Ezekiel Elliott, the highest-paid running back in NFL history, was the third-best running back on the field at AT&T Stadium Sunday night.
For fans, the Vikings' 28-24 stiff-arming of Elliott's Cowboys was thrilling. For Dalvin Cook's agents, it was a three-hour, 33-touch PowerPoint presentation they'll no doubt use when it comes time to butt heads with Vikings salary cap guru Rob Brzezinski. And for the many NFL teams leery of overpaying running backs, Vikings rookie Alexander Mattison was another fresh-legged example of the position's many younger, cheaper and still high-quality laborers.
Monday, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was asked whether there was much drop off between Cook, the best back in football, and Mattison, who ran the ball eight times for 52 yards and a game-high 6.5-yard average.
"No," he said, "[Mattison] is a good player. He runs hard, he's physical. I think he averaged six-something, maybe.
"He can take some of the carries off Dalvin. I like the way he finishes runs. He seems like he's always falling forward and is an aggressive-style runner."
Elliott's 20-carry, 47-yard dud didn't diminish him as an elite modern back who's in his prime and worthy of a record-breaking six-year, $90 million contract that came with a $15 million average salary and $50 million in guarantees.
But his two more effective peers on Sunday night's other sideline — Cook and Mattison — rank 39th and 60th among running backs in average annual salary at $1.58 million and $867,795, respectively. And, unlike Elliott, neither was drafted in the first round.
Cook, right now, is the most explosive running back in football. He proved that again on a national stage with 183 scrimmage yards that were as quick and powerful as any he's had as a pro.