Until Something Else Emerges, Vikings Need to Ride Jerick McKinnon

The Minnesota Vikings thought they would have more than enough offensive options to choose from this season.

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Adrian Peterson at running back. Cordarrelle Patterson and Greg Jennings at receiver. Kyle Rudolph at tight end.

And, somewhere down the list, rookie Jerick McKinnon to give them a little spark as a third down back.

How things have changed after only six games.

Due to a series of bizarre, unfortunate and unpredictable circumstances, the Vikings have found their plans turned upside down.

Adrian Peterson is gone, deactivated for the season after allegations of child abuse. Kyle Rudolph is injured and who knows when he will be back to 100%. Cordarrelle Patterson, for whatever reason, is not developing. Greg Jennings has proven to be little more than a spare part in a struggling offense.

And that rookie RB they were maybe counting on as an occasional change-of-pace? All of a sudden, he is their primary offensive option.

Jerick McKinnon’s apparent break out game was in Atlanta a few weeks back, when he rushed for 135 yards on 18 carries. But his performance against Detroit Sunday, though superficially less impressive than his game against the Falcons, was his true breakthrough.

In a game when the Vikings could get almost nothing going offensively, McKinnon still performed admirably. He finished with 82 yards on 17 combined receiving and rushing touches: not great numbers by any means, but pretty good considering how inept the Vikings looked against the stifling Detroit defense.

It was no accident that McKinnon got the majority of the snaps at running back while Matt Asiata spent most of the game on the bench. With the Vikings unable to get anything going down the field in the passing game, and Cordarrelle Patterson evidently hobbled by injury, their only shot at a big play was to get it in McKinnon’s hands.

McKinnon never did make the one big play the Vikings were looking for, but the fact that Norv Turner kept going back to him says all you need to know about where the rookie now stands in the offensive pecking order.

With Adrian Peterson gone, McKinnon is the potential home run threat out of the backfield. He’s the one guy on the roster now who, at any time, can break a defense and turn a game.

Patterson was supposed to give the Vikings that dimension, but he hasn’t gotten it done. Jarius Wright is another player who has some big play ability in him but getting the ball in his hands can be difficult if the pass protection isn’t there and the coverage is as strong as it was Sunday.

The Vikings were simply out-manned against Detroit, and Teddy Bridgewater was simply overwhelmed. Not every defense will be as difficult to solve, but even against average defenses, the weapon-starved Vikings might have problems gaining yards.

The one weapon they now know they can count on is the rookie nobody thought would play a major role.

Unless or until Cordarrelle Patterson starts finding some holes in defenses and giving the Vikings the downfield dimension they lack, feeding the ball to McKinnon will continue to be the Vikings’ best shot at a big play.

Handing the ball to McKinnon or getting him the ball on swing/screen passes will be a major part of the Vikings’ offense for the foreseeable future. Norv Turner will want to take pressure off Teddy Bridgewater, and McKinnon will be the outlet.

McKinnon’s open field elusiveness will only become more evident as he gets more touches and learns to patiently find his holes. The more touches McKinnon gets, the bigger a weapon he’ll become.

Right now, he’s the only legitimate weapon the Vikings have. And I don’t see that circumstance changing much in the near future. Things have definitely not gone as planned.

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