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Dalvin Cook Fantasy Football Impact 2020. The Counselor dives into the details on Cook going into 2020 fantasy football. He lets you know if Cook is worth that first-round draft pick or not. (Audio Transcription)
Joseph Robert, the Fantasy Football Counselor. We’re talking about Dalvin Cook and his Fantasy Football impact for Fantasy Football, 2020. I’m excited to get in this show, deep-dive, give you all the statistics and give you guys a really, really good perspective and all the details before you decide. And if you decide to draft Dalvin Cook for Fantasy Football, 2020, because he comes with a lot of risks. I’m going to get into everything you need to know about Dalvin Cook this year. Before I get into that, guys, make sure you guys smash that thumbs up. It means a lot to me. I’m creating the impact series because I want you guys to get all the details about every single player that’s really Fantasy relevant so that you guys can make a properly-educated decision before you roster this player because to me, every player that goes on my roster is hand-selected with absolute precision.
That’s what it is, guys. You got to be precise with this stuff. So Dalvin Cook’s a guy I’m going to dive in. At the end of the article I give you my verdict on where I would draft him if I would draft him, what you guys should do with him, and at the end of the day, it’s all up to you. I’m just giving you guys the facts and the details. It’s up to you guys to dissect it and make a decision. Is he worthy of your sacred roster. Because that’s what it comes down to. It’s very important that you guys have an optimal roster. Also, get the 16 round draft session where I give you guys all the optimal players in each round and this is the absolute game-changer.
Dalvin Cook Fantasy Numbers
So let’s dive into Dalvin Cook and his stats. First of all, this guy, he finished sixth in PPR last year, so I’m not going to take away last year because he had a great year. Okay? He had a phenomenal year overall, but what really, really upset me last year was the fact that he yet, again, the third year in a row, didn’t finish the season. He had week 15 he played, but he only had nine attempts that week, 4.3 points standard. If you’re looking at it from a PPR perspective, this is at week 15,. Remember, this is the guy that a lot of people drafted very early on. This is technically their RB1 and from a PPR perspective, from week 13 and on, because he didn’t play. He didn’t play week 16 and 17. He wasn’t in your Fantasy Football championships. His numbers sucked. Week 13, 13.4 points, week 14, 15.5, week 15, 7.3 points in week 15. This is your, technically, your RB1. Okay? He had some good games. His pinnacle game in regards to PPR Fantasy points was week 10, we were at 31 points. He rushed for 97 yards. He rushed for over a hundred yards, what? Four or five times in the season? So not bad, right? Again, he had a pretty good season overall. Overall rushing yards, 1,135, 4.5 yards per carry, 13 touchdowns. Again, a safe year. 53 receptions on 63 targets for 519 receiving yards, but no receiving touchdowns, oddly.
So when you look at Dalvin Cook last year, it was a good year, but the problem I have and the problem I keep talking about is durability. Okay? This guy, again, fighting for a contract is what he’s trying to do, but I’ve watched the tape on him. I watched all the tape. Now, I got to give him credit on a couple of runs where he powered through, went up the middle, looks pretty good, but for the most part, when you’re looking at him, he basically gravitates out to… catches the ball, runs out to the sidelines, obviously preserving his body, understandably so, because he hasn’t finished the seasons, right? He’s just not a guy that stays durable and he wants that mega-contract because he knows he’s not durable. Right? He’s got Alexander Madison breathing down his neck. Now when you look at him, especially with the 2020 outlook with this guy, you got to take a look at durability.
So in 2017 he only played four games in 2018, 11 games, 2019 14 games. That’s unacceptable, guys. This is a guy… Yeah, because there was a bi-week there. So 14 games in 2019, 11 in 2018, four games in 2017. This is not a guy that finishes championships. This is not a guy that’s even been in a Fantasy Football championship. So how could he even be considered? How can he even be thought of in the first draft of anybody’s Fantasy Football draft? The thought is unreal. I want to tell you guys that I’m the only person and I will go on record by saying it and that’s okay. He can come out, have a 17-week phenomenal season next year, plays the entire season. Let’s say he has a… We’re looking at the 2020 projections. Let’s say he has the best year of his life. I’m not afraid to say that I will safely not have Dalvin Cook in my top 10. I’m not even going to rank him. When I don’t rank a player, it means I won’t draft him. I’ll tell you why. Let me explain this to you. So, for example, if I were to rank him, that would mean I would take him. So let’s just say, I rank him. Let’s say he’s 16th on my ranking. I’ll never get him at 16 because of people, the mainstream, the consensus that, they don’t have the line mentality. They’re going to draft him anyway in the top five. I’m not going to touch him there. Right? So what’s the point of me even ranking him, because I’m never going to draft him? I’m just not going to touch him. I’d rather have another guy. I’d rather have Saquon, or someone else. I’d rather have Kamara than him. Right? Because they’re more durable and what you see is what you get for the most part out of these guys. 
Now you can say Saquon got hurt last year, but listen. The guy still had over a thousand yards. He’s an absolute beast. They improved o-line with the Giants. Also, Dalvin Cook is a product of that offense. It’s the same type of situation. Going back to Le’Veon Bell, let’s talk about Le’Veon Bell for a second. He did great on the Steelers and everybody was saying, “Yeah, draft him in the first round, at the end of the first round back last year.” I said, “No, do not draft Le’Veon Bell, he is a product of the offense.” Now, again, people are going to say I’m crazy the same way they said that I was crazy last year when I said Landry is better than Odell. And the fact of the matter, he is and he outperformed Odell.
