Dalvin Cook Feels Like He’s Right on Track
Joe Johnson
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After an unspectacular pre-season debut (that did show his quickness and ability to field catches out of the backfield), all eyes were on Vikings top draft pick from this April, running back Dalvin Cook. Carrying the ball five times (for 13 yards) and adding four more catches (for 30 yards), Cook appeared to be right on schedule as the season creeps closer and closer. That’s apparently how he feels too, as the Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson recently discovered.
“I feel like I’m right where I need to be, I just got to keep pressing and keep working on my craft and get better. But I think I’m at the right point right now where I can just keep taking that step of being a pro.’’
Where he needs to be is right smack dab in the middle of a competition for starting running back with another new Viking, Latavius Murray, who was recently removed from the PUP-list and is doing some light practicing on that surgically repaired ankle that the Vikings knew about before signing him to a $15 million dollar contract. It was announced a few weeks ago that the Vikings were expecting Murray to be the third down and goal-line back, which would mean that Cook would be more the first-and-second down back as well as the playmaking running back. While he may be in the lead in that regard, he’s not taking anything for granted, as he continued:
“You still got to put the hard work in, you can’t skip that part, because once you skip that part, the job will skip you.’’
Despite his neck-beard, Cook seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders and that’s something that’s incredibly important in today’s NFL. This Vikings team is known to run a pretty complex offense as well, and while Cook did miss a pretty blatant blitz pick-up Thursday night, he seems to be doing everything else correctly (so far). New offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said (of that performance):
“I thought for a first outing, it was certainly something we can build on,’’ Shurmur said. “There are areas he needs to improve, but it was a good start.’’
A good start, indeed, for him anyway. While fans are ready to panic after the first team offense struggled, it was nice to see that their top pick exceeded expectations. They will definitely need him this year and he seems to be willing to work for it. When Murray is full speed as well, it could give the Vikings one of the better one-two punches at the running back positions in the NFL, something they’ve never really had. So, everyone should take a few deep breaths after Thursday night and realize that it’s pre-season. The offensive line can’t be much worse than it was in 2016, so hopefully, they turn things around when they play again this Friday night against the Seattle Seahawks.