• One of the best zone rushers in the league: Dalvin Cook has always thrived in zone-heavy schemes. For his career, he has earned an 89.9 PFF rushing grade on zone attempts, but that grade dips to 68.1 on man/gap concepts.
• Dolphins lean on outside zone: The Dolphins ranked eighth in outside zone percentage last season. In 2021, the year before Mike McDaniel was hired, they ranked 27th.
• The hometown guy: Miami has shown that it is in a “win-now” mentality with a roster loaded with talent. The hope is that Cook, the hometown guy, takes somewhat of a hometown discount to make it all possible in 2023.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Dalvin Cook‘s eventual landing spot is one of the biggest unanswered mysteries around the NFL as we approach the start of training camps.
The entire AFC East has been linked to Cook at one point or another this offseason, but no team more so than the Miami Dolphins. After all, Cook, who was born in Miami and trains there frequently, recently described his hometown team as “a perfect fit.”
While there’s no guarantee that Cook will end up in Miami, it’s worth looking at his potential fit there in 2023.
Scheme
Schematically, there’s no better fit for Dalvin Cook than Mike McDaniel's Miami Dolphins, a team that leans heavily on outside zone run concepts.
Cook's former team, the Minnesota Vikings, ran outside zone 41% of the time a season ago, second only to the Atlanta Falcons. If you look at the last five years overall, the Vikings have ranked no lower than seventh in terms of outside zone usage, notably leading the league in 2019.
The Dolphins ranked eighth in outside zone percentage last season. In 2021, the year before Mike McDaniel was hired, they ranked 27th.
A look back at Mike McDaniel’s time with the San Francisco 49ers reveals a similar trend. As the run game coordinator from 2017-20, the 49ers offense respectively ranked second, third, sixth and fourth in outside zone percentage. In his one year as offensive coordinator in 2021, the side ranked sixth.
Cook has always thrived in zone-heavy schemes. For his career, he has earned an 89.9 PFF rushing grade on outside zone attempts, but that grade dips to 68.1 on man/gap concepts.
Given these numbers, there’s no debate that Cook fits better (on paper) with the Dolphins as opposed to a team such as the New England Patriots, which leans more man-scheme-heavy.
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