Film study: Second-round pick O’Neill shouldn’t play right away

@"KingBash" said:

@"StickyBun" said:

@"BarrNone55" said: I think he's got a very high ceiling, and 3 years from now he'll probably be a starting caliber T, but damn...we're kind of in win now mode aren't we? This entire draft seemed to be executed with some premise other than we were a game away from a championship...this entire draft has me smh...

I hate this draft. Its nonsensical to me. So many disappointing picks. And trading up to take another 5th round kicker ala Blair Walsh? SMFH. 

This team won 13 games last year, it was great. But they were one miracle play from being one and done at home in the playoffs and got ANNIHILATED in Philly. JMO, but every year there are playoffs teams that take a step back the next year: that might be the 2018 Vikings. 

Now that the dust has settled, not just from the draft but from 2017 in general, I think we'll see a little bit of a fall off in 2018. I think 2017 was a team of overachievers.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if we reverted to the point of just barely making it into the playoffs.

@"KingBash" said:

@"StickyBun" said:

@"BarrNone55" said: I think he's got a very high ceiling, and 3 years from now he'll probably be a starting caliber T, but damn...we're kind of in win now mode aren't we? This entire draft seemed to be executed with some premise other than we were a game away from a championship...this entire draft has me smh...

I hate this draft. Its nonsensical to me. So many disappointing picks. And trading up to take another 5th round kicker ala Blair Walsh? SMFH. 

This team won 13 games last year, it was great. But they were one miracle play from being one and done at home in the playoffs and got ANNIHILATED in Philly. JMO, but every year there are playoffs teams that take a step back the next year: that might be the 2018 Vikings. 

Now that the dust has settled, not just from the draft but from 2017 in general, I think we'll see a little bit of a fall off in 2018. I think 2017 was a team of overachievers.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if we reverted to the point of just barely making it into the playoffs.

@"KingBash" said:

@"StickyBun" said:

@"BarrNone55" said: I think he's got a very high ceiling, and 3 years from now he'll probably be a starting caliber T, but damn...we're kind of in win now mode aren't we? This entire draft seemed to be executed with some premise other than we were a game away from a championship...this entire draft has me smh...

I hate this draft. Its nonsensical to me. So many disappointing picks. And trading up to take another 5th round kicker ala Blair Walsh? SMFH. 

This team won 13 games last year, it was great. But they were one miracle play from being one and done at home in the playoffs and got ANNIHILATED in Philly. JMO, but every year there are playoffs teams that take a step back the next year: that might be the 2018 Vikings. 

Now that the dust has settled, not just from the draft but from 2017 in general, I think we'll see a little bit of a fall off in 2018. I think 2017 was a team of overachievers.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if we reverted to the point of just barely making it into the playoffs.

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"KingBash" said:

@"StickyBun" said:

@"BarrNone55" said: I think he's got a very high ceiling, and 3 years from now he'll probably be a starting caliber T, but damn...we're kind of in win now mode aren't we? This entire draft seemed to be executed with some premise other than we were a game away from a championship...this entire draft has me smh...

I hate this draft. Its nonsensical to me. So many disappointing picks. And trading up to take another 5th round kicker ala Blair Walsh? SMFH. 

This team won 13 games last year, it was great. But they were one miracle play from being one and done at home in the playoffs and got ANNIHILATED in Philly. JMO, but every year there are playoffs teams that take a step back the next year: that might be the 2018 Vikings. 

Now that the dust has settled, not just from the draft but from 2017 in general, I think we'll see a little bit of a fall off in 2018. I think 2017 was a team of overachievers.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if we reverted to the point of just barely making it into the playoffs.

Anything can happen when you consider injuries, schedule and just general bad luck. What's more, 13-3 and an NFCC appearance is a damn high bar to top. 

That said, upgrading Case to Cousins, Johnson to Richardson and Murray to Cook should be seen as pretty significant improvements by anyone paying attention.

