5 positions the Minnesota Vikings won’t be drafting in 2020
By Nik Edlund
Running Back
Like tight end, the Vikings are very deep at running back and likely won’t be taking another one in this year’s NFL Draft.
Minnesota has Dalvin Cook at the top and while he still has yet to put together a full 16-game season, he showed what kind of dual-threat he can be in 2019.
For the first part of the year, he was basically the entire Vikings offense. Kirk Cousins would just repeatedly hand the ball off to Cook or throw him a short pass which led to him creating enough yardage to put points on the board and get the team some important wins.
Cook did fade a bit as the season wore on, but that had more to do with poor offensive line play than anything he was doing.
Behind Cook on the depth chart is last year’s rookie phenom, Alexander Mattison. Mattison usually got about a handful of touches per game in relief of Cook and he did very well.
The offense didn’t miss a beat when Mattison was on the field as the lead back and like Cook, he showed gentle hands in the passing game to be a weapon as a receiver out of the backfield.
He did struggle to find the end zone in 2019 and he did miss the last few games of the season with an injury. But Mattison showed he can carry the load if need be and he is an above-average backup running back.
Mike Boone fills out the depth at running back for Minnesota. He is an explosive runner who hits the hole at 90 miles per hour. Boone has produced when he’s been given the chance and the Vikings have to feel good about him being their emergency option at running back.
With their current depth, there is just no room for Minnesota to add another running back to their roster during this year’s draft.
Cook’s long term status with the team is a question mark, but it’s nothing the Vikings have to worry about for next season. A rookie wouldn’t get a sniff on game day and at best, they would likely be the team’s primary return man. That isn’t worth a draft pick this year and Minnesota would be better of spending that choice on an actual area of need.