5 Daily Fantasy Football Matchups to Exploit in Week 6

Minnesota Vikings' Rushing Offense

The Minnesota Vikings have averaged 3.4 yards per rush this year. They're not off-brand; they're back-alley bull.

This week will be the first time they've had all the big members of their rushing offense healthy, though, putting them back on the DFS radar.

The big news came Thursday as Dalvin Cook took a big step in practice.

With Cook being out, the Vikings' ground-game struggles are understandable. Having him back should give them a boost there.

This will also be the first time all year -- outside of a brief stint in their game against the Los Angeles Rams -- that Cook has gotten to run behind center Pat Elflein. Elflein missed the first two games and didn't start until Week 4 while recovering from offseason surgery.

Last year, the Vikings' run success rate was 48.4% with Elflein compared to 44.9% without him, according to The Quant Edge's injury tool. Elflein has gotten to block for Cook on just 10 carries this year, but the team's run success rate has increased 9.1 percentage points with Elflein snapping the ball.

When you give Cook a full practice on Thursday and a fully healthy Elflein, this Vikings ground game starts to look like a whole new beast. They also get to flash their new-look ways in a favorable matchup.

The Arizona Cardinals have allowed the 27th-ranked success rate to opposing running backs, according to numberFire's Brandon Gdula. They allowed 101 yards to Mike Davis and 96 yards to Adrian Peterson, and neither of those teams are necessarily renowned for their ground-game prowess. That provides some hope for the Vikings' maligned unit.

We saw the upsides for Cook when he was healthy back in Week 1. There, he had 16 carries and 7 targets while playing 80.3% of the snaps. If you were to give him that type of volume as a massive home favorite in this matchup, he'd be a no-brainer at $6,300.

You just have to decide what your risk tolerance is. If you're hyper-averse to taking a dud in a lineup, then Cook's probably not the right play for you. You've got Marshawn Lynch, Jordan Howard, and potentially Tevin Coleman all as viable plays at around the same price, and their floors are likely better than that of Cook.

But from a pure ceiling perspective, Cook may be worth the roll of the dice. He's a potential workhorse back priced well below where he would be if he were fully healthy, and he finally has his center back up front. Assuming he doesn't generate too much buzz before the weekend and become a chalky play, Cook seems to be a fun selection for your tournament rosters.