It was rough sledding for Vikings fans in Week 12. Minnesota lost another close game this time against the Niners in Santa Clara. Adding injury to insult, Dalvin Cook suffered what appeared to be a significant shoulder injury. It was difficult watching him being carted off of the field in tears. Fortunately for the Vikings, the severity of the injury is not enough to hold him out for the remainder of the season.
Here’s what Ian Rapoport tweeted about his injury and potential timeline to return:
In Dalvin’s absence, Alexander Mattison will be the primary starter and a SMASH play to launch you into your fantasy playoffs. The proof is in the pudding. Mattison took over as the primary runner twice this year and he’s crushed it from both a real-life and fantasy perspective:
Week 3: RB7, 68% of snaps, 34 opportunities, 171 yards from scrimmage, 23.1 PPR
Week 5: RB6, 66% of snaps, 32 opportunities, 153 yards from scrimmage, 25.3 PPR
Mattison now leapfrogs into RB1 territory for the next few weeks while Cook is sidelined. He gets two juicy matchups against the Lions (3rd most FP allowed to RBs) and the Steelers (12th most).
Shockingly Mattison can still be found on a good amount of waiver wires. He’s available in 55 percent of Sleeper leagues, 50 percent of Yahoo leagues, and 34 percent of ESPN leagues.
If for some reason he’s on your waiver wire he is easily the best waiver wire pick up of this week. Empty the tank on Mattison. Use 100% of your remaining FAAB or your top waiver priority and get this guy in your lineups.
Although we expect Mattison to get the majority of the touches, Mike Zimmer said rookie Kene Nwangwu should also get a boost in touches. Nwangwu is a solid deep bench stash as long as Cook is out of the lineup and he should be available in just about every league.
Tune into The Wolf’s Week 12 Fantasy Risers and Fallers Show on Monday night to see where Mattison and Nwangwu land on his Rest of Season Fantasy Rankings.
