Factoid

February 22, 2022

Dalvin Cook

Will Kevin O'Connell get Minnesota's ground game cooking?

The Vikings are going with Kevin O’Connell as their new coach. I would think that would be a downgrade for Dalvin Cook.

Not that I have a super strong feelings about O’Connell, who’s coming out of the Sean McVay coaching tree. But the Vikings in recent years have been influenced by Mike Zimmer and Gary Kubiak (with his son Kliff taking over last year), and those guys were heavily invested in the running game. In general, when you’ve had a running back with the Kubiak stamp on him over the years, that’s been a good thing.

In Gary Kubiak’s final two seasons with the Vikings, Minnesota’s running backs averaged a league-high 26.9 rushing attempts per game, while also catching 173 passes in those 32 games – they were putting the ball in Cook’s hands constantly. They were not as dominant last year, but with this new direction now, I think it’s pretty clear they’re not getting back to what they were doing in 2019 and 2020.

The Rams won the Super Bowl last year, but their running game was pretty modest all along. Combined, the running backs averaged only 92 rushing yards per game, which is a middle-of-the-pack number, and they were one of only nine teams whose running backs scored fewer than 10 rushing touchdowns. Nine TD runs in 17 games, that’s about one every other week.

Also note that the Rams didn’t include their running backs much in the passing game last year. Their running backs, in fact, ranked last in three different receiving categories – catches (53), yards (314) and yards per catch (5.9). So if we’re using PPR scoring, LA’s running backs outperformed only three teams last year – Dolphins, Jaguars, Texans.

Minnesota also finished with below-average running back production last year, but it got top-5 production in each of the previous two seasons – over 30 PPR per week in both of them.

Over the last three years, Minnesota’s running backs (using PPR scoring) have finished 5th, 4th and 19th in production. The Rams’ running backs in those three seasons have finished 29th, 21st and 29th.

O’Connell, of course, is somewhat of an unknown quantity. He didn’t have final say on those LA offenses. Maybe he runs it more often and more effectively than I’m expecting. We’re early in the process, with the Vikings needing to figure out if they’re going to keep Kirk Cousins around. But if we’re drafting today, my expectation is that Cook will be selected a little earlier than I would be considering him.

PRODUCTION BY RUNNING BACKS
Offense	Run	Rec	Total	TD	PPR
Indianapolis	2,219	678	2,897	24	30.3
New England	1,836	805	2,641	26	30.2
Cleveland	2,221	682	2,903	21	29.4
LA Chargers	1,472	879	2,351	23	27.9
Tennessee	2,108	627	2,735	17	26.9
Tampa Bay	1,496	698	2,194	20	26.4
Dallas	1,894	653	2,547	17	26.4
Washington	1,619	814	2,433	17	26.4
Arizona	1,495	762	2,257	21	25.9
Green Bay	1,715	712	2,427	18	25.9
Detroit	1,663	760	2,423	14	25.7
Las Vegas	1,388	869	2,257	15	25.5
Atlanta	1,361	896	2,257	16	25.4
Cincinnati	1,579	665	2,244	20	25.3
Kansas City	1,419	824	2,243	18	24.8
Denver	1,863	551	2,414	17	24.5
Philadelphia	1,875	513	2,388	16	24.0
Seattle	1,782	526	2,308	16	23.3
Minnesota	1,775	603	2,378	10	22.8
Carolina	1,271	864	2,135	9	22.0
San Francisco	1,545	647	2,192	12	22.0
Buffalo	1,343	520	1,863	16	20.9
NY Jets	1,365	775	2,140	9	20.7
New Orleans	1,339	642	1,981	11	20.2
Chicago	1,450	504	1,954	12	20.0
Baltimore	1,353	411	1,764	16	19.7
NY Giants	1,289	567	1,856	9	19.4
Pittsburgh	1,338	514	1,852	10	19.2
LA Rams	1,557	314	1,871	13	18.7
Miami	1,339	427	1,766	11	18.5
Houston	1,193	557	1,750	7	17.4
Jacksonville	1,242	417	1,659	11	17.1

