5 Ways for the Vikings to Improve Their Offense
The 2022 Minnesota Vikings had a decent offense and a bad defense. That defense was the reason why the team wasn’t considered a contending team even after finishing the season 13-4.
5 Ways for the Vikings to Improve Their Decent Offense
Plenty of changes had to follow, and the Vikes adjusted their defensive coordinator and brought in a bunch of new players. While it is always important to improve the weaknesses, the strengths shouldn’t be overlooked. The offense wasn’t perfect, and they can improve a few things in the second year of Kevin O’Connell’s tenure.
The offense ranked 8th in points per game scored and 7th in yards per game. They were 11th in yards per play and had the 3rd-most first downs. While all that is good, O’Connell should look to unlock even more of the offense’s potential.
Limiting Turnovers
The Vikings gave up the ball 23 times, ranking them in the NFL’s bottom half. For comparison, the Lions posted 15 turnovers, the Giants 16, and the 49ers 17. Over half of it, 15 to be exact, were interceptions. Only six teams had more of those.
Some of them were fluky plays. A couple of bad routes from Jalen Reagor against the Colts come to mind. In addition to that, Kirk Cousins threw some unusually bad picks. Coming off a year in which he only had 7 interceptions in 2021, he doubled that number in 2022. Some of that can be attributed to a more aggressive playing style, but he also missed some throws. Interstingly, his turnover-worthy throw percentage barely changed. According to PFF, he ranked close to the middle of the pack in both of the last two campaigns – 2.9 in 2022 and 2.8 in 2021.
The eight lost fumbles landed the purple team in the upper half. Dalvin Cook had four of them, Cousins three, and T.J. Hockenson one. Cook-replacement Alexander Mattison has only lost a pair of fumbles in his career.
Player Development
Unlike the first point, this one can’t be a point of emphasis and is hard to predict. However, there are a few guys who could step up and simply get better at their jobs. Christian Darrisaw is the best example. He made a fabulous jump in his second year with the team and played at an All-Pro level.
Ed Ingram is entering his second season at the professional level. The offensive guard struggled mightily but slowly improved as the year went on. Another advancement is needed to give pocket-passer Cousins a decent pocket for the first time in his tenure with the Vikings.
K.J. Osborn fired up 655 and 650 yards in the last two seasons. Without Adam Thielen in the picture, it could be a decent year for him, but he must get open more consistently to fend off rookie Jordan Addison. An effective WR2 is a great way to unlock some parts of the offense, as it would allow the Vikes to be less dependent on Jefferson.
Emphasizing the Rushing Attack
While the passing offense was top 10 in many categories, the run game ranked in the bottom tier in most metrics. It ranked 28th in DVOA, 29th in EPA/Play, 27th in yards, 25th in yards per attempt, and 27th in getting first downs by run.
Only the Chargers and the Buccaneers had a lower percentage of actually running the ball, and there are two reasons for it. The rushing attack wasn’t efficient enough to warrant more of it, and O’Connell likes his offense to throw the ball.
Dalvin Cook wasn’t very effective either and ranked close to the bottom in different metrics. His -0.16 yards per run over expected ranked him 41st of 48 eligible rushers. He was replaced by Mattison, who has never been a favorite of those metrics. Even hardcore Mattison fans wouldn’t call him an upgrade. He is cheaper and can do many things Cook can do, so he is more cost-effective, but that doesn’t make him a better overall player.
The potential improvements have to come from outside of the running back position. Signing tight end Josh Oliver certainly helped. He is a fantastic run-blocker, and his addition could imply that the team wants to run more sets with two tight ends. The Vikings also extended C.J. Ham’s contract after only using him on roughly 10% of the plays. Expect to see more of him in 2023. Higher usage of plays with additional tight ends and fullbacks could indicate a shift towards a Kyle Shanahan offense with fewer elements of the Sean McVay Rams.
Another point of emphasis should be play-calling and play design. O’Connell can do better at both, especially in the running game. The design of his passing attack appeared to be much more creative than the running game.
Jordan Addison
It is pretty straightforward. If the rookie is the real deal, that offense will be hard to stop. The 2022 version of the team had Justin Jefferson, who was virtually unguardable despite not having a real WR2 who took advantage of his double-teams. Addison can be that guy.
He is a fantastic route-runner, and his elite college production in two different offensive systems proves he is a good player. Addison missed mandatory minicamp and OTAs with a minor injury, but he was clearly the target in the draft, and everyone immediately raved about him in rookie minicamp.
It might take a few games for him to get comfortable, but once he is up to speed, and if he is as good as advertised, the league is in trouble. Stopping Jefferson, Addison, Osborn, and Hockenson with Cousins passing them the ball in an O’Connell offense will not be easy.
Continuity
This one has already happened. The Vikings’ offense returns nine starters from 2022 (and C.J. Ham) – only Cook and Thielen aren’t on the team anymore. All five offensive linemen are back, which should lead to fantastic chemistry up front after a decade of musical chairs.
In addition to the players, the coaching staff has also remained the same. It will once again be O’Connell as the skipper, Wes Phillips as the offensive coordinator, Brian Angelichio as the TE coach and passing game coordinator, Chris Kuper as the OL coach, Keenan McCardell as the WR coach, Chris O’Hara as QB coach, and Curtis Modkins as RB coach and run game coordinator.
Cousins will have the same offensive coordinator for the first time since 2016. It remains to be seen if he can take advantage of it, but the stability certainly won’t hurt.
An Ex-Viking Quietly Wrecked the USFL
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt
You must be logged in to post a comment.