Barring injury, I would be shocked as hell if the '18 Vikings weren't better than the '17 Vikings. Does that mean we'll have a better record? Not necessarily, but this should be a better team. 

The biggest question in my mind is how does Flip replace Shurmur. Shurmur was the best play-calling OC we've had in years. I'm fairly confident in Flip's ability to craft an offense that works well with our personnel. But does he have a feel for the rhythm of play calling? That remains to be seen. 

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"KingBash" said:

@"StickyBun" said:

@"BarrNone55" said: I think he's got a very high ceiling, and 3 years from now he'll probably be a starting caliber T, but damn...we're kind of in win now mode aren't we? This entire draft seemed to be executed with some premise other than we were a game away from a championship...this entire draft has me smh...

I hate this draft. Its nonsensical to me. So many disappointing picks. And trading up to take another 5th round kicker ala Blair Walsh? SMFH. 

This team won 13 games last year, it was great. But they were one miracle play from being one and done at home in the playoffs and got ANNIHILATED in Philly. JMO, but every year there are playoffs teams that take a step back the next year: that might be the 2018 Vikings. 

Now that the dust has settled, not just from the draft but from 2017 in general, I think we'll see a little bit of a fall off in 2018. I think 2017 was a team of overachievers.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if we reverted to the point of just barely making it into the playoffs.

Anything can happen when you consider injuries, schedule and just general bad luck. What's more, 13-3 and an NFCC appearance is a damn high bar to top. 

That said, upgrading Case to Cousins, Johnson to Richardson and Murray to Cook should be seen as pretty significant improvements by anyone paying attention.

Barring injury, I would be shocked as hell if the '18 Vikings weren't better than the '17 Vikings. Does that mean we'll have a better record? Not necessarily, but this should be a better team. 

The biggest question in my mind is how does Flip replace Shurmur. Shurmur was the best play-calling OC we've had in years. I'm fairly confident in Flip's ability to craft an offense that works well with our personnel. But does he have a feel for the rhythm of play calling? That remains to be seen. 

@"dadevike" said: Realistically, there were/are not many open starting positions on this team. I thought all along the Vikings were going CB in the 1st.  Now, after the fact, I think that if an athletic tackle (or very athletic guard) was available at 30, the Vikings may have gone in that direction. But no such player was available where we were drafting. And we were already without a 4th round pick so we were a bit hampered in trading up.  It became  clear during the draft that the Vikings want athletic OL and were not interested in Will Hernandez-type of OL.  You can call that bad judgment if you like, but that's the vision they have for the OL. Given what they want, what was available, and the absence of a 4th round pick, Hughes was the right choice. The big changes for this year are: -Cousins instead of Case; -Cook, assuming he is fully recovered, instead of McKinnon (we do need another RB to pick up part of McKinnon's role but that's not a huge issue); -Richardson instead of Tom Johnson / Shamar Stephen; -Hughes (potentially) instead Mac at nickel; and -______________ for Berger. We do not know who our 5th OL will be, but there are lots of guys who will compete for 1 spot this spring and summer. Among the guards we have Isidora, Compton, Andrews, and Gossett.  Or if a T steps up among Collins, O'Neill, Hill, or Joseph, then Remmers gets moved to G. I think we are OK here.   The question of whether the Vikings likely improved comes down to whether you think the changes from last year are net positive or net negative.  It looks to me to be net positive.  The biggest change may be going from Case to Cousins. Case had a tremendous year. Will Cousins be able to match it? Who knows?, but I am hopeful.

I think replacing TJ is going to show some amazing dividends.

@"dadevike" said:

13-3 is tough to replicate, and we will likely face Rodgers twice next season, but I see no reason to think this won’t be one of the elite teams inthe NFC next year.

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"Wetlander" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said: I think that people are being overly critical of the draft class and roster as a whole. But what else is there to talk about when there is still about 2 months until camp opens. 

