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The Minnesota Vikings added sorely needed depth to the running back position in the wake of Dalvin Cook’s season ending injury against the Lions Sunday. To make up for his loss, at least in terms of roster numbers, they signed free agent Stevan Ridley, who spent four years with the New England Patriots, and one season with the New York Jets, and Atlanta Falcons.
Source: Free agent RB Stevan Ridley is signing with the #Vikings. He worked out yesterday afternoon, fills Dalvin Cook’s roster spot
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 5, 2017
In 2012, Ridley looked to be the next ‘who is this guy where did he come from and why is he good’ offensive star for the Patriots, when he rushed for 1,263 yards and 12 TD’s. But in 2014, Ridley tore his ACL and MCL five games in to the season, and has never really been the same running back since.
In Minnesota, though, torn ACL’s are a résumé enhancer, not a disqualifier! So when you look at it from that perspective, Ridley seems like a natural fit for the Vikings One Knee Army. Seriously though, Ridley was signed by the Denver Broncos earlier this year, and by all accounts had a strong training camp.
He had worked his way up the depth chart, and even saw some time with the first team during the pre-season. But the Broncos have a lot of depth at running back, so it was an uphill battle for him to make that roster, and he was released when teams had to get down to their 53 man rosters.
Ridley was among several backs who worked out for the Vikings yesterday, and one assumes he’ll fill in behind Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon on the depth chart. With his promising pre-season with the Broncos, hopefully Ridley can help make up for the loss of Cook.