Only One RB Outshines Dalvin Cook Heading into 2021
Dustin Baker
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Note: This article originally appeared on our sister-site, PurplePTSD.com.
Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus took the liberty of ranking all NFL running backs with the 2021 NFL season about 16 weeks away. Debate rages on whether running backs are still vital to today’s NFL. Some folks believe the league is so pass-happy that runners of the football are “a dime a dozen.” This is evident in recent NFL drafts — running backs rarely go off the board in the 1st Round. Instead, quarterbacks and wide receivers are all the craze, especially in last month’s draft.
But running the football still matters — if only to “set up the pass” and control the clock. To effectuate these strategies, teams employ halfbacks with varying degrees of esteem.
According to Monson, Derrick Henry is the cream of the crop. And then the Dalvin Cook of the Minnesota Vikings is second on the list. The Top 5 if filled out by Christian McCaffrey of the Carolina Panthers, Nick Chubb of the Cleveland Browns, and Alvin Kamara of the New Orleans Saints.
That’s high praise for the Vikings tailback. During Cook’s first two seasons, his overall performance was ravaged by injury as the Florida State alumnus missed 53% of all football games in 2017 and 2018. As of 2019 and 2020, though, Cook has remained upright (for the most part). Monson says of Cook:
“Cook is the closest thing to Henry in terms of a running back outperforming expectations in the NFL. The Vikings back has earned a PFF rushing grade of 90.9 over the last two seasons, second only to Henry, but the Vikings’ offensive line has ranked 15th league-wide in PFF run-blocking grade over that same stretch. Cook is also a big-play waiting to happen — he has ripped off carries of at least 70 yards in each of the last three seasons.“
Here, onlookers see that Cook is tossing up gaudy numbers on the backdrop of an average run-blocking offensive line. It’s similar to the talking point surrounding Cook’s teammate, Kirk Cousins, that sounds like something like this, “Imagine what Cousins could do with an offensive line that isn’t horrible.”
Indeed, since the start of 2019 — the beginning of Cook’s healthy streak — Minnesota ranks third in the NFL in rushing yards behind the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans. Individually, Cook ranks second in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. The aforementioned Henry is tops in both metrics, and the Titans runner has played three more games than Cook.
The soon-to-be 26-year-old Cook showcased the best season of his career in 2020 — a season for the Vikings that was otherwise disappointing. Minnesota began the campaign with a 1-5 record, signaling obvious woes early on likely because injuries tormented the defense. After the shaky start, the Vikings climbed on Cook’s shoulders, securing a 6-4 finish to the season. Cook was even mentioned as an MVP candidate for a week or two, but that award was ultimately snagged by a member of the Green Bay Packers.
Cook has a lofty assignment in 2021. He will once again be the figurehead of Minnesota offense as the franchise has rushed the ball 944 times since 2019, the fourth-most leaguewide. It is unlikely that head coach Mike Zimmer will suddenly minimize his infatuation with running the football, hence plopping Cook on tap for another sizable season.
And Cook should have a sturdier bunch up front plowing lanes. The Vikings drafted Christian Darrisaw and Wyatt Davis in April, gesturing a shift in philosophy toward size over agility. Minnesota offensive coordinators tend to embrace a zone-blocking scheme — and probably still will — but Darrisaw and Davis are larger humans more akin to traditional linemen, not the “power forward type” typically sought by the Vikings.