RB Dalvin Cook - Minnesota Vikings

5-10, 210

Born: 8-10-1995

College: Florida State

Drafted: Round 2, pick 2017

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Photo: Brad Rempel, US Presswire

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Week 21: bye week

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Recent Stats and Projections

WEEK	OPP		oSNAP	RSH	YD	TD	TARG	REC	YD	TD	FumL	Pts
17	vs CHI		53	11	39	0	5	4	21	0	0	6

Weekly Performance vs RB 1, RB 12, RB 24, RB 36

Percentile ranks

Dalvin Cook's percentile rank in each category, among RB with more than 50 fantasy points.

Recent Game Summaries

2018 Week 17 vs CHI (11 / 39 / 0 rush, 5 / 4 / 21 / 0 rec)

After breaking out against the Dolphins and then holding his own against the Lions, Cook fell back to irrelevance this week. The Vikings abandoned the run early when they could not find success against the Bears. He had just 11 carries and averaged under 4 yards per carry. Cook's longest rush of the game was 10 yards and he caught 4 of his 5 targets in the passing game. The passing game was not working, yet the Vikings followed almost the exact same game script as their earlier loss to the Bears. The offensive line has not been great, but Cook cannot make anything happen if he does not get the ball. The 5 straight punts in the first half may have played into not feeding him the ball in the second half, but it really could not have gone much worse than it did. They never truly took the training wheels off Cook and let him run to his potential. It will be interesting to see what changes are made in the offseason and if they make another change at offensive coordinator.

2018 Week 16 vs DET (16 / 73 / 0 rush, 3 / 3 / 35 / 0 rec)

It was almost like a re-breakout game for Cook last week and the Vikings tried to force that same game plan again this week early against the Lions. The offensive line did not do a great job blocking early and Cook struggled to even get past the line of scrimmage in the first quarter. Things loosened up a bit as Cousins found more success down the field, but it still was not a repeat of last week. Cook's longest rush was 18 yards and he averaged 4.6 yards per carry. Cook also caught all 3 of his targets in the passing game and had a long play down the sideline of 20 yards. He also had a 30-yard touchdown called back due to an illegal block. Cook barely eclipsed 100 total yards this week, but his game would have been much better if that touchdown had not been called back. The new offensive coordinator for the Vikings is trying to get the running game going, but the offensive line is going to make that an issue. Cook is going to find it very difficult to rush against the Bears next week, but with the playoffs on the line, expect the Vikings to make it work. The training wheels are finally off and Cook is running at full speed

2018 Week 15 vs MIA (19 / 136 / 2 rush, 2 / 1 / 27 / 0 rec)

It just took getting a new offensive coordinator for the Vikings to take the training wheels off Cook. He exploded with 163 combined yards this week and 2 impressive touchdowns on the ground. The offensive line did a much better job blocking for him and the play calling opened up all sorts of holes. Cook's first touchdown was of the 13-yard variety and he showcased his speed to the edge for the score. After bouncing to the outside, he outran the poor angle taken by the defender for the score. The second touchdown really put the game out of reach in the 4th quarter. After turning the Dolphins over on downs, Cook took a routine handoff up the middle. He was met at the line and spun away from the poor tackle of the defender. From there he sprinted 21 yards into the end zone and capped off his already amazing day. He added 27 yards on his lone reception on a swing pass down the sideline. Cook showcased his speed, power, and elusiveness this week in a dominating fashion. It was his best game of the season and is coming at a time when the Vikings desperately need it.

2018 Week 14 vs SEA (13 / 55 / 0 rush, 7 / 5 / 28 / 1 rec)

The running game has just not been there for the Vikings this season. Cook finally got a fair amount of carries this week but was unable to do very much with them. His longest run was 13 yards and his 13 carries were 10 more than anyone else on the team. The Vikings elected to go with Murray in the 4th and 1 situation, but he was stopped for no gain and it was a turnover on downs. Cook had 7 targets in the passing game but was ineffective outside of the late 6-yard touchdown. Cousins found him across the middle for a garbage time touchdown with the game already well out of hand. Coach Zimmer entered the week without committing to Cook in the back field. He said the flow of the game would dictate how many carries he had and that they were not ready to turn over the keys entirely just yet. The lack of confidence is baffling as the Vikings fight to stay in the playoff race.

2018 Week 13 vs NE (9 / 84 / 0 rush, 10 / 8 / 22 / 0 rec)

The Vikings were playing from behind this week and abandoned the running game early on. Cook was finding success on the ground and averaged 9.3 yards per carry. His averaged was bolstered by a 32-yard run and that he only got 9 carries. The Vikings only ran the ball 13 times as a team and did not surpass 100 yards on the ground. Cook caught 8 of his 10 targets but could not do very much with them. They were short swing passes and check downs where he was tackled almost immediately. His longest reception was 5 yards and there was not much of a chance for more on any of his other catches. The Vikings tied the game in the 3rd but had already decided the abandon the run at this point. Cook is starting to show flashes of the reason why the Viking think he is their back of the future. He is going to need to continue to progress for the rest of the season and show the Vikings that he can be the lead back they thought he could be.

