5 former players the Vikings badly miss in 2023

Former Vikings player No. 3

Dalvin Cook, running back

It feels like it would be impossible to know if the run game of the Minnesota Vikings would be better if they still had Dalvin Cook as their featured running back for the 2023 season but it would be hard for him to be worse.

Last year, Cook ran for 1,173 yards and eight touchdowns while adding 295 yards and two touchdowns through the air. So far, Alexander Mattison has yet to reach anywhere near that level of contribution.

The Vikings have already signed two new offensive linemen and traded for a running back in hopes of getting some kind of spark from their run game. As of now, Minnesota is only averaging 31 yards per game on the ground from their running backs.

Although Cook had times when he struggled, he also provided some big plays last season when the team needed them. If his regular contributions with the same offensive line aren't enough to miss him a little bit, those big, exciting plays should.