Friday mailbag: Receiver roles and separate play calls
It may be summer but Vikings fan questions never take a vacation...
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By Matthew Coller
Happy Friday everyone! We have entered the dead period of the NFL schedule but Purple Insider carries on and luckily Vikings fans have lots of good questions so let’s jump right in…
@HollandJohnD What are you learning about new LB Jordan Hicks, so far, and how he’ll be used in our new defensive scheme?
It seems Hicks’ role is going to be similar to what Anthony Barr was asked to do when they play nickel. The question is whether they will play nickel at the same rate as they did under Zimmer, where it was essentially the base defense. Denver’s top traditional linebacker last year played fewer than 600 snaps, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they mix and match Hicks with Cam Bynum and a dime/three-safety look depending on the matchup. As far as the player, he’s been very durable in recent years but unremarkable in terms of metrics like PFF grade, coverage, run defense etc. The expectation should be solid play while Eric Kendricks is relied upon to do the heavy lifting.
@Lefty514 With the fact that Cousins struggles with plays after the first read, do you think he'll be comfortable with the KOC system of having 2 separate plays to choose from, each requiring separate reads?
The whole thing about sending in two plays isn’t new to Cousins. You’ve probably heard quarterbacks on TV yell “kill, kill, kill” at the line of scrimmage. That means they’re killing the first play and going to the second. Say the QB sees that there are only three defenders lined up on the strong side of the offense but the first play was designed to run toward four defenders on the weak side. The QB will switch to the second play, which is designed to go to the other side.
When it comes to the pass game, it might depend on something like whether there are two deep safeties or if there’s a safety in the box. If there’s an extra man in the box, go with the pass play, if it’s two deep then go with the run. That’s the simplest version but there’s a ton of different combinations and variables, which is why it’s so darn hard to be a quarterback. I’m not sure if the Kubiaks were doing this but Cousins said he’s done it before.
Whether he’ll be fully comfortable with the system from Day 1 and on the same page with everyone is another story. But he switched from very different systems in Washington to Minnesota in 2018 and started off the season strongly. The one trip up might be the freedom for wide receivers to make a lot of changes. That really requires them and Cousins to be on the same page and… well… ya know.
@TBA7120 IYO what are the top 3 most vulnerable position groups on the Vikings roster? For me it's QB, LB, Secondary.
Quarterback probably doesn’t count here because that’s the case for everyone. There might be five teams who could sustain losing their QB for any length of time and still make the playoffs. The cornerback group specifically would rank No. 1 in my book. Peterson-Dantzler-Sullivan has lots of questions and we don’t have any indication about where Booth Jr. stands yet. After that it’s receiver. You really have to like the way KJ Osborn played as WR3 but in the WR2 role with Thielen out last year it was a different story. They’re going to use lots of three-receiver sets, so the depth and health will be super important. Defensive end after that (until proven otherwise). There’s some intriguing guys in Patrick Jones and Janarius Robinson but nobody proven behind Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter. If they can’t create pressure from the edge, there won’t be any pressure at all coming from anywhere.
@jasnyder123 W/ Jefferson in the Kupp role & Thielen outside, is Irv or Osborn in the Robert Woods role? Woods seemed to play like a RB due to his physicality and the way they used him blocking, swing passes, jet sweeps, etc. Irv/Osborn both seem like they could fit a role like this.
Robert Woods isn’t really a player that anyone can replicate. They used him as a blocker like a tight end and he could win at all levels as a receiver and get yards after catch. I would guess they won’t be able to put any of these receivers in a spot where they have to lay important blocks like that but they’ll use motions and pre-snap movement to keep the defense off balance in the run game like a lot of teams did to the Vikings last year, including the Rams. We don’t usually think of the Rams and tight ends but Tyler Higbee was really important for the Rams last year. He played over 1,000 snaps (including playoffs). Irv Smith isn’t quite his size though, Higbee is 255 pounds. O’Connell will need to adapt all the roles to the players’ strengths. Even with Jefferson, it would be silly to run him deep as rarely as the Rams did with Kupp because he’s the best in the NFL at going deep.
@brandon_berg Do you think we'll ever have another run on backup QBs named Billy Joe liked we did in the 90s? (Billy Joe Tolliver, Billy Joe Hobert)
Unfortunately I’m skeptical that we will. However, we still have some pretty good backup QB names these days. Here are some real guys on rosters:
Dustin Crum
Davis Creek
Chase Garbers
Kurt Benkert
Easton Stick
Gardner Minshew (budding journeyman legend)
Chris Oladokun
Bailey Zappe
Jarrett Guarantano
We usually remain objective here at Purple Insider but who isn’t rooting for every single one of these fellas?