The Hughes pick makes sense and I really do think he is going to get on the field sooner than a lot of people think. He is too much of a quick twitch athlete to keep off the field if he understands his role as slot CB in Zimmer's D. Its a tough job to learn but he was able to come into college and learn an entire defensive playbook in two weeks so there is some hope. That also opens up the ability for Mac to rotate outside where he's proven to be less of a reliability. Add in kick and punt return duties and he'll have some sort of an impact. 

A lot of people are selling O'Neill short. He'll need to add weight but he is talented enough technically to play if needed. At the end of the day the Vikings lack one offensive line starter but have a tremendous amount of depth. At this point if they can't find a combination of five O-lineman that work well together its on Sparano and the coaching staff. 

From the 3rd onward's Holmes should be a part of a rotation and Conklin has a chance. Carlson is almost a given producer since there really isn't going to be a competition with Kai. They want his leg for kickoff's and if he shows the same level of accuracy he did at Auburn the competition is over before it even started.

Oh, and they're getting Dalvin Cook back who gave D-coordinators absolute nightmares when he was healthy last year. Multiple NFL coaches firmly believe he would have been the ROY last season if he stayed healthy. Before his injury he was on pace for over 2,000 all-purpose yards. If you really kept him in-line with his pace he would have led the NFL in yards from scrimmage. 

Great insights, Geoff.  I think this draft class was going to get panned by most fans and media no matter what...  the Vikings roster is loaded right now and there aren't many starting spots up for grabs.  RG/RT will be one spot to watch this offseason, but if everyone looks objectively at our roster, it's loaded with talented guys at almost every position.  And now the Vikings just added a bunch of guys with good upside as depth behind our starters...  I'm having a hard time understanding how some see that as a bad thing?

BECAUSE WE SPENT $84M ON A QUARTERBACK AND HE IS GOING TO DIE WITHOUT A RIGHT GUARD. That is why Wet.  :p

What I find somewhat confusing is, many say the offensive line was improved and good last year.
But a lot of our linemen had some of their worse ratings in their careers.
How does that work  =)

Disappointed in our first round pick this year. The person we picked was ok...just no in the first round.

@"Magnus10" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"Wetlander" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said: I think that people are being overly critical of the draft class and roster as a whole. But what else is there to talk about when there is still about 2 months until camp opens. 

The Hughes pick makes sense and I really do think he is going to get on the field sooner than a lot of people think. He is too much of a quick twitch athlete to keep off the field if he understands his role as slot CB in Zimmer's D. Its a tough job to learn but he was able to come into college and learn an entire defensive playbook in two weeks so there is some hope. That also opens up the ability for Mac to rotate outside where he's proven to be less of a reliability. Add in kick and punt return duties and he'll have some sort of an impact. 

A lot of people are selling O'Neill short. He'll need to add weight but he is talented enough technically to play if needed. At the end of the day the Vikings lack one offensive line starter but have a tremendous amount of depth. At this point if they can't find a combination of five O-lineman that work well together its on Sparano and the coaching staff. 

From the 3rd onward's Holmes should be a part of a rotation and Conklin has a chance. Carlson is almost a given producer since there really isn't going to be a competition with Kai. They want his leg for kickoff's and if he shows the same level of accuracy he did at Auburn the competition is over before it even started.

Oh, and they're getting Dalvin Cook back who gave D-coordinators absolute nightmares when he was healthy last year. Multiple NFL coaches firmly believe he would have been the ROY last season if he stayed healthy. Before his injury he was on pace for over 2,000 all-purpose yards. If you really kept him in-line with his pace he would have led the NFL in yards from scrimmage. 

Great insights, Geoff.  I think this draft class was going to get panned by most fans and media no matter what...  the Vikings roster is loaded right now and there aren't many starting spots up for grabs.  RG/RT will be one spot to watch this offseason, but if everyone looks objectively at our roster, it's loaded with talented guys at almost every position.  And now the Vikings just added a bunch of guys with good upside as depth behind our starters...  I'm having a hard time understanding how some see that as a bad thing?