PRODUCTION BY RUNNING BACKS (2019-20 seasons)
Year	Offense	Run	Rec	Total	TD	PPR
2019	LA Chargers	1,399	1,357	2,756	22	34.7
2020	New Orleans	1,735	987	2,722	26	33.8
2020	Indianapolis	1,883	916	2,799	20	32.1
2019	New England	1,560	1,134	2,694	20	31.9
2019	Carolina	1,525	1,068	2,593	21	31.8
2019	San Francisco	2,051	753	2,804	25	31.7
2020	San Francisco	1,708	838	2,546	26	31.5
2019	Minnesota	2,002	855	2,857	19	31.1
2020	Minnesota	2,110	651	2,761	24	30.9
2019	Green Bay	1,582	853	2,435	25	30.9
2020	Cleveland	2,126	483	2,609	23	28.7
2020	Washington	1,418	848	2,266	18	28.4
2020	Green Bay	1,926	696	2,622	16	28.1
2019	Philadelphia	1,684	806	2,490	18	27.9
2020	LA Chargers	1,527	890	2,417	10	26.9
2019	New Orleans	1,515	824	2,339	12	26.9
2020	Tennessee	2,389	240	2,629	20	26.3
2020	New England	1,645	772	2,417	14	26.3
2019	Oakland	1,699	825	2,524	11	26.0
2019	Cleveland	1,743	726	2,469	13	26.0
2020	Las Vegas	1,629	613	2,242	17	25.8
2019	Baltimore	1,954	409	2,363	20	25.3
2019	Dallas	1,812	527	2,339	17	25.3
2020	Miami	1,380	858	2,238	12	25.1
2020	Detroit	1,311	666	1,977	20	24.9
2019	Seattle	1,820	504	2,324	16	24.8
2020	Seattle	1,380	594	1,974	19	24.5
2019	Denver	1,520	641	2,161	13	24.5
2019	Arizona	1,292	659	1,951	19	24.1
2019	Kansas City	1,292	648	1,940	17	24.1
2019	Indianapolis	1,832	504	2,336	13	23.9
2019	Tennessee	1,775	424	2,199	19	23.8
2020	Baltimore	1,886	364	2,250	18	23.8
2020	Tampa Bay	1,485	533	2,018	15	23.5
2020	Arizona	1,405	557	1,962	16	23.3
2019	Tampa Bay	1,221	723	1,944	15	23.0
2020	Carolina	1,134	633	1,767	16	23.0
2020	Dallas	1,438	531	1,969	13	22.2
2019	Pittsburgh	1,286	640	1,926	11	22.0
2020	Cincinnati	1,302	589	1,891	13	21.9
2019	Chicago	1,135	663	1,798	10	21.9
2019	Atlanta	1,171	608	1,779	14	21.9
2020	LA Rams	1,668	444	2,112	14	21.6
2020	Chicago	1,410	552	1,962	13	21.5
2020	Jacksonville	1,240	591	1,831	11	21.2
2020	Atlanta	1,425	497	1,922	11	21.0
2020	Kansas City	1,336	584	1,920	11	20.9
2019	Washington	1,371	663	2,034	8	20.4
2019	NY Giants	1,279	559	1,838	12	20.3
2019	Jacksonville	1,287	689	1,976	5	20.0
2019	Houston	1,530	461	1,991	11	20.0
2019	Detroit	1,385	501	1,886	8	19.5
2020	Denver	1,669	272	1,941	11	19.5
2019	Cincinnati	1,307	534	1,841	9	19.1
2019	LA Rams	1,268	260	1,528	19	19.0
2020	Houston	1,018	597	1,615	11	18.5
2020	NY Giants	1,256	398	1,654	12	18.5
2020	Philadelphia	1,350	436	1,786	9	18.3
2019	Buffalo	1,447	460	1,907	6	18.0
2020	NY Jets	1,383	386	1,769	8	17.9
2020	Buffalo	1,301	406	1,707	10	17.8
2019	NY Jets	1,133	584	1,717	4	17.6
2020	Pittsburgh	1,230	376	1,606	10	17.5
2019	Miami	833	581	1,414	5	15.8

—Ian Allan

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