Who Is Dalvin Cook? A Look At The New Vikings Running Back

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — "Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer did their homework and vetted all of these running backs.... When you put his tape on, he's special. He'll make a difference in Minnesota." That's how NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock describe the Minnesota Vikings' decision to pick up Florida State running back Dalvin Cook.

Once the Vikings realized running back Dalvin Cook was a possibility early in the second round, Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman got on the phone and made a move, the team said in a news release.

Minnesota moved up to the 41st overall pick to select Cook, a Florida State product who rushed for 1,765 yards on 288 attempts (6.1 yards per carry) and 19 touchdowns in 2016.

Spielman said Cook was one of the top two running backs on Minnesota’s board. The Vikings moved up from pick No. 48 by sending that pick and a fourth-round pick (128th overall) to the Cincinnati Bengals.

“We started making some calls once we knew he was going to slide into the second day,” Spielman said in a statement. “As we looked and he kept coming down the board, we felt that he was just too talented of a player not to take a swing and try to go up and get him."

Here's some of what Cook's official NFL draft profile said of him:

Florida State has had a slew of talented running backs over the past 30 years, but Cook was the first to break the 1,000-yard barrier in his first season with the team. The next two seasons have only gotten better, ranking in the top 10 by breaking 1,600 yards (1,691 in 2015 ranked sixth in the FBS, 1,765 in 2016 ranked fifth), scoring 19 times as a rusher, and earning first-team All-ACC accolades each year. The speedy and shifty back was also named 2016 first-team All-American by the Associated Press and Walter Camp Foundation, among others. NFL teams will be interested in his medical checks, though, because of the hamstring issues he had throughout the 2015 season and the three shoulder surgeries he's had since high school. Cook tore his rotator cuff in high school, then tore the front part of his labrum in 2014, and the back part of the labrum in 2016. He's also had run-ins with the law, starting in high school (robbery in 2009, charges dropped; firing and possessing a weapon on school property in 2010, charges drooped) and then again in 2015, where he was charged with misdemeanor battery outside a bar (found not guilty).

Cook joins a running back room that includes Latavius Murray, whom the Vikings signed as a free agent this offseason. Jerick McKinnon returns for his fourth season in Purple and led the Vikings with 539 rushing yards in 2016. Minnesota ranked last in the NFL with 1,205 total rushing yards in 2016.

Image via Thomson20192, Flickr, used under Creative Commons