Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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With the first eight weeks of the 2019 NFL season in the rearview mirror, analysts are making early predictions of playoff teams, Super Bowl contenders and individual award winners.
NFL.com on Tuesday published its “midseason award predictions,” in which 26 analysts placed their votes for Most Valuable Player, Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, Comebacker Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.
Vikings running back Dalvin Cook received votes in three of the above categories.
Eight games into his third NFL season, Cook leads the league in rushing yards (823) and touchdowns (nine).
Four analysts (Gil Brandt, Gennaro Filice, James Jones and LaDainian Tomlinson) predicted that Cook will be named Offensive Player of the Year. Cook received the third-highest number of votes in that category behind Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey (nine) and Ravens QB Lamar Jackson (five).
Analysts Charley Casserly and Jeffri Chadiha both voted for Cook as the Comeback Player of the Year. The running back tore his ACL in Week 4 of his rookie campaign and last season missed five games with a hamstring injury. The top two vote-getters for Comeback Player were Rams WR Cooper Kupp (10) and 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo (seven).
And don’t look now, but Cook also received a vote from Jim Trotter as a front-runner for the 2019 NFL MVP. McCaffrey also got one vote for the honor.
Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and Seahawks QB Russell Wilson received 11 votes apiece, and the next closest was Jackson with two.