Jerick McKinnon should be in your lineup this week.
One of the biggest heartbreak of the 2017 season so far has to be Dalvin Cook‘s injury. Whether you owned him or not in fantasy, he was a joy to watch and was on pace for an amazing rookie season. We know the tragic story, a non-contact injury and his season was over.
But we’re not here to ponder on the what if’s. We’ve now had 2 full games of the Vikings playing without Dalvin Cook. It felt like that backfield was Latavius Murray‘s to lose, experts were saying that he would be worth 50% of your FAAB budget. If that was ever true, it looks like Latavius Murray lost that backfield in the first game, McKinnon has been the productive one and the guy the Vikings have looked to when it mattered.
I believe that Jerick McKinnon will not stop anytime soon and I’m going to give you 3 quick arguments as to why McKinnon should be in your line-up this week.
1. RB1 volume, RB1 production
Now, I don’t want anyone to misunderstand the first point. I am not saying Jerick McKinnon is an RB1. What I am pointing out is that McKinnon has been getting an insane amount of volume along with the fact that he is producing really good numbers with that volume. Look at the stats from the 2 games post-Cook.
| Week 5 | Snaps | Carries | Rush Yds | Rec/Targets | Rec Yds | Tot Yds | TDs |
| Jerick McKinnon | 47 (67%) | 16 | 95 | 6/6 | 51 | 146 | 1 |
| Latavius Murray | 22 (31%) | 12 | 31 | 2/2 | 12 | 43 | 0 |
| Week 6 | Snaps | Carries | Rush Yds | Rec/Targets | Rec Yds | Tot Yds | TDs |
| Jerick McKinnon | 44 (57%) | 16 | 69 | 5/6 | 30 | 99 | 2 |
| Latavius Murray | 33 (43%) | 15 | 28 | 1/1 | 9 | 37 | 0 |
If these numbers belonged to Isaiah Crowell or Christine Michael, they’d have to close down Reddit. The Crow and the Woke one would be designated as GOAT RB1s and people would lose their minds. However, it’s not them putting up these numbers, it’s Jerick McKinnon. Because he’s disappointed in the past people like to look past these two games.
The truth is, he’s in there for most of the snaps, he’s getting the majority of the touches and he’s racking up yards. 5 and 6 receptions to a running back who carries it 16 times is a dream in PPR leagues!
2. The matchup
This week the Minnesota Vikings are hosting the Baltimore Ravens. For the past 4 weeks, teams seem to have picked up on the Ravens’ defensive kryptonite: The Run Game.
| Carries | Yards | TD | Rec | Yards | |
| Week 1 | 21 | 75 | 0 | 5 | 52 |
| Week 2 | 14 | 58 | 0 | 3 | 59 |
| Week 3 | 29 | 151 | 1 | 6 | 64 |
| Week 4 | 40 | 171 | 2 | 4 | 42 |
| Week 5 | 22 | 93 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Week 6 | 50 | 199 | 0 | 3 | 31 |
| Average | 29,3 | 124,5 | 0,7 | 3,7 | 43,0 |
These are the numbers for the whole season, 3 out of the past 4 games they’ve allowed 200+ yards to the opposing running backs. I’m sure that any owner would be happy with even half of these productions.
The Vikings are a 5 point favorite and could easily win this game by a larger margin. A struggling Ravens offense traveling to Minnesota to face one of the NFL’s toughest defenses, a recipe for a run-heavy gameplan. And before people start theorizing that a positive gameplan is better for Latavius Murray…
3. Latavius Murray isn’t that good
Often people like to blame bad production on a lack of touches and in most cases, it’s a very solid argument. The odd thing, in this case, is that Murray IS getting touches, he’s just not doing anything with them. Murray is averaging 2.6 yards/touch while McKinnon has combined for 245 yards and 3 TDs in two games. The Vikings coaches aren’t dumb, they won’t care if the running back they’re using is getting paid more, they just want the guy who wins them games.
If you have gamepass, I’d encourage you to go back and watch the film, McKinnon looks REALLY good and Murray looks subpar. Obviously, Murray has had some decent runs but that’s the exception. You be the judge.
Conclusion
2 weeks ago, everyone believed that Latavius Murray was the starting running back in Minnesota and would be the bellcow. We were wrong but for some reason, we still want to believe it. It’s been 2 games and both revealed the same thing: Jerick McKinnon is the better running back in Minnesota. Murray’s presence shouldn’t be scaring anyone, he’s not been playing well and even though he’s had a lot of touches, McKinnon has been getting 20+ touches on his own.
McKinnon has proved he’s talented, the usage is in his favor, the matchup this week is a setup for an explosive performance. Start him.
