5 Vikings who could benefit most from their bye week

Dalvin Cook – RB

The above picture of Dalvin Cook was chosen for a specific reason, to highlight the brace that he is wearing on his left shoulder. Cook dislocated his shoulder in the Vikings’ Week 3 win against the Detroit Lions, and he has been wearing that brace ever since.

Cook is a player that is constantly dealing with nagging injuries all over his body, so it’s not a surprise that the bye week should be a welcome sight for him as a chance to rest and heal up.

The bye week should also be a big chance for Cook to watch game tape and see where he is missing his mark. While the Florida State product is averaging a healthy 4.7 yards per carry, there have been chances that he has missed where the line is creating gaps for him to run through.

Cook seems to trip at the line on a concerning amount of runs, something that fans have been vocal about pointing out, which is just another aspect that he needs to figure out. Does he need new cleats maybe? We don’t know.

While he has played fine this season, that is just not good enough. Cook is being paid as one of the top running backs in the NFL, but he is far from being a top running back production this year.

His lack of help in the passing game, and his average rushing stats are not what the team is paying him to produce. Though it could be an issue with the new offensive scheme, the change will start with Cook, and he can use the bye week to reevaluate his attack moving forward.