Minnesota Vikings: Don’t fall asleep on Jerick McKinnon
The Minnesota Vikings may not know this yet, but the team has already found their future star running back, Jerick McKinnon. After all the issues surround Adrian Peterson at the start of last season, Minnesota needed someone to step up and answer the call, that player turned out to be McKinnon. If an untimely injury had not kept him out of the starting line-up, the Vikings could have made a playoff push. Heading into next season though, fans of the Vikings should get excited about McKinnon and not fall asleep on the dynamic running back.
No one knew much about McKinnon coming into the 2014 NFL season. He was a speedy running back from Georgia Southern, that was drafted by the Vikings in the 3rd round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
McKinnon did not start out his NFL career on a high note. During the first three games of the season, he had only touched the ball just nine times, including passes thrown to him. Then, out of no where, McKinnon found his niche. He rushed for a season high 135 yards against the Atlanta Falcons, which helped the Vikings win 41-28.
Aside from his breakout performance against Atlanta, McKinnon ran for over 100 yards one more time in 2014. This time it came in a depressing 17-16 loss to the Buffalo Bills. McKinnon carried the ball a career high 19 times and rushed for 103 yards.
If there is one negative remark against McKinnon in 2014, it is that he never scored a touchdown. Despite his terrific performances against Atlanta and Buffalo, he never managed to find the end zone.
Once news of Peterson broke, the Vikings knew their season would be in jeopardy. McKinnon answered the call, along with Matt Asiata. The two running backs propelled Minnesota to finish off the 2014 season ranked 14th in rushing yards a game. After losing AP for the season, seeing the Vikings finish as high in rushing as the team did, is very impressive.
With the future of Peterson incredibly unclear, Minnesota needs to think about life after the great rusher. The answer to their problems at running back is simple, give McKinnon the ball 85% of the time and let Asiata clean up the rest. It remains a mystery about how the Vikings season would have ended if McKinnon had played the entire year and not left with a back injury.
The truth with Minnesota going into next season though, all centers around how everything with Peterson shakes down. If he stays, McKinnon will likely not see the field very often. If Peterson goes, McKinnon will see the field often.
No matter what happens to the Vikings in 2015 about Peterson, the running back position is in safe hands with McKinnon and Asiata. NFL experts project that the Minnesota needs to draft a running back in this year’s NFL Draft. Realistically though, the team is just fine.
McKinnon will carry the load of the offensive production, alongside second year quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater. With the combination of Bridgewater and McKinnon, the Vikings could actually be a surprise team in 2015. Minnesota needs to worry about getting past the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, but after the way the 2014 NFL season went, the Vikings could be looking at an outside shot of making the playoffs.