Tag: Mike Boone

Minnesota Vikings roster analysis: three storylines surrounding the running back position

Minnesota has one of the best running back groups in the league. Here are three storylines to look for during the 2020 season.

When examining the Vikings roster, one of the most fun position groups to look at is running back.

Minnesota has Dalvin Cook, who is coming off a career 2019. The team also has Mike Boone and Alexander Mattison, both of whom are very good as reserves.

A concern for Cook has been his health in the past. He’s missed 19 games in his three-year NFL career. Though when he’s been on the field, he’s been good. I wrote about Cook and the Vikings possibly extending him earlier in the offseason here.

The running back position will likely be a key fixture in Gary Kubiak’s offense for 2020. Here are three things to watch surrounding the position group:

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

Bleacher Report predicts RB Mike Boone will be breakout player for Vikings

Do you think Mike Boone is going to have a breakout season?

Bleacher Report suggested a breakout player on each team in the NFL. The outlet’s pick for the Vikings is something of a surprise.

Bleacher Report thinks that Minnesota’s breakout player for 2020-21 will be running back Mike Boone.

It had this to say about the pick:

“Even though Mike Boone is behind Dalvin Cook on the Minnesota Vikings depth chart, he’ll have an opportunity to carve out a much larger role in the backfield.

Entering his third season with the Vikings, Boone saw limited action in 2019 but made the most of his touches. He carried the ball just 49 times but ran for 273 yards and three touchdowns, averaging an impressive 5.6 yards per carry.”

An interesting choice to say the least, considering Cook is still on the team. But maybe the Vikings shy even more away from passing with offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, who took the place of Kevin Stefanski. I still think the breakout player will likely be someone else besides Boone.

Vikings RB Mike Boone named to PFF’s Week 17 Team of the Week

Boone ran for 148 yards on 17 carries to go with a touchdown

Vikings running back Mike Boone made Pro Football Focus’ Week 17 Team of the Week after rushing for 148 yards on 17 carries to go with a touchdown. He also had two catches for 12 yards.

Here’s what PFF wrote about Boone:

With Dalvin Cook out, Boone stepped up to the plate and got the job done in Week 17 for the Vikings run game. In addition to being the highest-graded back of the week, Boone was also the only one to have multiple rushes of 40 or more yards.

Boone was the only Viking to make the team. In relief duty of Cook and Alexander Mattison, Boone certainly looked like he deserves a spot in a running back rotation. Will that be the Vikings in 2020? We’ll see. Boone is under contract, but with Cook and Mattison ahead of him on the depth chart, those opportunitues will be limited.

Mike Boone could probably be a backup RB in 2020

Boon ran for 148 yards on just 17 carries to go with a touchdown in Week 17 against the Bears.

The Vikings’ game against the Bears on Sunday didn’t mean anything for the team considering they were already locked in as the sixth seed, but don’t tell that to running back Mike Boone.

While Boone fumbled in the first quarter, the second-year running back also had 148 yards on just 17 carries to go with a touchdown.

While the Vikings were playing the majority of their backups, the Bears were not, which makes this performance all that more impressive.

Boone ran for just 28 yards on 11 carries last week, but on the season, he now has 49 rushes for 273 yards (4.7 yards per carry) and three touchdowns.

Boone is just 24 years old. While the Vikings have both Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison at running back, Boone has proven he deserves to get carries in the league

The Vikings have Boone under contract for 2020 for just $660,000. With Cook’s injury history, it would probably be a good idea for Minnesota to keep Boone on the roster, even though he could probably do more elsewhere.

Vikings fall to Bears in competitive Week 17 game with no playoff implications

The Week 17 contest between the Vikings and Bears didn’t mean anything as far as the playoffs were concerned.

The Week 17 contest between the Vikings and Bears didn’t mean anything as far as the playoffs were concerned. Minnesota was locked in as the sixth seed, while Chicago had already been eliminated from the playoffs.

That didn’t stop it from being a fun and competitive game, though. The Vikings rested nearly all their starters, including Kirk Cousins, and fell 21-19 on a last-second kick from Chicago’s Eddie Pineiro.

Sean Mannion got the start for the Vikings and was mostly unremarkable, throwing for just 126 yards to go with two interceptions (although, one was off the hands of Mike Boone).

Boone was solid for the Vikings, rushing for 148 yards and a touchdown. He was responsible for Mannion’s only interception and also fumbled early in the game.

Kicker Dan Bailey drilled all four of his field-goal attempts and will have a nice little $1 million bonus headed his way.

The Vikings end the 2019 season with a 10-6 record and will play on the road in the wild card round. We’re just not sure who they’ll face yet.

WATCH: Bears LB Nick Kwiatkoski drops Vikings RB Mike Boone for a safety

Even though they’re facing mostly backups, the Bears defense came to play against the Vikings for their final game of the 2019 season.

