6 reasons to be excited about the 2019 Minnesota Vikings
By Nik Edlund
Improved running game
There is no way around it, the Vikings had no running game a season ago. They became a one-dimensional offense early in the year and never got out of that funk. This ultimately led to the firing of offensive coordinator John DeFilippo and opened the door for Kevin Stefanski to take over the play calling.
Minnesota has made improving their rushing attack a priority this entire offseason. They’ve added more pieces to the offensive line and they used a third-round draft pick on a running back in Alexander Mattison who will likely replace Latavius Murray as the short-yardage back. The Vikings also have Dalvin Cook who is 100 percent healthy and ready for to breakout in 2019.
Minnesota also brought in Gary Kubiak this offseason as an advisor to help oversee the offense. Kubiak is a zone-blocking scheme guru who loves to run the football.
He isn’t calling the plays for the offense in 2019, but fans should expect to see the Vikings at least run the football more often during the upcoming season.
This should lead to a much more balanced attack for Minnesota’s offense in 2019. An effective running game will take tons of pressure off of Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and it should result in him taking fewer hits.
It should also wear out opposing defenses and lead to some big-play opportunities for the Vikings, which will do nothing but get fans to Skol-chant their hearts out.