The Facts: After a torn ACL ended Cook’s first season in the NFL and hamstring injuries cost him the better part of six games in 2018, it’s reasonable to expect a healthy Cook can surpass his career numbers in one season next year. Gary Kubiak’s addition to the Vikings’ offensive staff — which was said to be at the direction of OC Kevin Stefanski — figures to further solidify the identity of the team’s offense behind Mike Zimmer’s vision. Kubiak’s teams have long prioritized the zone running schemes that helped make Terrell Davis a Hall of Famer and turned Arian Foster into the NFL’s leading rusher in 2010. How does that help Cook? For one, it likely means a more defined role in the offense, as long as he’s healthy enough to play it.
Diehards Line:Remember, Cook didn’t carry the ball more than 19 times in a game last season, after logging 22 and 27 carries in two of his first three games in the NFL. That figures to change in 2019. In just 15 games and 14 starts through his first two NFL seasons, Cook has produced a tantalizing taste of just how dynamic he could be with an injury-free season. He’s carried a modest 207 times in his career, posting 969 yards on those attempts, and caught 51 passes for 395 yards. It adds up to 1,364 yards from scrimmage, along with six touchdowns, in Cook’s first two NFL seasons, and the Vikings are likely banking on him being able to do even more in 2019. Assuming the tenets of Kubiak’s offenses come to Minnesota, it’ll mean plenty of zone runs, more snaps with quarterback Kirk Cousins under center and the kinds of play action throws Cousins executed with success in Washington. The Vikings need to get better along the offensive line and they also need Cook to prove he can stay on the field and consistently handle a feature role; being a year further removed from his ACL surgery should help him there, but his hamstring injury was one of several that lingered for a sizable chunk of the season for the Vikings. All that said, however, if Cook is ready for the opportunity, it’ll likely be there for him. Playing for his third coordinator in his third season, he could be in line for the star turn the Vikings envisioned when they traded up to draft him in 2017. Time will tell if he can grab it.