5 reasons why Dalvin Cook is better than Aaron Jones

Dalvin Cook has been a better asset on third down than Aaron Jones.

This characteristic is vital in the way it pertains to the situational aspect of football. Single games and entire seasons can be adjudicated on how successful a team is offensively an defensively on third down.

Take the 2017 Minnesota Vikings as evidence. That squad did not force gobs of turnovers as an onlooker might expect, but it executed its way to the best defensive third-down percentage in documented history to that point. Ergo, the team made a push to the NFC Championship game on the heels of its defensive third down mastery.

For Dalvin Cook and Aaron Jones, the raw numbers are in the same universe. In 29 games, Cook has picked up 22 first downs while on third down. Jones has picked up 18 first downs in 40 games. Cook also has a slight edge in a per-touch capacity for this metric.

Interesting fact: Kirk Cousins had more first downs via rush attempt on third down (five) in 2019 than Aaron Jones (four). For perspective, Cook had nine.