@headcoach21 In game management situations what is the dumbest thing a head coach can do??
Usually kick a field goal inside the 25-yard line. I think that’s worse than punting at the opposing 38-yard line. At least with the punt, you’re trying to pin them inside the 5-yard line and occasionally it works. If you’re kicking from under 25 (and it isn’t a game-winner), you are taking three points rather than taking a shot at gaining eight yards or less. And if you don’t gain that eight yards, the opposing team has to go 92 or more yards to score a touchdown. The reward outweighs the risk by so much, I’m astonished when a coach decides to go up 3-0 early in a game these days.
The other thing is blowing a second-half timeout rather than taking a delay of game. Just eat the five yards, man.
@nokenneth Still would love to add Baker to this roster for minimal draft pick compensation. I’m guessing it could be argued both ways. Try and sell why it’d be a good idea..then I can use your eloquent takes instead of my string-bet reasoning.
Baker…Mayfield? Well, the issue with trading a late-round pick for Mayfield is that the Vikings can’t afford him on the cap unless the Browns took most of his money back, which is what Carolina reportedly tried to do during the draft but Cleveland wouldn’t agree to keep his cap hit. If Mayfield gets cut by the Browns, I can’t see him coming to Minnesota unless Kirk Cousins gets hurt. He’s going to want to go somewhere where the starting QB might get benched and he’ll have a chance to prove himself. Now if the Vikings had traded Cousins and waited it out, they could have easily landed Mayfield and saved themselves some cap space for this year and then had complete freedom to do whatever they wanted at QB after 2022. There will be a lotta what-ifs at the QB position as we watch this play out and that’s definitely one of them.
@kyleshaner Besides Kirk Cousins, which player being injured would be the most detrimental to the 2022 Vikings’ season?
Justin Jefferson and there’s nobody even close after that. If we put Jefferson aside, losing Eric Kendricks would be a big problem because the depth after Jordan Hicks is Blake Lynch, Chazz Surratt, Troy Dye and Brian Asamoah. Any health issues at the cornerback or defensive end positions could be problematic too. As has been the case for a few years, you can talk yourself into the starters being good but it’s tough to trust the depth. People will always respond with: “No team has depth!” That’s all sorts of not true. Once upon a time not long ago, Brian Robison, Anthony Harris and Mackensie Alexander were depth Vikings on defense. Odell Beckham Jr. was brought into the Rams as an extra piece. The 49ers that reached the Super Bowl against the Chiefs had like six dudes who could rush the passer. This team just hasn’t hit on developmental draft picks in recent years to have any margin for injury.
@ChrissySnaza84 what’s you way-to-early-June take on who the #Vikings will retain at WR/RB/TE? I see the #Texans signed Chad Beebe. Also, which road game are you most looking forward to?
For right now… subject to lots of change…
WR: Jefferson, Thielen, Osborn, Johnson, Smith-Marsette, Nailor, Chisena (special teams)
TE: Smith Jr., Mundt, Ellefson
RB: Cook, Mattison, Nwangwu, Chandler
That would mean Albert Wilson, Zach Davidson and Nick Muse getting cut but those battles will be worth watching.
Good luck to Chad Beebe. I always had a ton of respect for him as an undrafted guy who fought his way onto the field and made some plays. That’s way more than most UDFA guys do.
The tentative road plan right now is for me to travel to Philly and Buffalo, Paul Hodowanic to represent Purple Insider somewhere (Miami?) and Jonathan Harrison, who runs the social media account, to travel to England to cover the Saints game. Along with the usual Green Bay and Chicago trips. Buffalo being my home town makes that one special because I’ll get to meet up with family and friends that I haven’t seen in a long time and Philadelphia is a huge game. The only downside to Philly is that the stadium is out in the middle of nowhere so it’s not great for touristy things to do the day before. In 2017, Judd Zulgad and I ate at a Ruby Tuesdays near the airport like four times.
@bulldogs13tv Any chance the Watson trade overtakes the Herschel trade? The legal issues. The picks. Guaranteed money. I know it’s fun to pile on Baker but he had to have some friends/allies in that locker room. What if they closed their own window and turned back into the Browns.
I believe every NFL contract has something built in that says if you do something horrendous, it’s a violation of the contract and guarantees can be voided. Just a guess here but I’m thinking the Browns had Watson sign that part in extra big letters. But I’d be shocked if the NFL comes down so hard on Watson that the contract ends up being a bust. Even if they suspend him for the year, he comes back in his prime in 2023 and they either play Baker or he sits out and they play Jacoby Brissett and have a halfway competitive team and then the next year everyone moves on. Watson isn’t going to jail, so unless the NFL is going to kick him out of the league for life, which only happens if you protest apparently, it’ll probably still work out for Cleveland.
