Dalvin Cook’s early-season struggles aren’t all on him

Dalvin Cook, as a sophomore in 2015, was one of the three best running backs in America — along with Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey. In less than 12 full games, Cook ran for 1,691 yards (7.4 per carry) and 19 touchdowns. According to Football Study Hall, Cook averaged 10.1 highlight yards per opportunity, which is outstanding. That means that Cook averaged better than 10 yards per carry that extended beyond the line of scrimmage.

Florida State’s star running back finished seventh in the Heisman Vote, and a great deal of hype surrounded Cook entering the 2016 season, but it’s been an up and down three games for him so far. In 2015, Cook had just four games of rushing for less than 100 yards, including a game at Wake Forest, where he ripped off a 94-yard score in the first quarter before sustaining an injury and missing the final 45-plus minutes. It’s early, but Cook already has three sub-100 yard rushing performances. By the first day of fall in 2015, Cook had racked up 476 yards on the ground. This year, however, that total is at 228.

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