2018 Week 12 vs GB (10 / 29 / 0 rush, 3 / 3 / 47 / 1 rec)

The lack of success on the ground for the Vikings continues to frustrate fans but Cook showed flashes of why he was drafted this week against the Packers. His longest rush was only 9 yards and he averaged 2.9 yards per carry, but he made a big impact in the passing game this week. The Vikings failed to surpass 100 yards on the ground this week but committed to running the ball 29 times. Cook saw 10 of those carries while Murray was given 11. The big play for Cook this week was the first touchdown drive for the Vikings. After a big gain from Diggs, Cook leaked out of the backfield on a wheel route. Cousins threw a perfect pass to hit him in stride and gave him a chance to follow a block and then weave through the defense for a 26-yard touchdown. The defense took poor angles to the ball and Cook made them pay for the touchdown. He caught both of his other targets and had more yards through the air than he did on the ground.

2018 Week 11 vs CHI (9 / 12 / 0 rush, 3 / 3 / -2 / 0 rec)

This was supposed to be the coming out party for Cook this week. He was finally healthy and the Vikings were going to give him the reins as the lead back. Unfortunately, Cook drew the Bears in that matchup and the game script quickly threw out the running game. With only 9 carries it was hard to get anything going, and the Bears defense was swarming him in the back field at every turn. Cook was only able to break through the line a single time for 7 yards and was hit at or behind the line of scrimmage on his 8 other carries. He was even less effective in the passing game where he finished with net negative yards. He would have been better off dropping the ball and letting the clock stop than catching it for a loss. This was not a fair assessment as the Bears are one of the best defenses in the league this season. His biggest mistake was a costly fumble in the first half deep in Bears territory. Cook has had some ball security issues in his young career but you cannot give up the ball in your rival's territory in a close game. The coaching staff did not shift to Murray at this point, but decided to punt the running game all together.

2018 Week 9 vs DET (10 / 89 / 0 rush, 4 / 4 / 20 / 0 rec)

It was a breath of fresh air to see Cook back on the field and looking healthy. He was given an even split with 10 carries apiece with Murray and he had the second most targets on the team with 4 in the passing game. Cook's line looks great until we break it down a little further. His 89 yards rushing is a season high, but he also ripped off a 70-yard rush that made up most of those yards. From there, Cook only had 19 yards on 9 carries. His 70-yard run came out of the shotgun and he took the ball off the left tackle and followed his blockers down the sideline. It was nearly a touchdown, but Cook was tripped up and fell just short of the end zone. It is good to see his healthy legs and the burst of speed through the hole on this play, but on his other 9 carries he could not find a hole. The offensive line is the biggest detriment for Cook or any other running back for the Vikings. There was a lot of talk that Cook was going to get this week off going into the Bye, but the Vikings got a look at their back of the future. It was still Murray who got the ball around the goal line, and Cook did drop a pitch from Cousins in the 4th quarter. He took his eyes off the ball as he tried to turn up field. The fumble was officially credited to Cousins since Cook never had full control of the ball before it hit the ground. It is plays like that fumble that will keep Murray relevant for a few more weeks.

2018 Week 4 vs LAR (10 / 20 / 0 rush, 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 rec)

The talk all week was whether or not Cook was going to play after suffering a hamstring injury against Green Bay two weeks ago. He was finally cleared to play but it was known that he would be on a pitch count and not used fully this week. This ended up not being much of a problem with the way the rushing attack went. Kirk Cousins had a single rush (19 yards) that almost equaled Cooks total for the game (20 yards). There was no room to run up the middle and Cook looked slow trying to get to the corner. Cooks longest rush was 9 yards and that accounted for almost half of his yards. He was also not targeted in the passing game at all and did not play much at all in the second half. It has been a very tough season for Cook thus far and it does not look to get any easier next week against a tough Philadelphia rush defense.

2018 Week 2 vs GB (10 / 38 / 0 rush, 5 / 3 / 52 / 0 rec)

The Vikings were playing from behind for a good portion of this game and they never truly committed to the run. As a team, they ran the ball fewer than 20 times and never got any sort of rhythm going. Cook had more than double the carries of anyone else but only managed 3.8 yards per carry. He had a single 9-yard rush but was never able to break through into the second level. He did continue to show his ability to catch the ball out of the back field and ripped off a 24-yard catch and run, but he has to get things going on the ground. Cook has been running behind a patch work offensive line but has the ability to create plays on his own. There was one scary moment where he went down after a short run and the trainers came out to take a look. It appeared to only be a cramp and he was able to return to the game later, but it is a situation like this that may keep him on a pitch count early in the season. Cook will face a Bills defense that has been very giving to opposing running backs early in the season and should have the chance to get back on track.

2018 Week 1 vs SF (16 / 40 / 0 rush, 7 / 6 / 55 / 0 rec)

The big question coming into the week was whether Cook was going to be on a snap restriction. If he was, this plan went out the window on the first drive as he touched the ball on 6 of the first 9 plays of the game. The drive resulted in a punt, but it showed that the Vikings were committed to their second year back. Cook did not find much success on the ground behind a patched together offensive line but did show his threat of catching the ball out of the backfield hauling in 6 of his 7 targets. In a single game, Cook is already more than half way to his receiving totals from a year ago. On the ground, Cook could not find any room to run up the middle but did manage a 15-yard scamper off the right side for a first down. Cook also fumbled on this run and gave way to Latavius Murray for a few snaps before coming back into the game. His biggest contribution was a 17-yard catch and run swing pass out of the back field for another first down. The Vikings did spell him late in the game after an earlier fumble cost the team points, but it was only temporary as Cook still saw meaningful carries at the end of the game.