BECAUSE WE SPENT $84M ON A QUARTERBACK AND HE IS GOING TO DIE WITHOUT A RIGHT GUARD. That is why Wet.  :p

I still believe that Keenum's pocket presence, ability to feel pressure and escape, and scrambling masked many problems and inconsistencies with the OLine all season, especially when we had to reshuffle the line due to injuries at the end of the year.    

Cousins does not appear to have the same escapability skills as Keenum, thus the frustration with not taking a plug and play RG/RT with the first round pick.   I also hope that Hill does not end up as the starter at RT, he will get Cousins destroyed.  I think he belongs as a backup swing tackle.

I am not totally comfortable that a 5th round pick (Isadora), someone signed off the Eagles practice squad (Andrews), or a low level FA (Compton) will be a solid starter at RG.  And yes we should be focused on protecting and maximizing the 84M GUARANTEED investment in Cousins.

@"Norse" said: What I find somewhat confusing is, many say the offensive line was improved and good last year. But a lot of our linemen had some of their worse ratings in their careers. How does that work  =)

Disappointed in our first round pick this year. The person we picked was ok...just no in the first round.

I believe Dalvin Cook was 2nd in the league in total yards (behind Kareem Hunt) and Bradford/Keenum were the least sacked QBs.

The offensive line can be upgraded, but I don't think it's as bad as some fans want to make it.  Let's not forget that RG is the easiest position to find a solid starter along the entire offensive line.  I think we'll be just fine as long as we can keep out starters healthy most of the season.

@"Geoff Nichols" said: I think that people are being overly critical of the draft class and roster as a whole. But what else is there to talk about when there is still about 2 months until camp opens. 

The Hughes pick makes sense and I really do think he is going to get on the field sooner than a lot of people think. He is too much of a quick twitch athlete to keep off the field if he understands his role as slot CB in Zimmer's D. Its a tough job to learn but he was able to come into college and learn an entire defensive playbook in two weeks so there is some hope. That also opens up the ability for Mac to rotate outside where he's proven to be less of a reliability. Add in kick and punt return duties and he'll have some sort of an impact. 

A lot of people are selling O'Neill short. He'll need to add weight but he is talented enough technically to play if needed. At the end of the day the Vikings lack one offensive line starter but have a tremendous amount of depth. At this point if they can't find a combination of five O-lineman that work well together its on Sparano and the coaching staff. 

From the 3rd onward's Holmes should be a part of a rotation and Conklin has a chance. Carlson is almost a given producer since there really isn't going to be a competition with Kai. They want his leg for kickoff's and if he shows the same level of accuracy he did at Auburn the competition is over before it even started.

Oh, and they're getting Dalvin Cook back who gave D-coordinators absolute nightmares when he was healthy last year. Multiple NFL coaches firmly believe he would have been the ROY last season if he stayed healthy. Before his injury he was on pace for over 2,000 all-purpose yards. If you really kept him in-line with his pace he would have led the NFL in yards from scrimmage. 

i say we go 8-8 or 7-9. lol

@"Wetlander" said:

@"Norse" said: What I find somewhat confusing is, many say the offensive line was improved and good last year. But a lot of our linemen had some of their worse ratings in their careers. How does that work  =)

Disappointed in our first round pick this year. The person we picked was ok...just no in the first round.

You need to grade the offensive line as a unit.  Look at how they performed before Easton and Elflein got hurt...

I believe Dalvin Cook was 2nd in the league in total yards (behind Kareem Hunt) and Bradford/Keenum were the least sacked QBs.

The offensive line can be upgraded, but I don't think it's as bad as some fans want to make it.  Let's not forget that RG is the easiest position to find a solid starter along the entire offensive line.  I think we'll be just fine as long as we can keep out starters healthy most of the season.

@"Magnus10" said I still believe that Keenum's pocket presence, ability to feel pressure and escape, and scrambling masked many problems and inconsistencies with the OLine all season, especially when we had to reshuffle the line due to injuries at the end of the year.    

