(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Vikings trade up, draft Florida State RB Dalvin Cook in second round
The Vikings traded up with the Bengals and with the 41st pick ended Florida State running back Dalvin Cook's fall.
April 29, 2017 at 12:33AM
The Vikings traded up with the Bengals and ended Florida State running back Dalvin Cook's fall, drafting him 41st overall on Friday night.
Cook, who ran for 4,464 yards and 46 touchdowns in three seasons at Florida State, will join Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon in the first Vikings backfield without Adrian Peterson since 2006.
On the field, Cook is known as a home run hitter with 4.49 speed in the 40-yard dash and many explosive plays on his highlight reel. However, he fumbled 13 times in his college career and will need to work on ball security.
As the 41st-overall pick, Cook is the fourth-highest drafted running back by the Vikings since 1987, behind only Peterson (7th, 2007), Michael Bennett (27th, 2001) and Robert Smith (21st, 1993).
The Vikings traded up from No. 48 overall and sent a fourth-round pick (128th overall) to the Bengals in the trade. It's the fourth-round pick the Vikings acquired last year in a trade down with Miami.
Cook (5-10, 210 pounds) is a Miami native and also ran track at Miami Central High School. The Vikings must feel confident in their homework of Dalvin Cook, the man. Cook has some off-field troubles that may have given teams pause before drafting him. While in Tallahassee, he was charged with criminal mischief in a BB gun incident, cited for mistreating puppies and was found not guilty in 2015 after a woman accused him of punching her in the face.
Cook turns 22 years old in August.
Minnesota has two picks (No. 79, No. 86) in Friday night's third round.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
