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Factoid

Dalvin Cook

Rookie has good chance for early impact

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)
YearPkPlayerRunRecTotTDRun (coll.)Rec (coll.)FFRk
201231Doug Martin, T.B.145447219261212992553rd
200844Matt Forte, Chi.123847717151221272824th
200824Chris Johnson, Tenn.1228260148810142352811th
200660Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac.9414361377169144538th
20123Trent Richardson, Clev.950367131712167933810th
20062Reggie Bush, N.O.56574213079174047814th
200712Marshawn Lynch, Buff.111518412997135632812th
201337Giovani Bernard, Cin.69551412098122849017th
200912Knowshon Moreno, Den.94721311609140039217th
20052Ronnie Brown, Mia.9072321139591331323rd
200216William Green, Clev.88711310006155926027th
200953LeSean McCoy, Phil.6373089454148830536th
200424Steven Jackson, St.L.6731898624154547033rd
201554Ameer Abdullah, Det.5971837803161126942nd
201454Bishop Sankey, Tenn.5691337022187030443rd
201128Mark Ingram, N.O.47446520587528246th
20109C.J. Spiller, Buff.2831574401121250359th
200763Brandon Jackson, G.B.267130397198931369th
200019Shaun Alexander, Sea.313413542138332355th
200149LaMont Jordan, NYJ29244336292028762nd
200327Larry Johnson, K.C.852871208734999th
200823Rashard Mendenhall, Pitt.5817750168131899th
201250Isaiah Pead, St.L.5416700125931999th
200426Chris Perry, Cin.133340167436799th
200031Trung Canidate, St.L.64100160225399th
200323Willis McGahee, Buff.0000175335599th
201059Montario Hardesty, Clev.0000134530299th
201748Joe Mixon, Cin.????1274538?
201741Dalvin Cook, Minn.????1765488?
20178Christian McCaffrey, Car.????1603310?

--Andy Richardson

Fantasy Index