03-14-2018, 12:27 AM
At the NFL Combine, Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said that new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo would wait until the team had a quarterback in place before putting the finishing touches on his offense.
“We’re going to try to figure out the quarterback first,” Zimmer said. “And then we’ll adjust the offense. All the offense will have some, regardless of who the quarterback is going to be, is going to have some similarities. Some certain aspects of it that after that – ‘OK this guy doesn’t do this good, let’s throw this out.’”
Well, now that it appears the Vikings have their franchise quarterback in Kirk Cousins, what are some of the things that the Vikings can do to help him succeed?
Let’s have a look…
Personnel
DeFilippo should be taking a page out of Pat Shurmur’s book when it comes to using multiple tight ends on a regular basis.
When two tight ends are in the game, opponents tend to bring a safety into the box or bring in three linebackers out of fear that the offense will run the ball down its throat. As a result – especially if a team has two good tight ends like Cousins has had for stretches in Washing ton – we see defenses struggle against the pass.
In Cousins’ two best seasons (and the seasons we have personnel data for via ESPN splits), he was a far better quarterback with two TEs in the game than with zero or one tight end.
Play-action
Personnel and play-action are tied together. It’s easier to sell a run and get the linebacker to take a step up if the offense is selling a run play with its tight ends.
Over the last three years, Washington coach Jay Gruden has brilliantly used play-action to maximize Cousins’ strengths. He posted numbers at the top of the league in yards per attempt in all three seasons as a starter and saw a big disparity last year between play-action throws and non play-action throws.
Cousins with play-action (2017): 9.4 yards per attempt, 118.7 QB rating (second best in the NFL)
Cousins without play-action (2017): 7.1 yards per attempt. 87.4 QB rating
Air it out
“We’re going to try to figure out the quarterback first,” Zimmer said. “And then we’ll adjust the offense. All the offense will have some, regardless of who the quarterback is going to be, is going to have some similarities. Some certain aspects of it that after that – ‘OK this guy doesn’t do this good, let’s throw this out.’”
Well, now that it appears the Vikings have their franchise quarterback in Kirk Cousins, what are some of the things that the Vikings can do to help him succeed?
Let’s have a look…
Personnel
DeFilippo should be taking a page out of Pat Shurmur’s book when it comes to using multiple tight ends on a regular basis.
When two tight ends are in the game, opponents tend to bring a safety into the box or bring in three linebackers out of fear that the offense will run the ball down its throat. As a result – especially if a team has two good tight ends like Cousins has had for stretches in Washing ton – we see defenses struggle against the pass.
In Cousins’ two best seasons (and the seasons we have personnel data for via ESPN splits), he was a far better quarterback with two TEs in the game than with zero or one tight end.
Play-action
Personnel and play-action are tied together. It’s easier to sell a run and get the linebacker to take a step up if the offense is selling a run play with its tight ends.
Over the last three years, Washington coach Jay Gruden has brilliantly used play-action to maximize Cousins’ strengths. He posted numbers at the top of the league in yards per attempt in all three seasons as a starter and saw a big disparity last year between play-action throws and non play-action throws.
Cousins with play-action (2017): 9.4 yards per attempt, 118.7 QB rating (second best in the NFL)
Cousins without play-action (2017): 7.1 yards per attempt. 87.4 QB rating
Air it out
This will come as no surprise: Cousins’ best season came when he had a healthy DeSean Jackson.
In 15 games with Jackson in 2016, the combo connected for 56 passes that averaged 17.9 yards per reception. Fourteen of Jackson’s catches traveled more than 20 yards through the air.
Over the last three seasons, Cousins has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL when throwing the ball downfield, posting the sixth best passer rating on throws that traveled more than 15 yards (per Football Reference).
Continue building the offensive line
Cousins’ average depth of throw was only 8.2 yards, which was 28th in the NFL. In 2016, he only threw the ball in under 2.5 seconds 46 percent of the time whereas last year he was required to be quick on 58 percent of his passes.
Every quarterback is better when they have a clean pocket, but it’s noticeable that Cousins was basically the same quarterback in 2016 and 2017 when he had protection and his rating has consistently above average.
Focus on red zone performance
Over the last two seasons, Cousins has been underwhelming in the red zone, posting QB ratings of 83.3 and 83.8. PFF lists him as having the fourth most turnover-worthy plays inside the red zone.
Last season, the Eagles (and Vikings) were absolutely brilliant inside the 20. Carson Wentz had a 116.3 rating inside the red zone and had zero turnover-worthy plays.
Re-sign Stefon Diggs to a contract extension
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2018/0...s-talents/
In 15 games with Jackson in 2016, the combo connected for 56 passes that averaged 17.9 yards per reception. Fourteen of Jackson’s catches traveled more than 20 yards through the air.
Over the last three seasons, Cousins has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL when throwing the ball downfield, posting the sixth best passer rating on throws that traveled more than 15 yards (per Football Reference).
Continue building the offensive line
Cousins’ average depth of throw was only 8.2 yards, which was 28th in the NFL. In 2016, he only threw the ball in under 2.5 seconds 46 percent of the time whereas last year he was required to be quick on 58 percent of his passes.
Every quarterback is better when they have a clean pocket, but it’s noticeable that Cousins was basically the same quarterback in 2016 and 2017 when he had protection and his rating has consistently above average.
Focus on red zone performance
Over the last two seasons, Cousins has been underwhelming in the red zone, posting QB ratings of 83.3 and 83.8. PFF lists him as having the fourth most turnover-worthy plays inside the red zone.
Last season, the Eagles (and Vikings) were absolutely brilliant inside the 20. Carson Wentz had a 116.3 rating inside the red zone and had zero turnover-worthy plays.
Re-sign Stefon Diggs to a contract extension
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2018/0...s-talents/