Less than two months after they parted ways with Adrian Peterson, the Vikings traded up twice in the 2017 draft to select Florida State running back Dalvin Cook in the second round and Ohio State lineman Pat Elflein in the third round, as part of the zone running scheme they wanted to build under offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.
Cook's promising rookie season was curtailed by a torn ACL, Shurmur left to be the Giants' head coach after the year and hamstring issues caused Cook to miss five games in 2018, a year where the Vikings struggled to establish a running game behind a shaky offensive line and coach Mike Zimmer fired offensive coordinator John DeFilippo.