Fantasy fallout: Dalvin Cook out for season with torn ACL

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:

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.