Vikings Will Have an Offense Tweak in 2024
They’ve pledged this before; we shall see if it comes true this go-round.
Vikings Will Have an Offense Tweak in 2024
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell renewed a vow from the 2023 offseason this week, promising to run the football more this season — and do so more effectively.
“We’re gonna run the football, and we want to establish it,” O’Connell told KFAN’s Dan Barreiro on Wednesday. The Vikings ranked 27th per rushing DVOA in 2023. The club also finished 27th per the same metric in 2022 and pledged to improve in 2023. They did not.
Thankfully, Minnesota has Aaron Jones in the saddle this time, a Green Bay Packers defector added to the roster from free agency in March. Although he’ll turn 30 in December, Jones finished the 2023 campaign on a white-hot tear that helped the cheese team upset the Dallas Cowboys in the Wildcard Round of the postseason.
O’Connell said about Jones, “He’s unique. He’s dynamic. I think when he’s been at his best throughout his career, you’ve seen that other guy. That AJ Dillon, Jamaal Williams. And that allows him to be a featured, all-three-down back.”
Fans consider Jones the fix-all to the rushing woes, assuming his hot streak from 2023 will directly translate to Minnesota’s offense in September. If not, the franchise also employs Ty Chandler, a running back who established himself as an efficient contributor down the stretch last season.
“I have a ton of confidence in Ty Chandler … We feel really, really good about Ty Chandler. I’m excited to see both those guys. Because I do think they’re different. I do think they have different skill sets. But at the same time, we can run the same offense with both of them,” O’Connell opined during the KFAN interview.
Meanwhile, in June, Pro Football Focus ranked Minnesota’s rushing attack as the 13th-best personnel heading into 2024. The Vikings’ coaching staff stubbornly clung to Alexander Mattison last year, and he now plays for the Las Vegas Raiders. It’s a new day at running back in Minnesota, with Jones and Chandler holding down the fort.
Establishing the run — or at least making it not-dreadful — is vital because an offense needs balance if a team wishes to contend in the postseason. Minnesota has produced more one-score games than any NFL team in the last three seasons, and that’s a product of its inability to close out a game when taking a lead. The easiest way to win a football game with a lead is to gain first downs, and running the ball moves the sticks.
The Vikings realize it, and O’Connell’s words this week echoed the sentiment.
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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