Vikings running back Jerick McKinnon is ready to take on Latavius Murray and Dalvin Cook.
"Don't count me out," McKinnon told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "That's always my goal [to start]. I'm competitive. I think it will be a good way to evaluate myself and see where I stack up against them."
Seemingly the odd man out, McKinnon does at least bring a knowledge of the system, which could help him get a leg up on Cook, the team's rookie second-round pick out of Florida State. Last year, he set a career high with 539 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
The piece, essentially a hype trailer for McKinnon's upcoming season with quotes from his personal trainer, details some of the standard offseason tropes -- 11 pounds of muscle gain, faster than ever, healthier than ever -- and also a secret training regimen that his trainer, James Cooper, will not reveal.
"I can't get into specifics, because a fighter can't tell his game plan for the world to know it or else it wouldn't be a good game plan," Cooper said.
So there you have it. Even though the Vikings' depth chart seems settled right now, there is at least one wild card working to alter perception.