Even though they’re facing mostly backups, the Chicago Bears defense came to play against the Minnesota Vikings for their final game of the 2019 season. After causing two turnovers in the first quarter, the Bear defense continued their strong play in the second quarter by scoring a safety.

After punter Pat O’Donnell and safety Deon Bush downed the Vikings at their own 1-yard line, linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski stopped Vikings running back Mike Boone in his tracks while still in the endzone, dropping him for the safety.

It’s been a rough day for Boone, who was responsible for each of the two turnovers prior to the safety when he fumbled on the Vikings opening possession and had a ball bounce off his hands for an interception on the next series.

For the Bears, it’s their first safety of the season. Nearing the end of the first half, they lead Minnesota 11-3.

[lawrence-related id=434404]

Bears defense forces 2 turnovers in 1st quarter

After failing to force a turnover in the previous four games, the Bears defense has forced two in the first quarter against the Vikings.

After failing to mount a takeaway in their previous four games, the Bears defense had two in the first quarter against the Vikings.

Things didn’t look good for the Bears defense on the Vikings’ opening possession when third-string running back Mike Boone cranked off a 59-yard run on the first play of the series.

With the Vikings on Chicago’s 16 yard-line, backup quarterback Sean Mannion tossed the ball to Boone, which was bobbled and fumbled, It was recovered by defensive tackle Bilal Nichols.

Then on Minnesota’s second possession, Mannion was picked off by linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis on the Vikings’ 39-yard line.

The Bears offense has only managed two Eddy Pineiro field goals off those takeaways and lead the Vikings 6-0 in the second quarter.

[lawrence-related id=434395,434381,434298,434366,434341]

The Vikings’ Mike Boone had a chance to be a fantasy legend. It did not go well.

Mike Boone was given the keys to the Vikings offense and fantasy owners around the world put their faith in him. It ended disastrously.

On Monday night, thousands of fantasy football championships came down to an unfamiliar name — Mike Boone.

Following injuries to Vikings running backs Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison, Minnesota turned to Boone, an undrafted running back, to lead their backfield.

With really no one else to take touches from him, Boone became very attractive, and a name that was widely available heading into the championship. For owners that had Cook, or were looking for a flex play that could pay big dividends, Boone was essentially a must-add.

Numerous fantasy analysts hyped him as a top-10 running back, someone who could grab multiple touchdowns and win you a league.

With all of Sunday’s games completed, the fantasy world tuned in Monday night to see if Boone would deliver and instantly become a fantasy football legend.

Boone did not deliver. Boone did not instantly become a fantasy football legend. Boone finished with 28 yards on 11 carries, and no touchdowns. He tacked on one reception for five yards.

…That was it.

Fantasy owners did not take this well.

Dry your tears, Mike Boone owners. There’s always next year.

[lawrence-related id=880869,880808]

Vikings RBs Cook and Mattison inactive, Mike Boone in line to start

Boone ran for 56 yards and two touchdowns in relief duty last week against the Chargers. 

As expected, the Vikings will be without running back Dalvin Cook (chest) and Alexander Mattison (ankle) on Monday night against the Packers.

Second-year running back Mike Boone will get the start and we’ll probably see plenty of Ameer Abdullah as well.

Boone ran for 56 yards and two touchdowns in relief duty last week against the Chargers.

Other than the running back position, the Vikings are relatively healthy. No other players are missing the game due to injury concerns.

Joining Cook and Mattison as inactives are defensive tackle Hercule Mata’afa, guard Dru Sami, tackle Oli Udoh, tackle Aviante Collins and defensive tackle Jalyn Holmes.

The Vikings’ Mike Boone has the chance to become an all-time fantasy football legend

Good luck!

The name Mike Boone may go down in fantasy football history.

Either the Minnesota Vikings running back will come out of nowhere on Monday night against the Green Bay Packers and deliver a fantasy championship, or he will be an epic bust. And there will be a ton of fantasy owners who have title games riding on him.

Getting to this point was a headache to begin with. By Saturday, around when the first of three NFL games kicked off, fantasy owners knew Dalvin Cook would be out but that Alexander Mattison’s status was up in the air while he practiced in a limited capacity. So putting Boone — an undrafted free agent in 2018 who scored twice in Week 15 after Cook went down with an injury — into the lineup was already a risk. The matchup was too good to pass up — the Packers give up the eighth-most yards to opposing rushers and the Vikings have attempted the sixth-most rushes in the league. But what if Mattison played and split time or took over the job entirely?

Then came this tweet Sunday morning from ESPN’s Adam Schefter:

So here we are. It’s likely the Mike Boone Show. This is the nature of championship week, when a name like C.J. Anderson comes out of nowhere and surprises the world.

Best of luck and here are some other people who are in the same boat you might be in:

[jwplayer 8CXooaWc-q2aasYxh]