James Cook Anyone?

I don't think we need to upgrade on Mattison for 2022, but I do think we need to keep our options open for 2023 with Mattison hitting FA and Cook's contract being moveable.

Here is what my draft board is showing for RBs:



I wouldn't like to spend a 3rd on Cook, but if he or one of the other good RBs fall to the 4th, I'd snatch him up. Zamir White is a sleeper I like on Day 3 who I think could become a starter.

Both of you are somewhat correct in that Mattison is an okay backup RB. Okay is not what I want out of that position though. If and when Cook goes down or needs a breather I want a guy who can still be a game changer like a Pollard, Dillon, Penny and Hunt.

Mattison was tied for 48th out of 61 qualifying RBs in the most important RB stat despite two of his 4 starts coming against the 31st best run defense according to DVOA. Meanwhile the starter averaged almost a full yard more than him and was 11th of 61 in YPA. The only other starter/backup swings like that that I saw came from Robinson and Hyde from Jacksonville and I don't want Hyde as my backup RB.

So yes, you could do worse than Mattison, but to build a championship team you have to look at where you can do much better and the Viking's backup RB position is one of those places.

Yep. Of course, our pick in round 4.....

I do agree that RB and TE are a bit of "sneaky" depth needs heading into the 2022 Draft and it would be good to grab depth at both positions on Day 3.

Outside of Joe Mixon in Cincinnati, the Shanahan coaches tend to have more of a RB-by-committee approach vs a single RB like Dalvin Cook carrying the bulk of the workload. 2022 is the first year that Cook's annual cap # reaches $10m+ so unless he outperforms this season, it's possible that he's traded during the 2022 season, or traded/released in the 2023 offseason as his cap savings will start to outweigh his dead cap amount. He's also a possible restructure candidate, but I'm not sure how much value it would provide to kick RB cap space into future seasons unless the Vikings were real desperate for the space in 2023.

James Cook is a decent RB prospect, but I feel his skillset is a bit one-dimensional in that his greatest asset is his receiving ability out of the backfield - he's not built for carrying the rock 25+ times a game and often needs wide-open lanes to get to the 2nd level; plus, he's not much of a pass protector. He reminds me somewhat of a lesser version of James White who succeeded in New England's RB room as a pass-catcher out of the backfield.

What's interesting about the late Day 2 / Day 3 RB's in this class is that you have a variety of RB's to choose from that provide unique skills. If you need a "thunder" or power-RB to compliment a "lightning" RB, then you can look to Tyler Allgeier, Brian Robinson, Zamir White and Hasan Haskins as RB's that will pick up tough yardage. If you need a "scat back" type of RB then you can select Tyler Badie with his compact build and receiving ability (reminds me of Darren Sproles). If you want more of that upright/track star RB (Robert Smith type) who can take it to the house then Pierre Strong Jr is an option.

For me, I like Cincinnati's Jerome Ford; he has strength, size and speed and is one of the few Day 3 RB options with some untapped upside. He did have some ball security issues which will definitely need to get cleaned-up, but if he can be had in the 5th or 6th, I think he can certainly make the team behind Cook, Mattison and Kene in 2022 and step into at least a RB2 role in 2023+. I like a bunch of the Day 3 RB prospects in this class, and the only one's I would stay away from are the older RB's (23+) like Ty Chandler who will be a 24 as a rookie.

Do you think Mattison is good as gone as he can probably get a starting job somewhere?