphins.

After a 1-5 start to the season, the Vikings‘ margin of error en route to a playoff appearance is thin.

The prevailing theory stands: if the Vikings can reach nine wins this season, they’d be put themselves in a position — with a little luck around the league — to be in the field for the seventh seed in the extended playoff format. That margin is now razor-thin after Sunday’s 31-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. The Vikings can likely drop only one more game this season if they hope to reach that nine-win mark.

Dalvin Cook has been the catalyst for the comeback campaign for the franchise that appeared to be entering a tanking season at the bye week. Cook has become the league’s leader in all-purpose yards (1,303) and is the leading scorer among skill players as a result of the commitment to the run game through thick and thin.

Cook has continued to weather the opposition’s challenge as teams are now approaching their matchup with Cook and the Vikings’ offensive line as a proving grounds for their toughness.

After a classic “Black and Blue Divison” matchup with the Chicago Bears and the Cowboys throwing the kitchen sink at him just six days later — which included a hit by safety Donovan Wilson that sidelined Cook for a few plays — Cook’s health and sustainability this season has come into question.

ESPN’s Vikings beat reporter Courtney Cronin addressed the matter of whether the Vikings will continue to ride Cook into the dirt in their pursuit of a playoff berth.

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Is Cook’s Current Pace Sustainable?

While Cook took 32 touches 160 yards against the Cowboys, backup running back Alexander Mattison was on the field for just five plays. It’s become increasingly evident that while the Vikings are still competing in games, Cook is the only option at running back.

Here’s the sum of Cronin’s case of worry for the Vikings approach with Cook:

Dalvin Cook had another big day vs. Dallas. 27 carries/115 yards/TD and 5 catches/45 yards. That’s 32 touches. In CHI he had 34. DET 22 (manageable). GB 33. Yes he missed Week 6 & had the bye, but that’s 226 touches thru 10 games.

Vikings have repeatedly talked about using Alexander Mattison more often to spell Cook, but that sentiment is not reality. Mattison had 5 snaps at RB yesterday. Five. MIN spent a 3rd round pick on him to give Cook the type of back-up presence he had with Latavius Murray, Jerrick McKinnon, and it’s just not that.

I understand Dalvin Cook is the best offensive player they have. There’s a reason Cook leads the league with 34% of his team’s offense running thru him. The Vikings are effectively saying that even though they want to not run him into the ground, they have no choice but to make him get back out there every time the game is in jeopardy because they know they can’t win without him. That’s fair, he’s an elite/special/whatever adjective you wanna use talent. But how much longer can that continue? Dallas was brutal to him physically. More so than other games.

The Vikings are 4-6 and if you thought they had no room for error before to make the playoffs, it’s even less now. And that’s going to come through riding Dalvin Cook yet again in 6 more games.

I’ve questioned the sustainability of that, and maybe I’m ignorant for doing so, but it just seems to me that the Vikings have talked this talk about having a stable of backs to support Cook so he isn’t crossing 30+ touches a game routinely, which has been the case lately. And for those who are about to throw the Derrick Henry argument out, I don’t think he should be either. Running back is a position that depreciates quickly. Expectations are supposed to be high for Minnesota in 2021. Think about all the touches Cook will have on him by that point and the risk factor you take in doing so.

Cook is Not Derrick Henry

GettyDalvin Cook is not built to carry the same workload as Derrick Henry.

Before there’s a mutiny on hand over the fact Cook should be prepared to take a beating all 16 games of the season, comparison to Derrick Henry is not on the table.

The Tennessee Titans running back who led the league in rushing yards a season ago is a true power back, standing 6-foot-3 and 238 pounds. For reference, Henry outweighs all linebackers on the Vikings roster. His build and running style is made to break the morale of opposing defenses, often delivering the wood more than he receives it.

Cook, at 5-foot-10 and 210 pounds is a smaller hybrid back that can be a physical runner — but with his speed behind him. His speed-size combo running style has proven to be a gift and a curse. The Vikings have versatility in effectively running both power and zone running schemes when Cook is on the field, however, he bears quite the beating, averaging the most touches (25.1) per game of any skill player in the NFL.

Cronin raised the duo of power back Latavius Murray and scatback Jerrick McKinnon who produced the seventh-most yards in the league in 2017 after Cook went down with an ACL injury his rookie year. The Vikings lack true options in either run style as Mattison fits a similar mold of Cook, however not to the same effectiveness in either scheme.

Mattison, a 2019 third-round pick, has proven a serviceable backup behind Cook, but since the bye week, he’s barely seen the field, playing single-digit snaps in three of the past four weeks.

The lone exception was 12 carries he took against the Detroit Lions. Mattison had two carries through the first three quarters of the game before garbage time.

The Vikings have not addressed why Mattison’s usage has diminished in the second half of the season, but it’s fair to speculate that his blunder on fourth down against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 5 has contributed to the coaching staff’s confidence in Mattison with the game on the line.

As wins will be even more vital in the final six weeks of the season, Cook will continued to be leaned on to lead the offense. How long he will last remains to be seen and, so long as he continues to see 30-plus carries a game, fans will have to hold their breath.

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Trevor Squire is a Heavy contributor covering the Minnesota Vikings and journalism graduate from the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities. Connect with him on Twitter @trevordsquire and join our Vikings community at Heavy on Vikings on Facebook.

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