5 NFL Red Zone Trends to Monitor for Week 1

The Vikings' Backfield

Last year, Dalvin Cook was being drafted like he was already a true workhorse, while Latavius Murray was an afterthought. This looked to be holding true through the first three games of the season, as Cook saw 61 carries and 13 targets, compared to 7 carries and 0 targets for Murray. Things shifted around when Cook's season was cut short by a knee injury though, and Murray and Jerick McKinnon shared the backfield.

One area they weren't doing much sharing, though, was the red zone. Murray's 34.5% opportunity market share on the year ranked sixth among all players. If we just look at the 12 games played without Cook, that share jumped up to 41.5%. Only Todd Gurley, Melvin Gordon and Le'Veon Bell posted marks over 40% for the year.

That dominance from Murray was right in line with what we saw Cook doing as well, with his market share sitting at 40.7% in his three full games.

The Minnesota Vikings do enter 2018 with a new offensive coordinator in John DeFilippo, so their red zone approach may not stay the same. DeFilippo comes from an Eagles' offense that gave LeGarrette Blount a 31.1% opportunity market share inside the 20 before Jay Ajayi arrived, though, and that could mean big things for Cook.

This is a situation to monitor closely through the first week or two of the season. If Murray isn't on the field much in the red zone over those games, we can expect Cook to see an elite level of volume in scoring range.