Vikings RB Dalvin Cook Makes Pro Bowl as Injury Replacement For Tony Pollard

Cook has been selected to the Pro Bowl for the fourth consecutive season.

Vikings running back Dalvin Cook is headed to his fourth straight Pro Bowl. Cook was originally selected as a first alternate, and Cowboys RB Tony Pollard getting hurt during the divisional round this weekend opened up a spot.

Cook will join teammates Justin Jefferson, Kirk Cousins, Za'Darius Smith, T.J. Hockenson, and Andrew DePaola in Las Vegas for the new-look Pro Bowl festivities during the first week of February. Instead of the usual game, there will be a series of skill competitions and a flag football game on Sunday, February 5th at Allegiant Stadium.

For the first time in his career, Cook was healthy for the entire season this year. He played in all 17 games and finished his sixth NFL campaign with 1,468 yards from scrimmage and ten touchdowns. Some of his season highlights included a 53-yard game-sealing touchdown run in his return home to Miami, a key 81-yard touchdown run against the Bills in the game of the year, and a 64-yard touchdown on a screen pass during the Vikings' historic comeback against the Colts. Cook had a season-high 190 yards from scrimmage in that game against Indianapolis.

With that said, Cook's age-27 season was his least efficient and productive since 2018. He exceeded 100 yards from scrimmage just five times and only once in the second half of the season. His yards per carry and yards per game were down somewhat dramatically from the previous three years. If you look at the advanced metrics, Cook actually ranked towards the bottom of the NFL at his position. What's unclear is how much of that had to do with him and how much had to do with the offensive line and other factors involved in the Vikings' running game.

This feels a bit like Xavier Rhodes making the Pro Bowl in 2019 — a legacy achievement for a once-dominant, big-name player on a good team. That was Rhodes' last season with the Vikings, and it's possible this may have been Cook's last season in Minnesota. He has a $14.1 million cap hit next year and three years left on the five-year, $63 million extension he signed prior to the 2020 season.

The Vikings have to decide, fairly soon, what they want to do with Cook's contract. Considering his play in 2022, positional value, resource allotment, and the fact that he turns 28 in August, it wouldn't be surprising if they elected to move on this offseason.

Then again, maybe they'll look to bring him back on a reworked deal. Cook still showed plenty of talent at times throughout the year and could improve in his second year in Kevin O'Connell's offense.

Whatever the future holds, making four consecutive Pro Bowls is an impressive achievement.

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Vikings news and analysis all offseason long. Also, follow me on Twitter and feel free to ask me any questions on there.