According to His Peers, Dalvin Cook is the NFL’s 20th-Best Player
K. Joudry
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We could see this one coming: Dalvin Cook was going to be the Minnesota Vikings’ highest-ranked player in the annual NFL Top 100 player list. As we all can see, the only thing holding Cook back at this stage is health (or lack thereof).
In the 2020 season, Cook put up 1557 rushing yards, 361 receiving yards, and 16 touchdowns. He did this in 14 games. One could even argue that he should be far, far more involved in the passing game. He turned 54 targets in 44 receptions for the aforementioned 361 receiving yards. That target total should be closer to 80 than 50. Za’Darius Smith, the star edge rusher for division-rival Packers, said that Cook is “lights out when he has the ball in his hands.” Indeed.
Offensive coordinators are continually trying to find ways to get their most skilled players into green grass. The basic idea is that an offense wants to find room on the field for its best players. If it can do that consistently, the offense will almost certainly be successful.
I’ve long been in favor of reducing Cook’s rushing workload. Cook has yet to play an entire 16 games in his four-year NFL career; he’ll now be tasked with trying to stay healthy for 17 games. Alexander Mattison and Ameer Abdullah are both good options in the run game, so get them more involved. From there, prioritize more passes to Cook. These touches will hopefully have less of an impact on his body.
Regardless of what the team does in the passing game, we can be certain that Cook will remain a focal point on the Minnesota Vikings offense. If he can stay healthy, he’ll find himself in the league’s top 10 in next year’s list.