Minnesota Vikings: Dalvin Cook should be in MVP conversations

Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cooks is playing at an MVP level.

Coming into the 2020 NFL season, there were some questions surrounding running back Dalvin Cook and his status with the Minnesota Vikings both during this year and beyond.

With the two sides spending most of the offseason trying to work out a deal to potentially extend the contract of Cook to either keep him in Minnesota for years to come or eventually move on from the star rusher after this year, it was yet to be seen if or how that uncertainty would impact Cook’s play in his fourth season.

Through four weeks of the regular season schedule, now with Cook under contract after signing a nice contract extension before the year began, he has continued his dominance in the NFL with the Vikings. And his play in four contests should make him an early-season MVP candidate should that performance continue.

Cook got off to somewhat of a slower start to the 2020 campaign but has since turned up the heat in a major way.

Dalvin Cook has been the bright spot of the Minnesota Vikings offense.

In the first two games of the year, Cook tallied a combined total of 113 yards on 26 carries, which was odd to see him not only start off somewhat slower but also not get many carries out of the backfield on offense.

The last two games, however, Cook has stormed onto the scene and has once again become one of best running backs in the NFL, if not the best running back as of now.

In Week 3 against the Tennessee Titans, which resulted in Minnesota losing in the final seconds at home, Cook finished with a season and career-high 181 yards on the ground with a total of 22 carries and one rushing touchdown. The most recent game, in Week 4 against the Houston Texans where the Vikings finally cracked into the win column, Cook bounced back with another dominant showing resulting in 27 carries for 130 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

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Through four games entering the pair of Week 4 Monday Night Football games, Cook leads the league in rushing yards (424). Along with that, Cook’s 75 rushing attempts ranks fourth, while his six rushing touchdowns lead the league as well.

Cook is already coming off of a 2019 campaign where he recorded career-highs in rushing attempts (250), rushing yards (1,135) and rushing touchdowns (13), which resulted in the running back earning his first career Pro Bowl nod at the end of the season. He also recorded a career-high 53 catches for 519 yards through the air a year ago.

With that dominant season last year in the past, Cook appears to be hitting the ground running once again in 2020 and picking up where he left off while now under contract and set to play in Minnesota for years to come.

And with the Vikings’ dedication to the ground game and his stellar ability to take things over with his legs and through the air, Cook could very well end up in the MVP conversation both now and at the end of the year in his fourth season.