Why Dalvin Cook Deserves MVP Consideration

Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook is putting together a season worthy of Most Valuable Player votes. 

Despite missing time with an injury, Cook leads the NFL in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns and rushing yards per game. 

He holds an overwhelming lead in two of those categories. He has three more rushing scores than Todd Gurley and averages over 17 yards per game more than Derrick Henry. 

Cook was responsible for 36 of the 62 points scored by the Vikings in the last two weeks and has been one of the most active players on the offensive side of the ball in the last two weeks. 

Cook's recent offensive explosion could produce the most MVP buzz for a non-quarterback. He is trying to become the first running back to win the award since another Vikings running back, Adrian Peterson, earned that title in 2012.

Why Dalvin Cook Deserves MVP Consideration

Cook Is The Most Productive Non-Quarterback In The NFL 

The closest any running back is to Cook on a rushing leaderboard is Henry in rushing yards.

Cook and Henry are separated by 15 rushing yards, and then there is a 255-yard drop off from Henry to Josh Jacobs. 

Cook and Henry both have four 100-yard ground performances, but the difference between the two is Henry has not put together back-to-back triple-digit games. 

The Vikings running back has done that twice in Weeks 3 and 4 and Weeks 8 and 9. The first of those four performances came against the Tennessee Titans, He outgained Henry by 62 yards in that matchup. 

Not only does Cook control the rushing yards charts, but he also owns the most yards and touchdowns of any running back, wide receiver or tight end in the NFL.

Cook's former teammate Stefon Diggs leads the league with 813 receiving yards, and Tyreek Hill has found the end zone on nine occasions. 

Davante Adams' top receiving average of 112.5 yards per game is 10 yards short of Cook's average on the ground. 

Cook's goal over the next seven weeks should be to try to eclipse Peterson's pace from the 2012 season. 

When Peterson won MVP, he ran for 2,097 yards and averaged 131.1 yards per game while scoring 12 touchdowns. 

Cook already eclipsed the touchdown total, and he has a chance in the coming weeks to pad his overall yardage total and average.

First, Cook needs to shine on the Monday night stage against the Chicago Bears in a game that could put the Vikings in a better position to qualify for the postseason. 

If he does that, Cook could be set up for a few monster outings against the Dallas Cowboys, Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars, who all rank in the bottom 14 of rushing yards conceded. 

He may even thrive against a Chicago defense that is perceived to be tough but has allowed the 10th-most rushing yards in the NFL. 

Cook does not need four consecutive 200-yard games in that stretch, but if he easily surpasses 100 yards and finds the end zone on a frequent basis, he could go into Week 14's clash with Tampa Bay with a serious chance to go after the MVP.

Minnesota Would Be A Worse Team Without Cook

One of the ways to quantify how valuable a player is to his team is to look at what his team's performance would be without him. 

In Week 6, the Vikings managed just 33 rushing yards against the Atlanta Falcons, and Kirk Cousins was not effective enough to win the game on his own. 

If you take away Cook's 226 total yards from the Week 8 win over Green Bay, the Vikings may not have beaten the Packers defense since Cousins only threw for 160 yards. 

You could also make the argument Cook was the reason why the Vikings were in position to beat the Houston Texans in Week 4. 

Cook produced the first two Minnesota touchdowns in that game, and the team turned to Alexander Mattison for a closing score. 

Cousins threw for a single touchdown in that contest and was not responsible for a large chunk of yards on a scoring drive until the series that produced his touchdown pass to Adam Thielen. 

Without Cook on the field in Week 6, the Vikings struggled mightily, and if he was out for an extended period of time, they may not have beaten the Packers or Lions.

Cook still has a long way to go to become the front-runner for MVP over Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson and other quarterbacks, but he is doing all the right things and has favorable matchups in front of him to increase the validity of his candidacy.

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Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference