Dalvin Cook sat out practice all week for the Minnesota Vikings and appears "unlikely" to play during Week 3 against the Seattle Seahawks.
According to ESPN, the Vikings will be cautious with their starting running back early in the season. That's bad news for Cook fantasy managers, but what does that mean for his backup Alexander Mattison and betting odds for the Sunday's afternoon matchup?
As of this morning, the Vikings are two-point underdogs at most books, with a +2.5 hanging out there at FanDuel. That's a move that's been happening all week from the opening number favoring the Vikings by a point (real-time odds here).
With a total of 54.5, plenty of points and scoring opportunities should exist for both sides.
Cook entered the week as the No. 3 running back in fantasy, according to The Action Network consensus rankings. Prior to the news, Mattison was RB46, but Chris Raybon moved him to RB13 in standard scoring leagues. Sean Koerner has him in the top-20 as well, ranking him RB12.
In daily fantasy, Cook was $8,400 on DraftKings, trailing just Derrick Henry for running backs. Mattison is $6,000, sandwiched between David Montgomery and Antonio Gibson.
Mattison scored three touchdowns with 95 yards rushing and another 50 receiving in a Week 17 start against the Detroit Lions last season. He ran 20 times for 112 yards against the Seahawks last year.
Justin Bailey's Alexander Mattison DFS Advice
At $6,000 on DraftKings and $5,200 on FanDuel, Mattison is going to project as one of the best running back values on the slate. He combined for 31 carries and five targets in his two starts last season and averaged 16.75 fantasy points per game.
I’ll be rostering Mattison in all formats, under the assumption Cook won’t play. When you factor in Mattison’s price tag and expected workload, he is good chalk in this high-total game against a Seattle defense that ranks 20th in rush DVOA.
With the Vikings signing Ameer Abdullah to the active roster Saturday, it seems likely Cook won’t be suiting up, especially after the Adam Schefter report this morning. If Cook is active, I’ll roll the dice and keep Mattison locked in and hope that Cook is limited and that news pushes Mattison’s rostership down in tournaments.
If that makes you nervous, there should be opportunities to late swap with four games happening in the afternoon.
Samantha Previte's Fantasy Advice
Mattison is an RB2 with RB1 upside this week with Cook sidelined or extremely limited against a soft Seahawks defense. He should see significant touches given how much the Vikings lean on the run game, and he's been effective in the past when Cook was out.
This game also has major shootout potential with one of the highest point totals of the week (55). I would start Mattison over guys like Devin Singletary, Leonard Fournette and Sony Michel, who will also see a bigger role with Darrell Henderson out.
