Did Kirk Cousins Take Steps Backwards under O’Connell in 2022?
When the Minnesota Vikings announced their intent to hire former Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell as their new head coach, the immediate thought was, ‘what a boost this will be for Kirk Cousins and the Vikings offense.’
I mean, O’Connell was one of the staff of offensive masterminds that had led the Rams to a Super Bowl Championship in 2021, and they did so largely behind their innovative, pass-focused offensive schemes.
After eight years of defensive-minded head coaching under Mike Zimmer, this change was being met with open arms. But along with those welcomed embraces for more of a modern NFL approach, lofty expectations accompanied the move, and truth be told, it came from players and fans alike.
Did Kirk Cousins Take Steps Backwards under O’Connell in 2022?
For Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, it was assuredly a welcome change from a regime that hadn’t always seen eye-to-eye with the changing landscape of offensive game-planning in the NFL. Secondarily, the change brought with it a high probability that Cousins would see the same offensive gameplan and same offensive coaching staff for back-to-back seasons for the first time dating back to his time with the Washington Commanders.
For better and worse, Cousins’ experience with the Vikings had been lacking schematic consistency. Learning a new playbook, understanding new focal points, and adjusting to new language had been taking a toll on Cousins. It was potentially holding the Vikings offense back from what they could become.
So the addition of an offensive-minded head coach, who comes to us from the Sean McVay coaching tree, who was once a quarterback in the league himself, was thought to bring an opportunity for Cousins to take steps in a positive direction.
But is that how it played out on the field?
When you strictly look at Cousins’ numbers, his proof of performance tells a story that may or may not be evidence of improvement.
As expected, Cousins saw an uptick in his total pass attempts from year-to-year (up 14.6%). He threw for the second most yards over the season that he has in the entirety of his career (326 more than the year prior. And he nearly set a new career high for completions in one season (424, 1 completion behind his top mark of 425 set in 2018, his first season with the Vikings).
But the common thought all season long remained that Kirk wasn’t having as good of a season as he had in previous seasons with the Vikings, let alone during his time in Washington, D.C.
According to his passer rating (92.5) and QBR (49.9), Kirk actually just had the worst season since becoming a full-time starter in 2015. He threw the most interceptions of his entire career (14). He threw fewer touchdowns (29) than in his previous two seasons with the Vikings and saw dips in his yards per attempt (7.1), yards gained per pass completion (10.7), and completion percentage (65.9%).
But when you look deeper into the performances and what Kirk and the Vikings were able to accomplish, you might start to see a bit of a different narrative start to form, and it remains in line with the story that the coach and his teammates are telling.
Kirk finished the year leading the Vikings to a 13-4 record. I’d like to think that it’s pretty tough for your team to post a gaudy record like that if your quarterback is not playing his role pretty well. Next up, Cousins successfully converted 230 first downs this season, a career-high for him. The team was moving the ball, putting points on the board, and the quarterback was the catalyst for much of that. Finally, it was well documented that Kirk also put eight fourth-quarter comebacks and 8 game-winning drives on the table this season. Dude flexed the clutch gene time and time again, coming up huge when his team needed him the most.
Add to that the fact that dude got sacked 46 times, the most in his career, this season and still found a way to be impactful, and we’re looking at a gutty performance from our guy Kirk.
His teammates clearly still look to him as a leader in the locker room. He received all but one vote to represent the team as a captain this year and the lone vote that left him off the short-list…his own ballot. I love this story…
He’s continually gaining respect from his teammates behind the scenes. His coaches all seem to adore him, with opposing coaches like Kyle Shanahan continually gushing over him, and he puts up numbers both on the regular and in the clutch.
Just imagine what having the same offensive scheme, the same offensive coach, and (largely) the same offensive weapons in back-to-back seasons for the first time in forever will do for the cohesiveness of this team next year. It could spell big things for Cousins and the Vikings alike.
At the end of the day, we’ll have to look to the follow-up performance that he can put on the table in 2023 to really weigh the growth that we saw from Cousins in 2022, but the next time that you’re Kirk-Hating buddy starts explaining to you how Cousins had a bad season in 2023, pull some other data points out of your quiver and talk some sense back into them.
It’s easy to spout off and tout an unproven college football quarterback as the next sure thing in the NFL, but the reality is the Vikings best bet to win in 2023 (and likely into 2024) is with Kirk Cousins under center leading this team.
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