Amid much outside speculation surrounding the long-term future of Kirk Cousins with the Minnesota Vikings, new head coach Kevin O’Connell simply has his sights set on working to get the best out of him in the 2022 campaign.

O’Connell took some time to speak to the NFL Network at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine, where he not only doubled down on the notion that Cousins is the Vikings’ franchise quarterback, but he also touched on plans to orchestrate an offense for the veteran passer.

“Kirk is our quarterback,” O’Connell said. “I’m excited about that. I’m excited about building an offense for him. I obviously have some experience with him.”

As O’Connell noted, he does have previous experience in working alongside the Vikings passer, although it was for a mere one season during his stint as quarterbacks coach for the now Washington Commanders over the 2017 campaign.

O’Connell has since kept a close watch on the career of Cousins, which has included a pair of Pro Bowl seasons in his ongoing run in Minnesota. The former Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator much believes that Cousins deserves the title of being an “elite” quarterback in the NFL today.

“He’s a really good player, in my mind, for a lot of reasons,” O’Connell said. “The one thing is I think he’s an elite passer. I think he throws the football at a really high level and he’s always been like that. Being a naturally accurate quarterback is something I feel is the No. 1 requirement for playing in this league. Especially with the playmakers we have, I’m excited about Kirk Cousins.”

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Overall, Cousins is coming off of a notable 2021 campaign where he wound up recording 30-plus passing touchdowns for the third time in his tenure with the Vikings. More so, he also ended up posting a 100.0-plus passer rating for the third consecutive season.

Much attention sure will be centered on just how Cousins and O’Connell end up meshing in the upcoming 2022 campaign, especially as the veteran quarterback is currently on track to play the season in the final year of his current contract deal with the team.