Vikings rookie Dalvin Cook on filling Adrian Peterson's shoes: 'Be yourself'
Cook spoke with CBS Sports about following in a future Hall of Famer's footsteps
By
Will Brinson
•
3 min read
It wouldn't be difficult to blame Dalvin Cook if he was motivated by being slighted in the 2017 NFL Draft, when he fell out of the first round and to the Vikings on Day 2.
He ended up being a steal for Minnesota and might very well be the best running back on the roster right now, but Cook remains humble about his status and his motivation coming out of rookie minicamp.
Faced with the prospect of replacing Adrian Peterson as the primary back, Cook, who was in Los Angeles signing cards with Panini America at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere, isn't worried about filling the shoes of a guy who was drafted a full decade before him and a guy who left large shoes to fill.
"I approached the situation, you know, you can't never replace a guy like Adrian Peterson. He's going to go down in the Hall of Fame, and in one of my eyes one of the greatest backs I ever watched," Cook told CBS Sports. "So the only thing you can do is come in and be yourself. I'm going to be the best Dalvin I can be, be the best player I can be for the team and help them win games. Accolades will add up for themselves once we win ballgames and go to the big dance and hopefully win a Super Bowl."
And don't think that Cook doesn't understand the challenge. He grew up watching Peterson, and AP was a guy who he looked up to as a young running back.
"When you grow up watching a player and now you go to the team that he's at, it's an experience, man, that you just gotta embrace," Cook said. "You can't go in and say 'I'm going to fill his shoes,' because the guy did so many things and, you know, just on the field and off the field, that you can't go in and say I'm going to replace this guy. You just go in and push yourself and work hard."
There are pretty high expectations for Cook this year. With Peterson gone and Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon the only obstacles to tons of playing time, Cook could conceivably be the starter by Week 1. He said he's not thinking about that right now, although he does believe that the system Minnesota will run fits his skill set nicely.
"The system is definitely similar, the lingo is just different. We run inside zone, outside zone, ball to the backs out of the backfield," Cook said. "Just like Florida State, going in and getting your rhythm and timing with your offensive linemen and the quarterback."
And although he only caught 80 passes in his three years with the Seminoles, Cook's a more than capable receiver and expects to see action out of the backfield.
"Once I start playing, I think I'll catch the ball a lot of out of the backfield, just to get the ball in my hands," Cook said. "I consider myself a playmaker, so I just think I'll catch the ball out of the backfield a lot. It's just like Jerick did -- Jerick did the same thing."
He's surprisingly not motivated -- or at least not publically -- by falling in the draft. Cook said he's far more concerned by a matter more personal when it comes to trying to succeed.
"Nah, I won't say 'motivated.' Whatever destination I went to, I was going to be motivated to play anyway. It's football, I'm there to win ball games, and that's why the team drafted me," Cook said. "I'm in a great fit right now, I love putting on that purple and going out and competing. I'm motivated by my situation from back home, and helping my parents, so that's what I'm motivated by."
He also seemed to understand the difference in his situation now. Cook was at an event where he spent several hours signing cards for fans (and being interviewed by the little guy who made Tom Brady cry at Super Bowl media night) and pointed out just how cool it is to get the opportunity to see his first trading card (available on PaniniInstant.com this Saturday) and to realize that a dream has come true.
