Team news: Minnesota Vikings

Vikings K Dan Bailey is questionable for Week 17, according to the team's official injury report.

If you are going down the Bailey rabbit hole, you may be better off digging your way out.

Vikings running back Alexander Mattison is practicing Wednesday after going through concussion protocol last week.

Dalvin Cook is set to miss Week 17 following the death of his father, so this news sets Mattison up to start in a great matchup against the Lions' terrible defense. Mike Boone and Ameer Abudallah will probably mix in in some capacity, but Mattison will be an interesting DFS play given his projected workload and the soft matchup.

Vikings running back Dalvin Cook will miss Week 17 due to a family emergency.

Cook ends 2020 with another strong season in the books, accumulating over 1,900 total yards and 17 total touchdowns on one of the heaviest workloads in the league. Alexander Mattison will start Week 17 for the Vikings if he can get through concussion protocol before the weekend. Cook will return as a lock RB1 in 2021 fantasy drafts.

In what might be Kyle Rudolph’s last season with the Vikings, the tight end will not be able to play in Week 17.

Minnesota announced on Tuesday that it placed Rudolph on IR. The Vikings still have Irv Smith Jr., Tyler Conklin and Hale Hentges at the tight end position, barring any of those three suffering injuries.

With Smith coming on as the team's top TE target, Rudolph may be out in 2021. Smith had a huge game on Christmas Day, posting a 6-53-2 line. For the season he has 28 catches for 335 yards and five TDs, but three of those TDs and 153 yards have come over the last three weeks.

Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison has been ruled out for Week 16 against the New Orleans Saints.

Mattison had been sidelined for three weeks after undergoing an appendectomy and returned in Week 15 only to suffer a concussion after only six snaps. He will miss Week 16, leaving Ameer Abdullah and Mike Boone to pick up the scraps behind workhorse Dalvin Cook. Cook is our fifth ranked running back for finals week.

Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph has been ruled out for Week 16 against the New Orleans Saints.

Kyle Rudolph has missed the last two contests with the injury. Irv Smith Jr. and Tyler Conklin have split work in his absence, with Smith seeing more air yards, but Conklin recording more targets and receptions. In Week 15, Smith saw 82 percent of the snaps after seeing just 35 percent in Week 14. He should be close to recovered from the injury that kept him sidelined for multiple weeks and is our 20th ranked tight end for Week 16.