Dalvin Cook Injury Update Locks in Fantasy Football Outlook as Top RB for NFL Wild Card Weekend

It's been a long time since fantasy football players have been treated to a full game from a healthy Dalvin Cook, but that's shaping up to be the case for this weekend's NFC Wild Card matchup against the New Orleans Saints.

For the first time since Week 15, Vikings’ RB Dalvin Cook was a full participant in practice. On track to return to the lineup Sunday vs. the Saints.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 1, 2020

Cook sat out in Week 16 and 17, but he wasn't close to 100 percent in his three previous games either, failing to play even half the Vikings' snaps in a game since Week 11. If we just look at those 11 full games he played, Cook exploded for an average of 23.3 PPR fantasy points on 19.5 carries and 4.9 targets per game.

The Saints don't make for an especially easy matchup, having allowed the NFL's sixth-fewest PPR fantasy points to opposing RBs in the regular season, but a healthy Cook is all but matchup-proof.

Vikings to cut Dalvin Cook 'loose' vs. Saints https://t.co/NP8G977aGk
— Rotoworld Football (@Rotoworld_FB) January 3, 2020

Accounting for Cook finally returning to a full workload, he checks in at RB2 in our Wild Card Weekend fantasy rankings.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.