The Minnesota Vikings may be in the market for a running back this offseason.
Alexander Mattison is set to become an unrestricted free agent, and Dalvin Cook is unlikely to accept a pay cut. Cook currently has a $14,101,272 cap hit in 2023. Therefore, it may be in Minnesota’s best interest to release Cook should the two sides fail to agree on a restructured deal. Over the past decade, no team that won the Super Bowl had a highly paid running back.
Last year, the Vikings drafted running back Ty Chandler out of UNC in the fifth round, who was a top performer in the 2022 East-West Shrine Bowl. Fresno State RB Jordan Mims caught everyone’s attention at this year’s Shrine Bowl, and Minnesota might be among the teams that took notice.
Mims dazzled at the Shrine Bowl, showing off his elusiveness and patience as a runner. He finished the game with 40 yards on six rushing attempts, averaging 6.7 yards per carry. Those stats may not pop out at you, but Mims made the most of his limited opportunities. His biggest play of the game came in the second quarter. He quickly identified an opening and was able to burst through the hole for a 30-yard gain.
Mims tries to pattern his game after San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey. “He is a guy who does a lot for the 49ers,” Mims said of McCaffrey. “He catches the ball really well and runs the ball hard. He is the kind of guy who can do everything. So, I’d love to be like that.”
While it makes sense that he compared himself to a Stanford grad, to me Jordan Mims could develop into a player like Dalvin Cook.
Like Cook, one of Mims’ biggest knocks heading into the draft is whether or not he has enough strength and physicality to run between the tackles. There’s also the question of whether or not he has enough top-end speed. Sports Illustrated seems to think that Mims would be best suited as a change-of-pace back in the NFL. I’d argue that would be selling him short, especially after his electrifying performance at the Shrine Bowl.
Mims makes up for his smaller frame by having above-average to elite contact balance and post-snap vision. He’s also versatile enough to be a receiving threat out of the backfield and is quick on his feet. Those traits are what allow Cook to be an every-down running back, and Mims shouldn’t be any different.
In a running back class headlined by a generational talent in Bijan Robinson, Mims could be a hidden gem. A two-star prospect coming out of Menlo-Atherton High School, Mims knows what it’s like to be underrecruited. “I wasn’t a guy who was highly recruited out of high school, I got a lot of my offers late,” Mims said. He ultimately decided to stay in California, committing to Fresno State, only a three-hour drive from his Bay Area home.
Experts are divided as to when Mims will be drafted. One pundit gave him a third-round grade, and another had him listed as a priority UDFA ahead of the Shrine Bowl. Personally, I think Mims will likely be a late Day 3 pick solely because of the position he plays.
Should that occur, it would bode well for Minnesota, because they are unlikely to select a running back in the first round. This team’s biggest needs are at inside linebacker and cornerback, and the Vikings wouldn’t have convinced Brian Flores to sign here if they weren’t gonna invest in the defense. So, as much as I would love Bijan Robinson on this team, that ain’t happening.
Plus, after acquiring T.J. Hockenson, Jalen Reagor, and Ross Blacklock via trade, the Vikings are lacking in draft capital. The team still has the 24th-overall pick, but there will be 63 picks made before Minnesota’s next selection late in the third round. After that, the Vikings are left with a fourth- and a fifth-rounder for the remainder of the draft. In all likelihood, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will do his best Rick Spielman impersonation by trading down repeatedly.
If Cook and Alexander Mattison are no longer part of the team, and the Vikings end up with a seventh-rounder to spare, Jordan Mims is a name to keep an eye on. Adofo-Mensah already drafted one running back who shined at the Shrine Bowl, so why not do it again?
