Dalvin Cook gives Vikings 1-2 punch to replace Adrian Peterson

Dalvin Cook’s NFL draft slide is over.

And the Minnesota Vikings now have a 1-2 punch at running back to replace Adrian Peterson.

The Vikings tried to trade up throughout the early stages of Round 2 on Friday night and finally swung a deal with the Cincinnati Bengals for the No. 41 pick to grab Cook, the dynamic runner from Florida State whose tape is first-round material.

He’ll pair with free-agent pickup Latavius Murray, the ex-Oakland Raider, in an overhauled Vikings backfield after the departure of the former NFL MVP Peterson, who signed with the New Orleans Saints last week.

The Vikings apparently got comfortable with the background on Cook that had given other NFL teams pause: a series of legal run-ins, the people he hangs around with, his lifestyle. That’s on top of bad shoulders and underwhelming testing numbers in the pre-draft process. But the people at Florida State swear by Cook, and he’s an established big-play threat as a runner.

Minnesota’s run game was nonexistent last year, ranking last in the NFL with just 75.3 yards per game. And that wasn’t all because Peterson had knee surgery and barely played. General manager Rick Spielman spent big on the offensive line in free agency and now has another runner to try to elevate the guys in front of him, as well as take some heat off quarterback Sam Bradford.

Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero.

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