MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JANUARY 14: Latavius Murray #25 of the Minnesota Vikings carries the ball in the first quarter of the NFC Divisional Playoff game against the New Orleans Saints on January 14, 2018 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

Wesseling: ‘It’s Super Bowl or bust’ for the Vikings in 2018 by Adam Patrick

With Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook returning from an ACL tear and looking fit for action, fellow back Latavius Murray is making a case for remaining the starter.

Minnesota Vikings running back Latavius Murray thinks he should be in consideration for equal playing time with Dalvin Cook this season, and that is fine news for all fans of the purple-and-gold.

“We’re here to compete against each other (he and Cook) and that’s what I’m going to do,” Murray recently told the Pioneer Press. “I’m going to leave it up to the coaches to make that decision who plays or whatever but we both want to compete and make each other better and help this team win.”

Those aren’t exactly fighting words from Murray, but there are at least somewhat challenging, and no doubt encouraged by head coach Mike Zimmer and new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo.

Against the first team Denver defense (playing without Von Miller) on Saturday evening, Murray took two first-quarter handoffs for consecutive 21-yard scampers.

He looked good, the offense looked good, the offensive line looked good.

In the words of Sammy Davis Jr., “Babe–what else is there?”

Well, Sammy, there’s Dalvin Cook.

Before he went down to his ACL tear on October 1, 2017 against the Detroit Lions, Cook was skating to Rookie-of-the-Year honors with a 4.8-yard rushing average. His electrifying play was astonishing the Viking faithful and creating ulcers for the defensive coordinators of the NFC North, who knew they would be seeing this kid from Florida State in their defensive backfields for the next decade.

Latavius Murray, to his credit and his history, is a credible back. In 2017, he missed almost all of the Vikings training camp, his first, because of off-season ankle surgery. However, Murray played well alongside Jerick McKinnon and the running back tandem made hay behind an overachieving offensive line, as the Vikings ranked seventh in the league in total NFL rushing offense.

But there’s an irritating little devil in the details of that number seven ranking. In 2017, the Vikings were second only to Jacksonville in rushing attempts (501), and quite disappointing in average rushing yards per carry, 3.9.

Murray was ranked by Pro Football Focus with a ‘below average’ 67.7, and McKinnon graded a little better at an ‘average’ ranking of 79.6.

This year Murray says he is fully healthy. In the best year of his career, Murray rushed for 1,066 for the Oakland Raiders and was voted to the 2015 Pro Bowl.

But if Latavius Murray is intent on taking the starting job from Dalvin Cook, who in his four games of 2017 had a 4.8-yard rushing average, a significant leap from Murray’s own career average of 4.1, he’d better plan on busting several more 21-yard runs in the preseason.

And, perhaps, take one of those runs into the end zone.

Dalvin’s just that good, and then some.

The good news for Murray, and his confidence, is that before Cook was injured last October, he was on the field for only 64 percent of the Vikings offensive snaps. That means–with Jerick McKinnon now in San Francisco–that Murray will be getting plenty of attention in the Viking game plans of 2018.

Adding one more reasonable consideration to the equation, that the Vikings’ coaching staff will be taking every possible precaution to avoid overusing Dalvin Cook and seeing him injured again, it’s a fair bet that Mr. Murray will get an honest day’s work out of the football games coming this Fall.