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Welp, our worst fears have been realized.
Ian Rapoport just reported that Vikings’ rookie running back Dalvin Cook tore his ACL Sunday and will miss the rest of the season:
#Vikings coach Mike Zimmer confirms: RB Dalvin Cook is done for the season with a torn ACL. He’ll have surgery.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 2, 2017
This is really hard to hear as Cook was enjoying an extremely productive start to his rookie season and has been a big part of the Vikings emergence as a legit team this year. Cook finishes his season with 74 carries, 354 yards, two touchdowns and 11 receptions for 90 yards.
I know in today’s NFL an ACL tear isn’t as bad as it once was, but it’s still an extremely difficult injury to recover from and many players lose a step because of it. It’s tough to see it happen to such a young and dynamic player.
From a fantasy perspective, Latavius Murray is next in line to run the Vikings’ backfield. Murray doesn’t offer quite as much as Cook does but he still is a productive player, especially in the red zone. He’s sure to share time with Jerick McKinnon but given Murray’s size advantage, he’s likely to be Vikings goal-line back, something he did extremely well for Oakland last year, tailing 12 touchdowns. McKinnon is worth a pickup if you’re in PPR leagues but I don’t think he has much value in standard. But I may be proven wrong.
With other teams suffering running back injuries, there will be a few names on the waiver wires who you could make moves on to help fill the hole in your roster, including Alvin Kamara, Eddie Lacy (crazy I know) and Aaron Jones.
Wishing a speedy and full recovery to Cook.