The same type of thing here. Mattison is better than Dalvin Cook. The only reason Cook performs really well is that he’s on a high, high octane offense with a good o-line, right? He does well because he’s got good weapons, it’s designed around the run and he’s a product of that offense. Obviously he’s talented, don’t get me wrong, but Madison can jump in and do the same type of thing. The same way that DeAngelo Williams and James Conner did in Pittsburgh when Le’Veon Bell was out. And when Le’Veon Bell went on the Jets, he sucked. So you put Dalvin Cook on the Dolphins or another team that’s mediocre, on a team that doesn’t produce high caliber running backs, he’s going to perform at an average level. He is excelling because he’s a product of the offense. I want you guys to note that. Okay? And he’s absolutely brittle.
So let’s talk about the verdict here. What am I doing with Dalvin Cook? You kind of already heard it already. I am not going to draft Dalvin Cook. I will not put him in my top 10 because I’m not going to draft him. He’s never going to fall to me because if I were to consider draft him, I’d probably consider drafting him in the fifth round, sixth round. And the fifth, sixth round, I can get myself David Montgomery, his average ADP is five. I can get who I like better, who’s going to finish ahead of Dalvin Cook this year anyway. So you got to look at the situation. You got to look at the talent. David Johnson, far superior athlete to Dalvin Cook. And I know he’s saying, “Oh, David got hurt.” Yeah. It was a wrist, fluke wrist injury. He got smoked. He caught the ball, a defender came in a cornerback, I think it was, came in, flew in, broke his wrist. That was… You can’t prevent that, but this guy, serious injury history, again, four games in 2017, 11 in 2018, 14 in 2019, unacceptable.
And the way he runs, I encourage you to go watch his tape. Aside from a couple of runs, this guy, I’m telling you, just gravitates to this… He runs out of bounds a lot and he gingerly runs out and he’s very cautious. He falls forward, nice and tight. He doesn’t want to get hurt. He’s very, very paranoid because he knows another injury, another little, sideline move will ruin his entire career. This is a make or break for Dalvin Cook. And part of you is like, “Yeah, okay. Joe, he still needs to get paid so he’s incentivized. He has threatened to hold out this and that.”, But I don’t know. Running backs are just… I don’t want to say a dime a dozen, but they’re just not as important as the quarterback position, obviously, they get hurt so often and their shelf life isn’t as high as, let’s say, a quarterback.
So Le’Veon Bell made a case. I don’t know if this is going to continue on, man, because, again, we’ve seen guys with high paid contracts just not performing very well or getting injured. Devonta Freeman, Todd Gurley having a fall off after the big contract hangover. Dalvin Cook is a guy that could also have that if he gets paid and the Vikings know that he’s a product of that offense. They know that’s why they acquired Alexander Madison. They know that they could perform just as well with or without Dalvin Cook. They don’t need him. So I don’t think he’s going to get paid that mega-contract. If he does get paid, I think he’ll be paid a safe, comfortable agreement. It’s not going to be astronomical. It’s not going to be record-breaking by any means at all.
So the verdict’s here with Dalvin Cook. I’m staying away. I’m not touching him. I will not draft him. And some people say, “Oh, you dislike Dalvin Cook.” No, I don’t dislike him as a person as I don’t know him. So maybe he’s a jerk in real life, I don’t know. But all I know is that I will not, I repeat, I will not invest a first-round pick on a guy that has not finished a season. That’s what it comes down to here. It all comes down to historical data and that’s the bottom line.
2020 Fantasy Projection
So Dalvin Cook is a guy that’s literally. He literally blew his entire load last year. Literally, he was on his last legs. And again, he fell apart at the end of the season yet again and I definitely see that continuing on going into 2020. He will not finish this season. History shows me Dalvin Cook will not finish the season. He is one of the most injury-prone running back. And this goes to Derrius Guice as well, because Derrius Guice got hurt, I believe, in his rookie year, comes back, makes this funny… Not even a funny video, but he was like, “Yeah, you guys are calling me injury prone. I’m not injury-prone. Are you guys crazy?” And he’s basically making fun of the haters. Then he got injured a week later. Listen, once you guys get the injury bug, it’s very hard to come out of that for a lot of players. We’ve seen it with tight ends like Jordan Reed as well who’s had the injury bug and it just won’t go away. Dalvin Cook definitely falls in that category. He’s just not built the same way as a Derrick Henry, knock on wood, or Zeke Elliot. He’s just not as strong as those guys, I’m telling you. He’s agile, he’s a good running back, but he’s not a top tier guy.
Final Verdict
There’s no way in heck I’m investing a first-round pick or any pick on Dalvin Cook for Fantasy Football 2020. Heed my warning, guys. It’s obvious, okay? Heed my warning, stay away from Dalvin Cook. Draft somebody else who’s more durable and implement that robust RB draft strategy that I talk about where I go… you go three running backs the first four rounds, load up on those running backs. Okay? Be smart with your picks. Be smart with everything for Fantasy Football. That’s why you got to get the 60 round draft solution. And of course, let me leave a comment below if you’re watching on YouTube. Let me know, are you drafting Dalvin Cook for Fantasy Football 2020. I’d love to get your feedback, guys. Thank you. I appreciate it and that is Dalvin Cook’s Fantasy Football impact and outlook 2020. Thanks for being here.
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