The Minnesota Vikings were supposed to be one of the most dangerous teams in the NFL last season. They went 13-3 in 2017 – tied for the best record in the NFL. Then they advanced to the NFC Championship game before losing to the eventual Super Bowl Champions – the Philadelphia Eagles.
In the offseason, they made what many believed to be a major upgrade at quarterback by signing Kirk Cousins. This was supposed to help them make that final leap to the Super Bowl – and hopefully help them win the whole thing.
Instead, the Vikings took a massive step in the wrong direction. The team went 8-7-1, barely over .500 and not good enough to make the playoffs.
With that in mind, there's a clear view of how they don't want things to go next season. How can they ensure that doesn't happen though?
Here are three players for the Minnesota Vikings that need to take the next step in 2019.
3. Kirk Cousins
This is easily the most obvious person on the list. Kirk Cousins was supposed to be that step for the Minnesota Vikings last season. Even people that weren't sold on Cousins thought he'd be an upgrade over Case Keenum.
That wasn't the case though (no pun intended).
Cousins did throw for 700 more yards and eight more touchdowns in 2018 than Keenum did the prior year. However, he threw three more interceptions and was sacked 18 more times. You could argue the sacks were on the offensive line, but Cousins does get criticized for holding onto the ball often.
There's also the “stat stuffing” argument. If you search Twitter during any given Football Sunday, you'll see a lot of people accusing Cousins of this. His numbers won't look great – then garbage time comes. That's when he seems to add to the boxscore nicely. It makes his stats look better, but didn't help the team win.
Most importantly of course was the record. No you can't blame it all on the quarterback – but he was their major change and it clearly didn't work out.
The Vikings are paying Cousins a lot of money though – so he's 100% their guy.
That means he needs to take the next step forward and lead a team to a decisively better than .500 record for the first time in his career.
2. Dalvin Cook
Kirk Cousins shouldn't bear the whole load though. The Minnesota Vikings have some great receiving weapons so the passing game is covered. What they need is an established star running back to make the defenses worry about the run. That will take tons of pressure off Cousins and the passing attack.
Dalvin Cook could've put up solid numbers if he played all 16 games last season – but he didn't. Cook played in 11 after playing in just four his rookie season the year prior.
That's the first thing Cook needs to do – stay healthy. He doesn't have Latavius Murray in the wings anymore in case he gets hurt. Ameer Abdullah is solid, but Murray he is not.
Even if he were to play all 16 games though, Cook was on-pace for 895 yards. A solid season sure, but nothing that's going to make the defenses worry too much about you.
Cook is a great player because he's extremely versatile. He reeled in 40 receptions last year – picking up 305 extra yards in the air. However, if he doesn't stay healthy and can't improve on his yard totals – the offense will be one-dimensional. That one-dimensional offense will be shut down far too often.
The good news for Dalvin Cook is, he's going to be getting a heavier bulk of the carries.
Now let's see what he does with them.
1. Trae Waynes
The Minnesota Vikings defense was once again scary good in 2018. However, it wasn't the shutdown factor that it was in 2017.
In 2017 they were first in total yards allowed (4,415) and first in total points allowed (15.8 per game – 252 total). However, last year they were fourth in total yards allowed (4,955) and ninth in total points allowed (21.3 per game – 341 total). While those numbers are still great – that's a clear drop-off from the year before.
A major part of the reason the Minnesota Vikings were so dominant in 2017 was that ridiculous defense. If the other team doesn't score, you can't lose – it's a pretty simple concept.
If they want to get back to that dominance, some players that aren't their stars will need to shine bright in 2019. The secondary already has an elite cornerback in Xavier Rhodes and (for my money) the best safety in the NFL in Harrison Smith. Adding another plus-plus defensive back to those two studs would be lethal.
That's where Trae Waynes comes into play. He has all the tools to be a great cornerback – he just needs to put it all together.
If Waynes can take a step forward closer to being a top-tier cornerback – the Minnesota Vikings will be making waves in 2019.
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