From Elflein to Gedeon & Cook, Vikings' rookies stepped into big roles this season

[purplefaithful]

Last season's rookie class played the fewest snaps of any team in the NFL. The Vikings have turned that around in a big way. As Mike Zimmer surveyed his rookie class on Thursday, running through the list of his first-year players at a reporter’s request, the Vikings coach could tick off players who were already key contributors, important role players or promising prospects.
“[Pat] Elflein’s pretty good. [Dalvin] Cook is good,” Zimmer said. “[Ben] Gedeon’s done good. We’ve got a lot of them, right? I think [Stacy] Coley’s going to be a player. [Rodney] Adams, he’s got a chance to be a player. [Jaleel] Johnson, he does, too.”
That’s a far cry from a year ago, when a roster decimated by injuries was still unable to ask for much from a rookie class bereft of immediate contributors. This season, in a year where the Vikings knew they were going to have a younger roster after letting some veterans go, their rookies have been more than capable of filling in the gaps.
The Vikings’ rookies have already logged 1,388 snaps on offense and defense this season, led by Elflein’s 837. The third-round pick, who figures to return from a shoulder injury on Sunday, has played 91.9 percent of the Vikings’ offensive snaps at center and could be in line for All-Rookie Team honors at the end of the season.
Cook appeared on his way to plenty of accolades, too, before tearing his ACL in Week 4. He’s got a good shot to return in 2018 as the Vikings’ featured running back. Gedeon has started seven games as the Vikings’ weak-side linebacker, and fifth-rounder Danny Isidora made a spot start at left guard on Oct. 29.
“Some of those guys you’re talking about — Elflein, Gedeon, Cook — are some of our more important guys,” Zimmer said. “I think some guys just take longer than others.”
http://www.startribune.com/from-pat-elfl...464480193/

[Guest]

The 2016 group still might not have any players as integral to the Vikings’ plans as Elflein or Cook, and it remains to be seen how the team’s sophomore class will pan out. The 11-member draft class of 2017, though — not to mention undrafted free agents who made the 53-man roster, like defensive end Tashawn Bower and tackle Aviante Collins — already has yielded three starters, with the potential for more contributors down the road.
And if you’re looking for reasons why a team that looked listless in its most lopsided defeat of last season — a 38-7 loss to the Indianapolis Colts — has a chance to clinch the NFC North exactly 52 weeks later, the Vikings’ successful, and important, infusion of youth should be among them.