Cousins does not appear to have the same escapability skills as Keenum, thus the frustration with not taking a plug and play RG/RT with the first round pick.   I also hope that Hill does not end up as the starter at RT, he will get Cousins destroyed.  I think he belongs as a backup swing tackle.

I am not totally comfortable that a 5th round pick (Isadora), someone signed off the Eagles practice squad (Andrews), or a low level FA (Compton) will be a solid starter at RG.  And yes we should be focused on protecting and maximizing the 84M GUARANTEED investment in Cousins.

It is way too early to tell whether we have upgraded over Berger. For now, I’m giving the Vikings’ coaches and GM the benefit of the doubt. We will have a great competition for the 5th OL spot. Some of these guys are young and are expected to develop. And didn’t Compton start for Atlanta in the SB? Atlanta had a great offense that season and Matt Ryan is not the most mobile QB. It’s not like the Vikings were unaware of their OL situation during the draft.

No team is perfect, and we do have some significant changes on offense from last season. But there aren’t many teams with a better roster than the Vikings have right now. We were close last year. I’m expecting another good season. 

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"Magnus10" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"Wetlander" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said: I think that people are being overly critical of the draft class and roster as a whole. But what else is there to talk about when there is still about 2 months until camp opens. 

The Hughes pick makes sense and I really do think he is going to get on the field sooner than a lot of people think. He is too much of a quick twitch athlete to keep off the field if he understands his role as slot CB in Zimmer's D. Its a tough job to learn but he was able to come into college and learn an entire defensive playbook in two weeks so there is some hope. That also opens up the ability for Mac to rotate outside where he's proven to be less of a reliability. Add in kick and punt return duties and he'll have some sort of an impact. 

A lot of people are selling O'Neill short. He'll need to add weight but he is talented enough technically to play if needed. At the end of the day the Vikings lack one offensive line starter but have a tremendous amount of depth. At this point if they can't find a combination of five O-lineman that work well together its on Sparano and the coaching staff. 

From the 3rd onward's Holmes should be a part of a rotation and Conklin has a chance. Carlson is almost a given producer since there really isn't going to be a competition with Kai. They want his leg for kickoff's and if he shows the same level of accuracy he did at Auburn the competition is over before it even started.

Oh, and they're getting Dalvin Cook back who gave D-coordinators absolute nightmares when he was healthy last year. Multiple NFL coaches firmly believe he would have been the ROY last season if he stayed healthy. Before his injury he was on pace for over 2,000 all-purpose yards. If you really kept him in-line with his pace he would have led the NFL in yards from scrimmage. 

Great insights, Geoff.  I think this draft class was going to get panned by most fans and media no matter what...  the Vikings roster is loaded right now and there aren't many starting spots up for grabs.  RG/RT will be one spot to watch this offseason, but if everyone looks objectively at our roster, it's loaded with talented guys at almost every position.  And now the Vikings just added a bunch of guys with good upside as depth behind our starters...  I'm having a hard time understanding how some see that as a bad thing?

BECAUSE WE SPENT $84M ON A QUARTERBACK AND HE IS GOING TO DIE WITHOUT A RIGHT GUARD. That is why Wet.  :p

I still believe that Keenum's pocket presence, ability to feel pressure and escape, and scrambling masked many problems and inconsistencies with the OLine all season, especially when we had to reshuffle the line due to injuries at the end of the year.    

Cousins does not appear to have the same escapability skills as Keenum, thus the frustration with not taking a plug and play RG/RT with the first round pick.   I also hope that Hill does not end up as the starter at RT, he will get Cousins destroyed.  I think he belongs as a backup swing tackle.

I am not totally comfortable that a 5th round pick (Isadora), someone signed off the Eagles practice squad (Andrews), or a low level FA (Compton) will be a solid starter at RG.  And yes we should be focused on protecting and maximizing the 84M GUARANTEED investment in Cousins.

another thing about QBs that move a lot is they sometimes create more problems for their blockers.   now Case was pretty much houdini at times,  but there were times that he moved around more than necessary and ran into issues as his protection cant see him sliding and what not.   sometimes 1 step would have done the job and 3 steps created a shit storm.

