When examining the Vikings roster, one of the most fun position groups to look at is running back.
Minnesota has Dalvin Cook, who is coming off a career 2019. The team also has Mike Boone and Alexander Mattison, both of whom are very good as reserves.
A concern for Cook has been his health in the past. He’s missed 19 games in his three-year NFL career. Though when he’s been on the field, he’s been good. I wrote about Cook and the Vikings possibly extending him earlier in the offseason here.
The running back position will likely be a key fixture in Gary Kubiak’s offense for 2020. Here are three things to watch surrounding the position group:
Can Vikings running backs threaten in the passing game?
One of the reasons Vikings fans are worried about the team extending Cook is because of the money Christian McCaffrey received this offseason.
The Panthers gave McCaffrey a four-year, $64 million extension recently. While Cook and McCaffrey are both good players, they are very different backs.
McCaffrey totaled 1,005 receiving yards in 2020. Cook led Vikings running backs in receiving yards with 519 in total. He was second on the team in receiving, but now that Stefon Diggs — the Vikings’ leading receiver from 2019 — is gone, Cook will likely have to step up and perform slightly better in the passing game.
There’s also the possibility of Mike Boone or Alexander Mattison becoming backs who are a little more active in the receiving game. If any of those three could step up and become bigger threats on screens and shorter routes, opposing linebackers will have trouble with the Vikings offense.
If Cook goes down, who takes his reps?
Despite Cook performing very well in 2019, he still missed two regular season games.
With Cook’s health being a constant question, it helps to have players like Boone and Mattison behind him. The question is: Which of those two ends up taking the majority of reps if Cook is hypothetically injured?
Mattison had 462 rushing yards to Boone’s 273 in 2019. The fact that Mattison was a rookie, makes me think he could take a leap this year and become an adequate replacement for Cook. However, there’s always the possibility that those two become a committee where they take basically the same reps if Cook goes down.
Also, Boone started two games for the Vikings last year when Cook was hurt, so he could very well take the starting reigns if a similar situation happens again.
Can Mattison improve upon a solid rookie year?
The Vikings have plenty of depth at running back, but the team’s other positions on offense do not have that same luxury.
If Cook gets injured, it becomes a question of which running back to choose, but if that same thing happened to Adam Thielen or Kirk Cousins, the offense would be considerably worse.
Not to say Cook is bad, just that Boone and Mattison are very good replacements.
Mattison is coming off a promising rookie season, but there’s no telling what will happen in 2020. The team has a new offensive coordinator in Gary Kubiak, and most people don’t expect the offense to change much, but you never know.
There’s also the offensive line. I’m not sure the position group got much better this offseason, unless draftee Ezra Cleveland can come in and play right away. What if Mattison struggles to get anything going in limited time behind Cook?
If anything bad happens to other parts of the Minnesota offense, the Vikings will need the running back position to be a beacon of consistency. Hopefully, Mattison can ward off any signs of a sophomore slump, and thrive for the team. Minnesota likely needs him to, regardless of Cook’s health.
