Some nice things are being said about Dalvin Cook so far in Minnesota. Head coach Mike Zimmer said he thinks the rookie runner "has a chance to be special." Meanwhile, veteran Latavius Murray concedes that being sidelined coming off ankle surgery -- he was activated off the PUP list yesterday -- has caused him to fall behind.
"I've been very impressed by [Cook]," says Zimmer. "He's been a great kid off the field. He's been a great kid in the meetings. We'll just kind of go from there."
Cook was an all-purpose back at Florida State, putting up over 2,200 yards and 20 TDs last year -- 1,765 rushing and 488 receiving. That potential to be a big part of the passing game is intriguing, as it could help him play on three downs with the Vikings, perhaps being one of the league's relatively few full-time backs.
I took a look at all the running backs drafted in the first two rounds this century who were sizable parts of the passing game their final year of college -- at least 250 receiving yards. There are 30 of them, including three incoming rookies -- Cook, Joe Mixon and Christian McCaffrey.
Of the previous 27 to reach that total, 11 of them (41%) went on to finish with over 1,000 total yards in their rookie season. Nearly half (12) caught at least 24 passes that season. Ten finished as top-25 fantasy backs.
Cook is competing with both Murray and Jerick McKinnon for those responsibilities; he'll need to show he can hold up in pass protection. But Zimmer's positive reports thus far make things seems promising for Cook's chances to make an early impact.
Table shows all first- and second-running backs this century with at least 250 receiving yards their final years of college, sorted by total yards in their rookie seasons.
1ST-2ND-ROUND RBS, 250-PLUS REC YDS (FINAL COLLEGE) | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Pk | Player | Run | Rec | Tot | TD | Run (coll.) | Rec (coll.) | FFRk |
2012 | 31 | Doug Martin, T.B. | 1454 | 472 | 1926 | 12 | 1299 | 255 | 3rd |
2008 | 44 | Matt Forte, Chi. | 1238 | 477 | 1715 | 12 | 2127 | 282 | 4th |
2008 | 24 | Chris Johnson, Tenn. | 1228 | 260 | 1488 | 10 | 1423 | 528 | 11th |
2006 | 60 | Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac. | 941 | 436 | 1377 | 16 | 914 | 453 | 8th |
2012 | 3 | Trent Richardson, Clev. | 950 | 367 | 1317 | 12 | 1679 | 338 | 10th |
2006 | 2 | Reggie Bush, N.O. | 565 | 742 | 1307 | 9 | 1740 | 478 | 14th |
2007 | 12 | Marshawn Lynch, Buff. | 1115 | 184 | 1299 | 7 | 1356 | 328 | 12th |
2013 | 37 | Giovani Bernard, Cin. | 695 | 514 | 1209 | 8 | 1228 | 490 | 17th |
2009 | 12 | Knowshon Moreno, Den. | 947 | 213 | 1160 | 9 | 1400 | 392 | 17th |
2005 | 2 | Ronnie Brown, Mia. | 907 | 232 | 1139 | 5 | 913 | 313 | 23rd |
2002 | 16 | William Green, Clev. | 887 | 113 | 1000 | 6 | 1559 | 260 | 27th |
2009 | 53 | LeSean McCoy, Phil. | 637 | 308 | 945 | 4 | 1488 | 305 | 36th |
2004 | 24 | Steven Jackson, St.L. | 673 | 189 | 862 | 4 | 1545 | 470 | 33rd |
2015 | 54 | Ameer Abdullah, Det. | 597 | 183 | 780 | 3 | 1611 | 269 | 42nd |
2014 | 54 | Bishop Sankey, Tenn. | 569 | 133 | 702 | 2 | 1870 | 304 | 43rd |
2011 | 28 | Mark Ingram, N.O. | 474 | 46 | 520 | 5 | 875 | 282 | 46th |
2010 | 9 | C.J. Spiller, Buff. | 283 | 157 | 440 | 1 | 1212 | 503 | 59th |
2007 | 63 | Brandon Jackson, G.B. | 267 | 130 | 397 | 1 | 989 | 313 | 69th |
2000 | 19 | Shaun Alexander, Sea. | 313 | 41 | 354 | 2 | 1383 | 323 | 55th |
2001 | 49 | LaMont Jordan, NYJ | 292 | 44 | 336 | 2 | 920 | 287 | 62nd |
2003 | 27 | Larry Johnson, K.C. | 85 | 2 | 87 | 1 | 2087 | 349 | 99th |
2008 | 23 | Rashard Mendenhall, Pitt. | 58 | 17 | 75 | 0 | 1681 | 318 | 99th |
2012 | 50 | Isaiah Pead, St.L. | 54 | 16 | 70 | 0 | 1259 | 319 | 99th |
2004 | 26 | Chris Perry, Cin. | 1 | 33 | 34 | 0 | 1674 | 367 | 99th |
2000 | 31 | Trung Canidate, St.L. | 6 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 1602 | 253 | 99th |
2003 | 23 | Willis McGahee, Buff. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1753 | 355 | 99th |
2010 | 59 | Montario Hardesty, Clev. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1345 | 302 | 99th |
2017 | 48 | Joe Mixon, Cin. | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1274 | 538 | ? |
2017 | 41 | Dalvin Cook, Minn. | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1765 | 488 | ? |
2017 | 8 | Christian McCaffrey, Car. | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1603 | 310 | ? |
--Andy Richardson