Dalvin Cook is outpacing Adrian Peterson’s MVP numbers from 2012
By Adam Patrick
The current Minnesota Vikings running back is putting up ridiculous numbers this season.
For those who remember the 2012 Minnesota Vikings season when Adrian Peterson carried the team into the playoffs on his way to winning that year’s MVP, it was hard to imagine another running back ever having a season like that again due to current NFL offenses focusing more on their passing attack than their ground game.
Just like 2012, however, the Vikings have one of the best running backs (if not the absolute best) in the league this year in Dalvin Cook. Minnesota knows what the type of talent they have in their offensive backfield this season and they’ve been making sure to take full advantage of it.
Cook is the center of the Vikings offense and the more he gets the ball in his hands the more the team’s offense experiences success.
Do the Minnesota Vikings have another MVP running back in their backfield?
Following Cook’s last two games that saw him put up some extremely impressive numbers, his name has started to creep into this year’s MVP conversation.
Peterson in 2012 and LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006 are the last two running backs to end a season as the NFL’s MVP. Cook has played in seven games so far this year, so what did Peterson and Tomlinson’s numbers look like during the first seven matchups of their MVP seasons?
CBS Sports recently shared a graphic on their Instagram account that compares the seven-game totals of Cook from this year, Peterson in 2012, and Tomlinson in 2006.
This graphic helps explain just how impressive Cook has been playing so far this season. The current Minnesota running back is out-pacing both Peterson from 2012 and Tomlinson from 2006 in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and yards from scrimmage.
It’s hard to imagine Cook not winning this year’s MVP award if he continues to put up numbers at his current pace. But in order to improve his MVP case even more, the Vikings running back also has to make sure he leads his team to the playoffs like Peterson and Tomlinson were able to due during their MVP campaigns.
That will probably be easier said than done since Minnesota is currently sitting with a 3-5 record. But if Cook is able to put the Vikings on his back and carry them into the postseason, then an MVP trophy could definitely be coming his way in the near future.