Helping lead the up and down offensive attack that is the Minnesota Vikings, former Florida State running back Dalvin Cook put together his best season as a pro in 2019, logging over 1600 total yards on the ground and through the air. And with top receiver Stefon Diggs having been traded to the Buffalo Bills this offseason, the weight for offensive production falls even more on Cook’s shoulders.
An abbreviated holdout over his soon-to-expire rookie contract sparked some concerns this offseason for both the front office and the fan base, but Cook put any sort of potential long-term holdout to rest, according to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. Good news for the organization, Cook will be looking to prove his worth again in an injury-free way, hopefully forcing the hand of the team’s front office to hand him a big-money extension, a very risky deal for any team to make.
Cook finally put together a relatively-healthy season, having only missed two contests, which pales in comparison to the ACL tear and recovery that he had to deal with in 2017, having only played in four games in his rookie season.
2019 Fantasy Statistics
Seeing an uptick in both rushing touches and receiving targets, Dalvin Cook was thrust into the Vikings’ offense as option number one in ‘19, seemingly not having any sort of metrics that the team was holding him to in terms of snap counts. Having fallen just short of doubling his rushing attempt totals from 2018 to 2019 (133 vs. 250), Cook’s role was quite clear to each and every team on a weekly basis, yet he was still able to put up career highs.
1,135 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns, including a season-long of 75 yards against the Green Bay Packers, combined with 519 receiving yards on 53 catches (63 targets) and no receiving scores, Cook was at the top of his game and a huge part of the gameplan. Even with having missed some time, Cook finished no lower than ninth in all of the following categories: carries, receptions, touches, scrimmage yards, and total touchdowns, a remarkable stat that demonstrates how heavily he was used in the MIN offense.
Former offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski, who is now the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, loves to use a run-heavy scheme that also includes a heavy diet of play-action schemes, and the run-heavy outlook was great for Cook’s output, even if the offensive line was struggling to stay healthy and clear lanes for him.
Old school in nature, new offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, who was coaxed out of retirement to become an assistant head coach and offensive advisor a few years back, will take over for Stefanski – what is awesome for Cook is that the heavier run scheme is something that Kubiak is a huge believer in, and his zone-blocking schematic fundamentals were already implemented into the offense, meaning that there should not be many changes that the playbook needs to undergo for this next season.
2020 Fantasy Projections
ESPN has Dalvin Cook projected to put up just slightly lower numbers in ‘20, rushing for around 90 fewer yards and rushing for 3 fewer touchdowns, both fair areas to see regression for Cook. Rushing for 13 touchdowns is a hard feat to replicate in back-to-back seasons, yet if Cook is able to continue to be a durable piece, then even putting up double-digit touchdown totals in consecutive seasons is not totally out of the question, even if he fails to cross that 13-TD threshold.
With Diggs out of the picture, Adam Thielen becomes the lone number one receiver on the roster, and with 2020 first-round selection Justin Jefferson out of LSU joining the receiver ranks, the passing attack will be a bit of a work in progress getting back on the same page as quarterback Kirk Cousins. Veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph and youngster Irv Smith Jr. both look to replicate some of their receiving-game success in ‘20, yet Cook remains the most likely player to replicate his previous season’s statistics.
Increasing Cook’s involvement in the passing game is going to be the most important element that will show what kind of season he will have – all teams know what kind of rusher he is with the ball, but his abilities as a receiving threat out of the backfield are underused and quite frankly undervalued, so this upcoming season is a perfect time to show how solid of a two-way player he is.
A safe prediction for Dalvin Cook would be for him to slot in behind the likes of Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, Ezekiel Elliott, and Alvin Kamara in terms of total fantasy football output, sharing his tier with the likes of Nick Chubb, rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and potentially the likes of Kenyan Drake, Joe Mixon, and Derrick Henry.
Rank at Position
Cook looks to be one of the safest bets to place in the top seven running backs for this upcoming year fantasy-wise, provided he is able to stay on the field. His physical running style, combined with the fact that any sort of depth chart pressure (Ameer Abdullah, Mike Boone, Alexander Mattison) is not something that he really has to overcome, and Cook is primed for a solid season as the team’s clear-cut running back.
McCaffrey is the clear-cut top fantasy option this year, and his offseason contract extension pays him just like he is – the best offensive option, both on the Carolina Panthers and in the NFL. The Panthers are not going to be good this year, and under first-year head coach Matt Rhule and new offensive coordinator Joe Brady (former LSU offensive coordinator), the offense is going to have to figure out how to operate, especially with free-agent signee Teddy Bridgewater now at the controls.
Barkley, Elliott, and Kamara all need to stay healthy this year, and if they do, they should all be able to replicate their ‘19 seasons and justify their top-five ADP slots that most will be taken in for most fantasy drafts.
Dalvin Cook fits into the tail end of the ‘1B’ tier, which is separate from the one that McCaffrey is in, but is not very far behind him in terms of overall production. Cook’s main issue is his health, and if he can keep that in tip-top shape, then the other elements, in terms of production and efficiency, will easily come after that.
For any owners of Cook in a keeper/dynasty league, or any drafters who are looking to target Cook around the middle of the first round, take note – if Cook stays healthy, watch out. You may have just gotten your hands on some of the best production for its draft slot in the entire draft.
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