After highlighting the rookie quarterbacks last
week, including Vikings first-round pick Teddy Bridgewater, this week’s Rookie
Report focuses on two of Bridgewater’s teammates in Minnesota. Anthony Barr was
taken ninth overall and was fully expected to start and see a heavy snap count
early in his career, but third-round pick Jerick McKinnon was stuck behind
Adrian Peterson on the depth chart with no upward movement in sight. Peterson’s
legal troubles have opened up snaps for McKinnon, and the talented rookie took
advantage this week. Chris Tripodi returns again to break down Barr, McKinnon
and a few other first-round picks who impressed him in Week 4.
Jerick
McKinnon (RB-Min)
A freak athlete who played mostly as a
triple-option quarterback at FCS school Georgia Southern, the 5-9, 209-pound
McKinnon’s top performances in almost every event at the NFL Scouting Combine
boosted his stock into the third round, where he was drafted as the Vikings’
potential heir apparent to Peterson. Peterson’s absence from the team has given
McKinnon an opportunity to play while sharing the backfield with Matt Asiata,
but the dynamic rookie hadn’t touched the ball more than four times until Week
4, when he turned 18 carries and a reception into 152 total yards as the
Vikings ran the ball 44 times against the Falcons.
No comments:
Post a Comment