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"Magnus10" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"Wetlander" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said: I think that people are being overly critical of the draft class and roster as a whole. But what else is there to talk about when there is still about 2 months until camp opens. 

The Hughes pick makes sense and I really do think he is going to get on the field sooner than a lot of people think. He is too much of a quick twitch athlete to keep off the field if he understands his role as slot CB in Zimmer's D. Its a tough job to learn but he was able to come into college and learn an entire defensive playbook in two weeks so there is some hope. That also opens up the ability for Mac to rotate outside where he's proven to be less of a reliability. Add in kick and punt return duties and he'll have some sort of an impact. 

A lot of people are selling O'Neill short. He'll need to add weight but he is talented enough technically to play if needed. At the end of the day the Vikings lack one offensive line starter but have a tremendous amount of depth. At this point if they can't find a combination of five O-lineman that work well together its on Sparano and the coaching staff. 

From the 3rd onward's Holmes should be a part of a rotation and Conklin has a chance. Carlson is almost a given producer since there really isn't going to be a competition with Kai. They want his leg for kickoff's and if he shows the same level of accuracy he did at Auburn the competition is over before it even started.

Oh, and they're getting Dalvin Cook back who gave D-coordinators absolute nightmares when he was healthy last year. Multiple NFL coaches firmly believe he would have been the ROY last season if he stayed healthy. Before his injury he was on pace for over 2,000 all-purpose yards. If you really kept him in-line with his pace he would have led the NFL in yards from scrimmage. 

Great insights, Geoff.  I think this draft class was going to get panned by most fans and media no matter what...  the Vikings roster is loaded right now and there aren't many starting spots up for grabs.  RG/RT will be one spot to watch this offseason, but if everyone looks objectively at our roster, it's loaded with talented guys at almost every position.  And now the Vikings just added a bunch of guys with good upside as depth behind our starters...  I'm having a hard time understanding how some see that as a bad thing?

BECAUSE WE SPENT $84M ON A QUARTERBACK AND HE IS GOING TO DIE WITHOUT A RIGHT GUARD. That is why Wet.  :p

I still believe that Keenum's pocket presence, ability to feel pressure and escape, and scrambling masked many problems and inconsistencies with the OLine all season, especially when we had to reshuffle the line due to injuries at the end of the year.    

Cousins does not appear to have the same escapability skills as Keenum, thus the frustration with not taking a plug and play RG/RT with the first round pick.   I also hope that Hill does not end up as the starter at RT, he will get Cousins destroyed.  I think he belongs as a backup swing tackle.

I am not totally comfortable that a 5th round pick (Isadora), someone signed off the Eagles practice squad (Andrews), or a low level FA (Compton) will be a solid starter at RG.  And yes we should be focused on protecting and maximizing the 84M GUARANTEED investment in Cousins.

another thing about QBs that move a lot is they sometimes create more problems for their blockers.   now Case was pretty much houdini at times,  but there were times that he moved around more than necessary and ran into issues as his protection cant see him sliding and what not.   sometimes 1 step would have done the job and 3 steps created a shit storm.

This is part of the reason I believe the Seahawks don't invest heavily in their offensive line. They have the QB in Wilson but half the time when he breaks the play off and scrambles it doesn't matter if you have a top tier LT or mid-round rookie. Would Wilson be better working in the pocket? Hard to say since we don't have an adequate sample size. But why heavily invest in an area that may or may not make the team better. 

@"Norse" said: What I find somewhat confusing is, many say the offensive line was improved and good last year. But a lot of our linemen had some of their worse ratings in their careers. How does that work  =)

Disappointed in our first round pick this year. The person we picked was ok...just no in the first round.

While it may not BE worse, I think it's very possible that our line may LOOK a little worse next year.

