Vikings Rule Out Dalvin Cook and Dru Samia For Falcons Game

Alexander Mattison and Ezra Cleveland could both make their first career starts on Sunday.

As expected due to their absences in practice over the past few days, the Vikings have officially ruled out a handful of players for Sunday's game against the Falcons: Dalvin Cook, Dru Samia, KJ Osborn, and Kris Boyd. Holton Hill is listed as doubtful, meaning there's a small chance he suits up.

Cook being out is no surprise, considering it was reported earlier in the week that the Vikings were planning to be cautious with the groin injury he suffered in Seattle. Since the team has a bye next weekend, there was never any reason to rush Cook back for a game against the 0-5 Falcons.

Alexander Mattison will make his first career start in Cook's absence. The 2019 third-round pick out of Boise State has been highly impressive so far in his young career, with 820 yards from scrimmage on 162 career touches. Last week in Seattle, Mattison racked up a career-high 136 yards from scrimmage, handling the workhorse role after Cook left the game.

I'm excited to watch Alexander Mattison play football on Sunday pic.twitter.com/McWbQTKaaA

— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) October 15, 2020

Mattison will be the main guy in the backfield, but Mike Boone should see some snaps and touches in a change-of-pace role.

The big news here is that Samia – who has been the lowest-graded offensive lineman in the NFL this year – is officially out with a wrist injury. Mike Zimmer declined to specify who would take over his starting spot at right guard, but there seem to be two main possibilities:

1. Dakota Dozier shifts from left guard to the right side, with second-round rookie Ezra Cleveland making his NFL debut at LG.
2. The Vikings keep Dozier at LG and insert second-year player Oli Udoh at RG for Samia

Given that Cleveland has been working mainly on the left side of the line, it seems unlikely that they would insert him at right guard. For what it's worth, I would go with Udoh over Cleveland. But either way, it'll be interesting to see how Samia's replacement fares in a tough matchup versus an Atlanta interior defensive line led by superstar Grady Jarrett.

Osborn, Boyd, and presumably Hill will all miss their second straight game. It'll be Cameron Dantzler, Jeff Gladney, and Mike Hughes at cornerback for another week, which will mark the first time this season the Vikings have had the same corner trio in consecutive games.

Ameer Abdullah will handle kickoffs and Chad Beebe will handle punts with Osborn remaining out.

For the Falcons, the big news is that superstar receiver Julio Jones (hamstring) has no injury designation and will play in this game.

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