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Rookie running back Jerick McKinnon sits at the top of the list of Minnesota Vikings who put in a dazzling performance in the 41-28 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. His 135-yard rushing day on the ground led all rushers, sparking what had been a lifeless Minnesota run game in previous weeks.

This positive development could not have come a moment too soon for the Vikings. The loss of Adrian Peterson for the foreseeable future cast a dark cloud over the offense. Matt Asiata slid into the starting job, but he only mustered 71 yards over those two games for an anemic 2.8 yards per carry.

A starter’s job is not one Asiata was built for, but he had to be rushed into duty. The loss of Peterson disabled the offense, even though Asiata's consistency and reliability should be applauded.

More than anything, the lack of big-play ability is what doomed the Vikings ground game when relying on Asiata. He has only a single gain of over 10 yards and only five gains of over five yards.

Enter Jerick McKinnon. After getting only five carries through the first three weeks, he scampered for 55 yards on his first carry against Atlanta and never looked back.

A breakout performance like this may have only been a matter of time for the third-round pick. He played quarterback in a triple-option offense for the majority of his collegiate career, with cameo appearances as a tailback and even as a cornerback. For these reasons, his learning curve has been higher than most other running back prospects.

McKinnon’s exploits against Atlanta point to how quickly he has learned the intricacies of running back play and point to just how big an impact he can make on a game. Let’s break down four plays from Sunday’s game as evidence of why McKinnon has earned himself a bigger role in the offense.

Starting with his biggest gain only makes sense. This offensive call has been a staple in the Vikings offense for years, spanning multiple offensive coordinators now. It’s the lead draw.

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The entire offensive line pops up at the snap, showing high pads to the defensive line and linebackers, which is what makes the play a draw. Then each blocker wants to pin a defensive lineman from inside while fullback Jerome Felton and center John Sullivan lead upfield to take on the linebackers.

Atlanta gets caught in a stunt, which takes their nose tackle out of the play and simplifies the blocks for the Vikings offensive line.

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Felton demolishes the Atlanta linebacker, and McKinnon makes the correct cut to his left, based on the positioning Felton has on the linebacker and the location of the safety.

As with most effective run plays, not every defender can be blocked. A safety is usually left for the back to outrun or make miss.

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McKinnon burns past the safety and turns a 10-yard gain into 55 yards with a couple nifty open-field moves added in for good measure. This play shows the difference between Asiata and McKinnon. The rookie has the athletic capabilities to truly make a defense pay for not maintaining gap discipline or taking poor pursuit angles. Asiata may have moved the chains, but no safety has trouble catching him.

Athleticism is the biggest draw with McKinnon of course, and that shows in the way he runs the ball in the open field. Just how uncommon an athlete McKinnon really is often goes underreported. Mockdraftable.com compares prospects across a database of athletic measurements. McKinnon’s percentiles show that while he is small, few running back prospects possess such well-rounded athleticism.

Jerick McKinnon Athletic Measurements Category Measure Percentile Height 5'9" 13 Weight 209 34 40-yard dash 4.41 88 10-yard split 1.46 96 Bench Press 32 99 Vertical Jump 40.5" 95 Broad Jump 132" 98 3-Cone Drill 6.83 82 Short Shuttle 4.12 80 Source: Mockdraftable.com

Viewing Asiata’s athletic measurements as a prospect is only for the brave, however. The running back position is one where athletic potential is closely tied to overall quality, so the biggest thing holding back McKinnon’s role are the learned skills of running back play.

That takes us to the next example, which shows McKinnon’s growth in the short time since he joined the Vikings and began playing an NFL-style running back position.

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This is a zone-running play or a stretch play. That means no lead blocker and no pulling guard, which puts a greater impetus on the running back to make the correct reads. Running backs with poor vision and poor footwork do not thrive in this type of play design.

McKinnon shouldn’t already have this type of read and cut down pat. He played in a college system of if-then decisions that didn’t necessarily require vision as it’s thought of in terms of running-back play. So when he showed the type of vision to cut all the way back across the formation on this play, that points to how quickly he’s picking up his new duties as a reader of blocks.

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The vision and decision-making to decisively cut this run back against the grain is impressive for a rookie. McKinnnon showcases the decisiveness and sharp change of direction to pick up six yards on this play.

McKinnon has two advantages over Asiata that show up in both examples. He has explosive-play potential. His skills are more appropriate for zone-blocking plays as well, especially given his vision and improvement indecision-making.

Asiata will always hold the edge in short-yardage situations due to size and power, but the last two aspects of running back play—pass-catching and pass-blocking—are where McKinnon needs to make strides to earn a bigger share of the running back workload.

He earned positive reviews on Sunday here too.

As a receiver, McKinnon had one ball bounce off his hands when Teddy Bridgewater threw a heater over the middle, but he made up for it later with a crucial 17-yard reception. He has shown soft hands, catching the ball away from his body, and can quickly turn up the field to maximize yardage after the cash. His potential as an open-field runner should also factor into an expanded role on passing downs.

As for pass-blocking, whether the coaching staff comes right out and says it or not, this part of his game is McKinnon's biggest obstacle to landing more playing time.

Of course, McKinnon has very little experience as a blocker, coming from a run-heavy offense at Georgia Southern. He took his lumps in the preseason and early weeks of the regular season. If the Atlanta game was any indication, though, he seems to be picking up the necessary techniques rather quickly.

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Atlanta brings a zone blitz that overloads the offense’s right side. That puts extra stress on the offensive line, which can’t adjust on the fly to pick up everyone.

McKinnon does a technically sound job of getting this picked up.

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As McKinnon steps forward to clear space from the quarterback, he protects the inside first. He locks onto the blitzing inside linebacker, No. 55, immediately. As soon as right guard Vladimir Ducasse picks the inside up the blitzer, McKinnon turns his attention to the cornerback.

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His hands are outside the frame of the cornerback on first contact, which isn’t optimal. He more than makes up for that by being balanced as he continues to engage. Because his shoulders stay above his knees, he can absorb the power and gather himself to maintain the block. That’s exactly what he does, sustaining contact with the rusher for an extended period of time, as Bridgewater starts to improvise.

McKinnon had one other successful pickup on a delayed cornerback blitz earlier in the game. These are very encouraging signs. Coaches often want reliability and consistency before anything else, so continuing this sharp pass-blocking should have a big impact on McKinnon’s role.

Improvements in blitz pick-up, decision-making and pass catching are identifiable reasons as to why McKinnon should begin to see his role increase. Mike Zimmer was sure to pump the brakes this week, though, via Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune:

Zimmer said he sees Jerick McKinnon as a change of pace and mentions next year when talking about him becoming an every-down back. — Matt Vensel (@mattvensel) September 29, 2014

Only time will tell if Zimmer is being entirely truthful in his comments. He probably wouldn’t be lying if he said Asiata would retain a significant role. Even with the rookie's Week 4 surge, Asiata brings value in short-yardage situations and can suffice in passing situations.

Reasons are starting to pile up for why McKinnon is the best option for most downs. The coaches may be hesitant to increase his load until he demonstrates consistency from week to week.

If that’s the case, keep tabs on the aforementioned finer points of McKinnon’s play in the next few weeks. If he can bring the same qualities he showed against Atlanta to a stretch of games, overstating the value of his improvement will be difficult to do.