Questions Answered: Most Impactful Recent Vikings Move, Kirk Cousins Rumors, the Depth Chart
The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by VikingsTerritory. Today is the July 30th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Questions Answered: Most Impactful Recent Vikings Move, Kirk Cousins Rumors, the Depth Chart
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
Q: Of all these recent free-agent moves, which one do you believe will move the needle the most during the regular season?
Answer: Duke Shelley’s return.
It’s worth noting that all the Vikings’ recent free-agent signings are meh per name recognition, and in fact, most could be cut by the end of the summer. However, Shelley might have staying power, and we refuse to believe his 2022 performance was an accident.
Of course, Brian Flores’ defense is significantly different from Ed Donatell’s that year, but Shelley can be a go-to defender, and he’ll prove it this summer in a cornerback room ravaged by injury and tragedy.
Q: Do you think Kirk Cousins is telling the truth about Kevin O’Connell’s proclamation of not drafting a quarterback if Cousins stayed?
Answer: We think someone got their wires crossed.
“I don’t think they were ready to go there yet in March. I think the reality is just that they wanted to give themselves that flexibility,” Cousins told the Scoop City podcast this week. “And I remember Kevin [O’Connell] ‘s words, which I’m not going to hold them to, were, ‘Hey, if we sign you back, I would think it’s very unlikely that we would draft somebody.’ It was something to that effect. But I also know in the league things change.”
Cousins also mentioned short-term deals as why he decided against a seventh season in purple. “I just felt it had been — and was going to be — basically one year, one year, one year,” he told Dianna Russini. “I felt like, ‘Yeah, maybe I do want to play in Minnesota another five or six years, but it’s going to be on one-year contracts.’ That’s the plan they’ve chosen that they wanted to walk. I thought, ‘OK, I don’t really want to do that. I’ll do it if it’s my only option.”
The Vikings couldn’t pass up this year’s quarterback draft class for a seventh season of Cousins. It was time for new blood. It would’ve also been really odd for general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to leave the most recent draft without a quarterback of the future.
Q: Is it true that Kevin O’Connell doesn’t have a depth chart in mind this late in July?
A: No.
Every time O’Connell is in front of a microphone, reporters ask him about a QB1 update. Well, he won’t name a starter until early September.
Declaring “there is no depth chart” yet is O’Connell’s tactic of diplomatic patience. He sees what’s happening on the field each day. If he doesn’t have a depth chart in mind, well, he’s doing it wrong.
Former Vikings left tackle Bryant McKinnie told VikingsTerritory on VikesNow a few weeks ago that a depth chart is available for all players at the start of training camp — which makes sense because players must know where they stand.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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