The Man Who Stands to Benefit the Most from the Arrival of Kevin O’Connell
For the first seven years of Mike Zimmer’s tenure with the Minnesota Vikings, his offenses leaned heavily on two wide receivers, mainly some combination of Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs or Thielen and Justin Jefferson. And just when Zimmer started to get with the program in emphasizing a WR3 in 2021, his employment ended with the Vikings, leaving the franchise after back-to-back underwhelming seasons in 2020 and 2021.
The wide receiver who experienced a mini-bust-out in 2021 was K.J. Osborn, a second-year wideout from the University of Miami. Among others, Osborn is the man who stands to benefit the most from the arrival of new head coach Kevin O’Connell, who replaced Zimmer after a Super Bowl championship with Los Angeles Rams as offensive coordinator.
Zimmer was hired in 2014, and this was the input via receiving yards from his WR3 by year until he departed the Vikings:
2014: Charles Johnson (475 yards)
2015: Jarius Wright (442 yards)
2016: Cordarrelle Patterson (453 yards)
2017: Laquon Treadwell (200 yards)
2018: Laquon Treadwell (302 yards)
2019: Olabisi Johnson (294 yards)
2020: Chad Beebe (201 yards)
2021: K.J. Osborn (655 yards)
Until Osborn’s emergence last year, Zimmer’s WR3 production became worse throughout his stay in Minnesota — an odd occurrence as pass-happiness in the NFL escalated from 2014 to 2020. While the league was promoting passing and folding in WR3s more than ever, the Vikings cut back on tapping such players for contributions.
Unsurprisingly, the Rams did nothing of the sort, refusing to trim the workload for WR3s. In fact, Sean McVay and Kevin O’Connell were bold enough to trade for Odell Beckham in November of 2021, envisioning a four-headed monster of Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Odell Beckham, and the upstart Van Jefferson.
The Vikings would typically employ Jefferson, Thielen, and “whoever” before Osborn rose to prominence in 2021.
The Rams way of doing things on offense is the antithesis to the Zimmer brand. Los Angeles steps on necks, whereas the Zimmer Vikings sought to suffocate with defense while hoping to throw about 20-25 points on the scoreboard. Zimmer wanted to play defense, limit turnovers, score some points, and get the hell out of the stadium. And in Zimmer’s defense, the plan often worked before the onset of 2020 when his defense mind-bogglingly died.
But now the Vikings will get with the times, championing offense-first operations and hoping the defense can keep pace. Of course, for the Rams, the strategy was “easy” with players like Aaron Donald, Von Miller, and Jalen Ramsey. So, Minnesota has a tall order to rebuild a defense in relative shambles.
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The top-heaviness of WR1-WR2 accentuation executed by the Vikings should be an apparition of the past. It’s fine and dandy to involve Jefferson and Thielen to the utmost. O’Connell will still do that. Yet, when one of them misses a game from time to time, panic need not be on the menu, as was the case in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. When the Rams lost Robert Woods for the season — right after the Beckham trade — a collective “oh well” was evident. The team had Odell Beckham and Van Jefferson at its disposal — and it used them in the offense.
Osborn was already trending northward in a Zimmer and Klint Kubiak regime. Now, he can climb to higher summits with an offensive brain residing in Minneapolis.
It’s about time.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. His YouTube Channel, VikesNow, debuts in March 2022. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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