The Minnesota Vikings 2022 season is looking likely to be different from the 2021 season. With a new coaching regime in place, the hope is that Kirk Cousins will be able to lead the Vikings offense to new heights this season.

The excitement surrounding the Vikings is clear. According to Michael Irvin, the excitement might be high enough to label Kirk Cousins as his MVP pick for the 2022 season. When the NFL GameDay crew cast their MVP picks for the season, Irvin shocked the NFL world by picking Cousins to be MVP of the 2022 season.

This is certainly a bold pick by Irvin, and it would require Cousins to take a massive step forward this season. Throughout his career, Cousins has really been just a league average quarterback. He's been selected to three Pro Bowls, but he's never made an All-Pro team or been remotely considered for an MVP award.

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The logo for the 2024 NFL Draft is in the middle of the image. On the left side is a logo of the Minnesota Vikings with a green up arrow next to it. On the right side is a silhouette of an American football helmet with a question mark inside it. There is a red down arrow next to the helmet.

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Caleb Williams will go first, and then the Patriots and Vikings will play poker

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Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah with a phone in his hand. Kwesi also has a speech bubble that says “Let’s make a deal!” Next to him is a logo for the 2024 NFL Draft.

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It's clear the Vikings offense is set up for Cousins to succeed. He has one of the top wide receiver duos in the league in Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, and Dalvin Cook will be lining up behind him in the backfield as well. Maybe it's not totally unreasonable to expect Cousins to take that step forward, especially now that Mike Zimmer is gone and Kevin O'Connell is onboard as the team's new head coach.

Still, it's a strange pick from Irvin, especially given all the other MVP candidates he had to choose from. Cousins has never really shown any ability to be an MVP candidate, and while he may take an unexpected step forward this season, it's tough to truly justify Irvin's selection of Cousins as his MVP pick here.