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Fantasy Football Week 8 Waiver Wire Pickup: RB Jerick McKinnon

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By @RyanRattyNFL

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When you think of Jerick McKinnon, the word that describes him best is explosiveness. Because he was a quarterback in a run-first college system at Georgia State, many draft pundits weren’t high on McKinnon in the 2014 NFL Draft. Even though he was arguably the most impressive player at the NFL Scouting Combine, McKinnon was drafted in the third round. At the combine, McKinnon ran a 4.41 40-yard dash, had a 40.5-inch vertical jump and benched pressed 225 pounds 32 times. He was raw coming into the league, but after his performance in Week 8, McKinnon showed just how good he can be.

With the Adrian Peterson situation going on for another week, McKinnon emerged as an excellent stopgap solution. Peterson has been absent since Week 2 and that has given the carries to the duo of Matt Asiata and McKinnon. From Week 2 to Week 5, Asiata seemed to have the bigger role in the offense, but in the past two weeks, it is clear who the starting running back of the Minnesota Vikings is going forward. In Week 7, against a stout Buffalo Bills run defense, McKinnon ran the football 19 times for 103 yards and a touchdown.

Now that Asiata has ceded the starting duties to the more talented McKinnon, it will be interesting to see just how impactful he can be towards fantasy lineups. McKinnon is not only a prolific runner, but he is a playmaker and there is no question about his ability out of the backfield as a checkdown option, or even a receiver inside or outside for that matter. In Week 8, the Vikings will be going up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are prone to giving up a ton of scores. As weeks pass by, it seems like Peterson won’t come back with the team in 2014. That being said, it’s McKinnon’s time to shine in Minnesota. Pick him up if you have a high waiver claim. The possibilities are endless for this talented back.

Ryan Ratty is a featured writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RyanRattyNFL or add him to your network on Google.

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