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The Minnesota Vikings have most of the same cast of characters back this season. Kirk Cousins is still the quarterback. Dalvin Cook is still the star running back. Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen and K.J. Osborn are the starting receivers. The biggest and most important change was actually not a player.
The Vikings fired long time head coach Mike Zimmer this offseason. Despite numerous winning records and being the only team in the NFC North that gives Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers fits, the Vikings brass decided to go in another direction. It's possible that Zimmer's message had grown stale. But it's equally possible that they realized the league is changing and offense is the way to go. Zimmer was a defensive-minded head coach.
The Vikings then replaced him with Kevin O'Connell. O'Connell was previously the offensive coordinator for the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams. He's known as a creative play-caller with an eye for talent. Vikings co-owner and President Mark Wilf called him “a strong leader, an innovative coach and a great communicator” in a statement from the team.He's
O'Connell played backup quarterback in the NFL for a handful of seasons before retiring. He then coached as an assistant before taking the coordinator job with Los Angeles. But was he really part of the genius that put the Rams over the top? Or was Sean McVay primarily responsible?
#Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell is ready to bring the energy to Vikings training camp🔥🔥🙌🙌#SKOL pic.twitter.com/UxfqfDVQzT
— Sean Kenner (@SK_NFL) July 27, 2022
O'Connell certainly has plenty to work with in Minnesota. Nevertheless, he is an unproven head coach. There are still question marks surrounding certain key players and it will be up to O'Connell to get the best out of them.
MinnesotaVikings 2022 X-Factor and it's not Justin Jefferson
K.J. Osborn – WR
Last season, Kirk Cousins quietly had a very strong season. In his fourth seasons as the Vikings signal-caller, he tossed 33 touchdown passes to just seven interceptions. That is the best touchdown-to-interception ratio of his career, as well as the second most TD passes in a season.
Dalvin Cook once again had a stellar year running the football. He finished with 1,159 yards rushing and at times looked unstoppable. However, he posted a disappointing six scores on the ground. He had scored 29 the previous two seasons combined. I would expect a positive regression toward the mean for Cook.
Justin Jefferson took another leap in Year 2 last season. He ended the year second in the NFL to only Cooper Kupp with 1,616 receiving yards on 108 catches. That ranked fourth in the league.
So, the Vikings had one of the most efficient quarterbacks last season. They had one of the best running backs and what would widely be considered the second best receiver in all of football. Yet, they finished under .500 at 8-9. Obviously, a lot of that had to do with injuries on defense. The Vikings defense ended up ranking 27th in yards allowed and slightly better in points allowed. That prompted a change at defensive coordinator. They signed Ed Donatell, who previously ran the Denver Broncos defense the last three years.
There is a very good chance that the Vikings defense looks more like it did the few years prior to last season.
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But in order for this offense to become one of the elite units in the NFL, they need an X-Factor. K.J. Osborn is that player.
#Vikings KJ Osborn dubs himself NFL's best No. 3 WR & has lofty goals for 2022 “I've got them written up on my mirror. I keep them to myself. They’re all there but they’re lofty. I can’t publicize them, but obviously my expectations for myself are bigger than what (others have)"
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) September 6, 2022
Most football fans likely think of Adam Thielen as the second most valuable receiver on the team. They would be wrong. Thielen is on the wrong side of 30. He is 32. Thielen has been nicked up with injury after nagging injury the last couple of seasons. That has seen his production plummet in recent years. Last season, he caught just 67 passes for 726 yards in 13 games played. He has just over 2,000 yards over the last three seasons combined.
Meanwhile, Osborn is 25 years old. He is extremely talented and has a good shot at being the team's second leading receiver. Down the stretch last year, Cousins finally began looking his way. He scored a touchdown in five of the team's final six games of the season.
Osborn offers a speed component that Thielen does not. He can take the top off of defenses and regularly did so late last year. If O'Connell can scheme up ways to get him the ball more often, that will likely make everything easier for both Jefferson and Cook.
The Vikings are looking to take back the NFC North division. The Packers lost Davante Adams and some people on defense and are perceived to have taken a step back this offseason. There is little doubt that the Vikings have enough talent on their roster to make a playoff run. The question is can the new head coach put the players in the right position to succeed.
The door is open for Minnesota to make some noise. It all starts Week 1 when the Vikings host the Packers Sunday.
