Odds may be against Dalvin Cook returning to form in 2018

The young Minnesota Vikings running back is still recovering from a torn ACL he suffered during the team’s fourth game of the 2017 season.

Thanks in part to the magical 2012 season from former Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, a torn ACL is no longer a death sentence for an NFL running back’s career.

Less than a year after Peterson tore the ACL in his left knee, he lead the Vikings to the playoffs and ran for a team-record, 2,097 yards in 2012. His amazing efforts ultimately resulted in the running back also being named the 2012 NFL MVP.

For this upcoming season, Minnesota is hoping that Dalvin Cook can have similar results to Peterson’s post-ACL tear performance. But the Vikings should also know that what Peterson did in 2012 is not the norm.

Cook tore his ACL during Minnesota’s Week 4 matchup against the Detroit Lions last year. It was a bit of a gut-punch to the young running back, who was off to great start last season.

Since then, Cook has been rehabbing from his injury and is apparently ahead of schedule according to Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer. Minnesota head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman also commented a few weeks ago that the running back should be able to fully participate in the team’s training camp this summer.

It is not really a surprise that Cook is expected to be back on the field for the Vikings regular season opener in 2018. The majority of NFL players are able to return to action after tearing their ACLs.

It’s just their performance after the injury that remains hard to predict.

In regards to running backs, there have been some recent cases of success after a torn ACL. But there are examples of rushers seeing a decline in production following their knee injury as well.

Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley tore his ACL during his final season at the University of Georgia in 2014. Since then, Gurley has received a Pro Bowl invite during two of his three years with the Rams and he was a First-Team All-Pro selection in 2017.

Minnesota Vikings

Dion Lewis was in the middle of becoming the New England Patriots’ next offensive weapon in 2015 before he went down with a torn ACL. It took Lewis around a year to get back on the field for the Patriots and his production in 2016 (377 total yards in seven games) was significantly less than what he was able to do the year before (622 total yards in seven games).

Other running backs like Giovanni Bernard, Stevan Ridley, Vick Ballard, and Rashard Mendenhall all saw a decline in their on-field production after tearing their ACLs.

Based on the fact that Cook is still 22-years-old and he really has no previous history of knee injuries prior to the 2017 season, he seems to have a good chance to somewhat resemble the player he was last year for Minnesota.

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And while there are examples of running backs coming back better than ever from a torn ACL, these cases are usually not the norm. The Vikings’ hope is that Cook can return to full strength in 2018, but history shows that is far from being a guarantee.