Here's what I mean....Cousins is plenty mobile, but he's not as elusive as Keenum was. He'll probably take a few more sacks. Also, Cousins will throw the ball deep simply because he has the arm to do it. That means more 7-step drops and the need for the OL to hold their blocks longer. The good thing is that it also means that DBs will have to play the entire field. As a corner and safety, I remember loving when I played a crap-arm QB. There were parts of the field I knew I didn't have to bother with. That won't be true with Cousins. 

As they were for Sam Bradford weak one, Dalvin Cook, play action, and movement are going to be Cousins' best friends. I think Flip is going to design an offense that uses all of them (plus some RPO) to help mitigate whatever protection problems arise. It might also spell an earlier entry into the starting lineup for a guy like O'Neill.

Keep in mind also...

Kirk Cousins – Cousins leads all quarterbacks within our sample in play-action passer rating. Luckily for him, Minnesota ranked second among all teams in play-action pass attempts last year, and by 35 more than the Washington Redskins, who ranked 18th. Minnesota does have a new offensive coordinator this year (John DeFilippo), who may be less aggressive in calling play-action passes than Pat Shurmur. In DeFilippo’s last year as offensive coordinator (2015 with the Browns), his team ranked 24th in play-action passes. However, perhaps he opts for a more play-action-heavy approach next season to account for Cousins’ strengths. If this is the case Cousins might be in a better situation than he was in Washington. As we mentioned earlier, team rushing attempts has a positive correlation to play-action passer rating, and Minnesota ranked second in team rushing attempts last year, while Washington ranked 22nd. -PFF

So despite the fact that Cook was out for the majority of the season, the Vikings were still able to use the play action pass effectively all year. Put him back on the team with the league's best play action passer and good things will happen. 

@"MaroonBells" said: While it may not BE worse, I think it's very possible that our line may LOOK a little worse next year.

Here's what I mean....Cousins is plenty mobile, but he's not as elusive as Keenum was. He'll probably take a few more sacks. Also, Cousins will throw the ball deep simply because he has the arm to do it. That means more 7-step drops and the need for the OL to hold their blocks longer. The good thing is that it also means that DBs will have to play the entire field. As a corner and safety, I remember loving when I played a crap-arm QB. There were parts of the field I knew I didn't have to bother with. That won't be true with Cousins. 

As they were for Sam Bradford weak one, Dalvin Cook, play action, and movement are going to be Cousins' best friends. I think Flip is going to design an offense that uses all of them (plus some RPO) to help mitigate whatever protection problems arise. It might also spell an earlier entry into the starting lineup for a guy like O'Neill.

Keep in mind also...

Kirk Cousins – Cousins leads all quarterbacks within our sample in play-action passer rating. Luckily for him, Minnesota ranked second among all teams in play-action pass attempts last year, and by 35 more than the Washington Redskins, who ranked 18th. Minnesota does have a new offensive coordinator this year (John DeFilippo), who may be less aggressive in calling play-action passes than Pat Shurmur. In DeFilippo’s last year as offensive coordinator (2015 with the Browns), his team ranked 24th in play-action passes. However, perhaps he opts for a more play-action-heavy approach next season to account for Cousins’ strengths. If this is the case Cousins might be in a better situation than he was in Washington. As we mentioned earlier, team rushing attempts has a positive correlation to play-action passer rating, and Minnesota ranked second in team rushing attempts last year, while Washington ranked 22nd. -PFF

So despite the fact that Cook was out for the majority of the season, the Vikings were still able to use the play action pass effectively all year. Put him back on the team with the league's best play action passer and good things will happen. 

- I agree that Kirk is plenty mobile and will pick up some yards on the ground from time to time. But from a pocket presence point of view he isn't going to be rolling out and making plays unless the play design is moving the pocket for him. It's not so much about being elusive, but my biggest takeaway from watching his WAS tape was can he make plays when the play falls apart? There isn't an answer yet. Case was incredible at making something out of nothing. In those same moments Kirk tends to try to do too much. That is where a majority of the sack fumbles come from to be honest. Hopefully a stronger supporting cast comes into play there. 