@HandAvenue One word answer only: should we talk about Mond, FA centers or Anthony Barr this week?
No, no, no.
@___Peter_Man___ Nate Stanley?
Yeah, I dunno man. Maybe he’ll throw some fourth quarter preseason touchdowns and have fans fall in love with him. It’s happened before.
@smccullough5 What's the most footbally FOOTBALL take you got all off season? How many road games are you planning on going to this year and does the cities food play any role in your decision making?
The food of the travel city has played a role before, specifically Kansas City. I had never been before and I wanted to see if the BBQ lived up to the hype. Emphatic yes. Usually the road games are determined by importance or whether I have family in that city i.e. Buffalo or Los Angeles. As far as FOOTBALL takez, it seems like the people who are really talking themselves into this coaching staff always come with a chalkboard filled with newspaper clippings that are connected by strands of yarn like that GIF from It’s Always Sunny. “YOU SEE, IT’S GOING TO BE THE INCREASED SLOT PERCENTAGE OF JEFFERSON COMBINED WITH JET MOTION AND COVERAGE INDICATORS THAT WILL RESULT IN MORE FIRST-READ PASSES FOR KIRK!”
I told somebody the other day: It’s June, I’m not gonna try to bring you down from the offseason high.
InfraRen Longer NFL career: Jalen Reagor or Jalen Nailor?
If Laquon Treadwell taught us anything, if you’re a first-round pick, you’re going to get second, third and fourth chances. Reagor will be in the league a long time. Whether he’s ever good is a different story. I’m interested in Nailor as a similar guy to Smith-Marsette where there’s enough playmaking there to have a little intrigue.
@kylewilkentdb Will training camp be worth going to this year? Seems like there are not a lot of jobs available and it will be at half speed
If you have kids, it’s a really fun experience to bring them out and see their favorite players up close. I remember my family going to a few Buffalo Bills camps as a kid and it was awesome. If you’re a grown up and you’ve never been and you want to see how fast Justin Jefferson really looks in person, sure, check it out. Bring a friend. If you want to go in order to scout the Vikings’ first-team offense looking for clues that this year is your year, you are wasting your time, they’re not going to show you anything. If you’re the person who sits in the stands and video tapes every play for Twitter and Instagram likes, you’re weird as hell and you need a better hobby. Go fishing or something.
@ATKing123456 I hear that the college game and the pro game are very far apart in terms of playstyle and preparation these days. Is this negatively impacting the pros at all? Or is it such a machine that they get them in and "get them right" too quickly to have an effect?
I don’t think it negatively impacts the pros, it’s just kind of a fact of life. The competition is so much more difficult in the NFL than anything you’ll see in college. If you play for Alabama, there will still only be a handful of players on your team capable of playing in the NFL. Coaches also cannot ask college players to do the things that pros can do just based on their talent and knowledge of the game. All NFL players have to deeply understand their roles and most have to see the entire picture. One thing pro prospects should consider when they go to college is whether their coach is an X’s and O’s guy or a salesman/culture guy. Everyone in the big leagues is an X’s and O’s coach. If you’re a salesman, you end up looking like Urban Meyer in the NFL. I do see players having so much access to trainers and individual coaches that they are more prepared than ever to make that jump.
@hurley2112 What is the plan for backup QB? Do you think they will wait for one to get cut before the season starts or ride with what they have?
Sean Mannion SZN.
@ArraezFCPres Why don't we just cut 56?
When a guy gets benched by the previous coaching staff, it’s an odd decision to bring him to camp uncontested the following year. It seems that they believe this system will be more advantageous. He’s also not expensive and they aren’t locked into him. Maybe it’s just a matter of finding out whether there’s something more there. Or maybe Chris Reed ends up battling for that job as camp goes on. I dunno.
@JamesOw02568686 Greatest journeyman qb in Vikings history? Case Keenum because of 2017? Randall Cunningham in 98?
Jim McMahon, Jeff George, Brad Johnson, Rich Gannon…they all had their journeys, man. I have to lean toward Cunningham because ‘98 season is absolutely legendary — though Randall and Case are very different in their category of journeyman. Randall is an NFL legend. He was a top five QB at his peak. Case is a career backup who came out of absolutely nowhere. The coolest part of Randall is that he did it purely with his arm. He never got the credit he deserved as a passer with the Eagles but after that, he had to be respected for his arm.
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