Fantasy Football Rankings 2018: Vikings’ most tantalizing draft targets

Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images
Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images /
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Dalvin Cook Minnesota Vikings
Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images /

1. RB Dalvin Cook

Current ADP: 14.5

Put simply, Dalvin Cook is the most tantalizing and most worrisome of the Vikings’ top fantasy options. When healthy, he’s probably one of the best running backs in the league. However, it’s always worrisome drafting a player returning from a torn ACL.

Then again, as Vikings fans can attest to, it doesn’t always have to be an unpleasant return. Adrian Peterson destroyed his knee in 2011. In 2012, he won the NFL MVP award and came within a handful of yards of Eric Dickerson’s long-standing record for the most rushing yards in a single season. Torn ACL or not, the future is bright for Cook.

We already got a glimpse of it during his rookie campaign, no matter how brief. In the four games he played before the tear, Cook was an unstoppable force. The hope is he can pick up where he left off while rewarding those fantasy owners who had enough confidence to draft him.

The lack of a quality offensive line hurts his value, but the presence of a loaded passing game actually helps. With Cousins, Thielen, Diggs and Rudolph keeping defenses honest, they won’t be able to load the box against Cook. That should give the sophomore back an abundance of room to rack up big yards and plenty of touchdowns.

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Again, I’m not going to pretend there isn’t some risk here. Latavius Murray could also vulture some touchdowns, which will sting. If you want a potential game-breaker at running back, though, then look no further than Cook.