- I'm very intrigued to see how DeFilippo uses play action. The issue with play action and moving the quarterback is that you take away a portion of the field that is otherwise in play. Extreme example but if you roll Kirk to the right you already know he won't be throwing it down the weak side boundary. It works with Case because that's not a throw he's typically taking so you aren't giving it up. I think we're all going to be surprised how much RPO action we include at the expense of PA. Although RPO's have been around for years the concept fits Cousins so well. It makes the LB's and D-line hesitate without giving up a portion of the field.

- Weird stat but as the league has become a more pass driven league PA hasn't helped or hurt QB's and RB's. So although it's counter intuitive there isn't correlation between a strong running game and PA passing. The opposite is also true. 

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: While it may not BE worse, I think it's very possible that our line may LOOK a little worse next year.

Here's what I mean....Cousins is plenty mobile, but he's not as elusive as Keenum was. He'll probably take a few more sacks. Also, Cousins will throw the ball deep simply because he has the arm to do it. That means more 7-step drops and the need for the OL to hold their blocks longer. The good thing is that it also means that DBs will have to play the entire field. As a corner and safety, I remember loving when I played a crap-arm QB. There were parts of the field I knew I didn't have to bother with. That won't be true with Cousins. 

As they were for Sam Bradford weak one, Dalvin Cook, play action, and movement are going to be Cousins' best friends. I think Flip is going to design an offense that uses all of them (plus some RPO) to help mitigate whatever protection problems arise. It might also spell an earlier entry into the starting lineup for a guy like O'Neill.

Keep in mind also...

Kirk Cousins – Cousins leads all quarterbacks within our sample in play-action passer rating. Luckily for him, Minnesota ranked second among all teams in play-action pass attempts last year, and by 35 more than the Washington Redskins, who ranked 18th. Minnesota does have a new offensive coordinator this year (John DeFilippo), who may be less aggressive in calling play-action passes than Pat Shurmur. In DeFilippo’s last year as offensive coordinator (2015 with the Browns), his team ranked 24th in play-action passes. However, perhaps he opts for a more play-action-heavy approach next season to account for Cousins’ strengths. If this is the case Cousins might be in a better situation than he was in Washington. As we mentioned earlier, team rushing attempts has a positive correlation to play-action passer rating, and Minnesota ranked second in team rushing attempts last year, while Washington ranked 22nd. -PFF

So despite the fact that Cook was out for the majority of the season, the Vikings were still able to use the play action pass effectively all year. Put him back on the team with the league's best play action passer and good things will happen. 

A few points for discussion: 

- I agree that Kirk is plenty mobile and will pick up some yards on the ground from time to time. But from a pocket presence point of view he isn't going to be rolling out and making plays unless the play design is moving the pocket for him. It's not so much about being elusive, but my biggest takeaway from watching his WAS tape was can he make plays when the play falls apart? There isn't an answer yet. Case was incredible at making something out of nothing. In those same moments Kirk tends to try to do too much. That is where a majority of the sack fumbles come from to be honest. Hopefully a stronger supporting cast comes into play there. 

- I'm very intrigued to see how DeFilippo uses play action. The issue with play action and moving the quarterback is that you take away a portion of the field that is otherwise in play. Extreme example but if you roll Kirk to the right you already know he won't be throwing it down the weak side boundary. It works with Case because that's not a throw he's typically taking so you aren't giving it up. I think we're all going to be surprised how much RPO action we include at the expense of PA. Although RPO's have been around for years the concept fits Cousins so well. It makes the LB's and D-line hesitate without giving up a portion of the field.

- Weird stat but as the league has become a more pass driven league PA hasn't helped or hurt QB's and RB's. So although it's counter intuitive there isn't correlation between a strong running game and PA passing. The opposite is also true.