What's this Offense like with Cook?
Just allowing myself to dream a little bit...Would Diggs/Thielen have had the years they had? How might the play calling or scheme been different?
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
The offense would definitely have been different with Cook. He's a much more explosive player than Murray or McKinnon, so I think he would have definitely had a few more long TD runs. Before he got hurt, I was worried that they were overusing him, so we likely wouldn't have seen Murray and/or McKinnon establish themselves like they did. Maybe that doesn't matter, but I do think that Murray's physical running has been a big part of our success.
I also think that if Cook is healthy, then the running game would be more to the outside/horizontal. They've tried doing that some with the other backs, but Murray is a north-south runner and while McKinnon can hit the edge, they don't do it a lot with him. I also really would have liked to see how Cook developed in the passing game. Had some trouble catching the ball early, but he really stepped up in pass protection.
We've gotten what we needed out of the running game, but another explosive dimension to the offense would be really nice.
I was worried about overuse early too...And yes, runs outside and getting him to the edge into space would have added more for the defense to worry about.
Things to look forward to in 18...
Definitely, he brings a different dimension to the offense. Hopefully, he makes a full recovery and the team is smarter about managing his touches. Hard to say if overuse lead to him getting hurt, but they could have at least worked in McKinnon more since Murray wasn't 100% at that time.
He's a 3 down back, they don't need to worry about overuse....and it wasn't already happening after only 4 games, lol.
It would have been slightly better, but not as good as it would have been with Bradford playing QB all year. I think this O with Sam at the helm was a 4 TD per game machine and as good as he looked against the Saints, it would have gotten better as the season progressed.
Our run game has been decent most weeks, since Cooks injury. The one thing it lacks is the ability to break long TD runs. What is our longest TD run this year, post Cook? 25 yards or so? After nearly a decade of watching AP house at least a few 50-70 yarders every year, it's a noticeable drop off in the explosive plays. Cook I think would have given us at least a few BIG TD runs that we've missed with LM. Probably not AP in his prime numbers, but more than what we have currently.
He should be a nice addition as we defend our championship next season! B)
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