There are plenty of questions for the Minnesota Vikings offense heading into the 2020 season.
There was once a time when the offseason discussions surrounding the Minnesota Vikings centered around the offense.
With a cast of talented young weapons combined with adding Kirk Cousins and a couple of high-end draft picks to the offensive line, the Vikings finally had the pieces together to become a top unit on the offensive side of the ball.
While things started well under Kevin Stefanski in 2019, Minnesota’s offense became inconsistent in the second half of the season after Adam Thielen suffered a hamstring injury and Dalvin Cook had to miss time with shoulder and chest ailments.
After Stefanski eventually left to become head coach of the Cleveland Browns this offseason, the Vikings were focused on keeping things the way they were. But even then, there are still questions about Minnesota’s 2020 offense that need to be answered.
WIth Gary Kubiak taking over for Stefanski and Stefon Diggs traded to the Buffalo Bills, there are still a lot of moving parts as we move toward the 2020 season.
So let’s look at what some of the biggest questions for the Vikings’ current offense are and whether or not the team has a way to figure them out before the upcoming season begins.
Can anyone overtake Mannion for the backup QB spot?
As with any year, most people will be fixated on if Kirk Cousins can take the next step. However, after a season in which he threw for 26 touchdowns and six interceptions, there might not be much more Cousins can do to achieve some other level. At 32-years-old, he kind of is what he is, which makes what’s behind him a little more interesting.
Last offseason, an internal debate among Vikings fans raged that Kyle Sloter was better than Sean Mannion. As Mike Zimmer preached about practice habits, the eye test showed that Sloter was able to get more out of the offense than Mannion during preseason games.
Alas, Minnesota wanted someone who was more supportive of Cousins and Mannion stuck around.
One year later, the Vikings never seemed to find a better option. Mannion was re-signed to a one-year deal and 2019 UDFA Jake Browning might not be ready to take that spot (if ever). Minnesota’s seventh-round selection of Nate Stanley this year throws another arm into the mix, but it’s not certain that he will become a legitimate NFL quarterback even as a backup.
As we move toward training camp, it doesn’t feel like Mannion is fighting for his job. Since Cousins is entrenched as the Vikings starter, that makes sense. But a look back to 2016 should suggest Minnesota proceeds with caution.
That year, with Teddy Bridgewater as the starter, a wrong step in practice thrust Sean Hill into the starting lineup, and Minnesota frantically burned a first-round pick to acquire Sam Bradford.
The Vikings have more pressing needs on offense than figuring out their backup quarterback position. But with Mannion still looking for his first career touchdown pass as he enters his sixth year in the league, it’s something the Vikings might want to keep an eye on.
Can Cook stay on the field in 2020?
A glimpse at this question seems like we’re stating the obvious. When on the field, Dalvin Cook is one of the best running backs in the NFL. The biggest problem, however, has been his ability to stay on it.
A big part of that has been his injury history. After tearing his ACL in his rookie season and pulling a hamstring in his second year, Cook has played in 31 of 52 possible games (including playoffs) since coming to Minnesota in 2017.
Such a history is problematic for a team that relies on Cook to be the centerpiece of their offense. But it also throws in a giant wrench when it comes to contract negotiations.
With one year left on his rookie deal, Cook is going to the negotiating table at a good time. Entering his age 25 season, there’s a good chance that Cook will be able to produce for the majority of his next deal. But that’s where the dollar amount comes into question.
As Cook has had trouble staying on the field, the Vikings may be reluctant to give him a deal comparable to the one Christian McCaffrey just received from the Carolina Panthers. But as a running back, Cook is going to want to grab every possible penny he can get with his next contract.
This begs the question of whether Minnesota can get a deal done before next season. The Vikings have the cap room to make a deal happen at the moment, but the unknown status of the 2021 salary cap throws another wrench into negotiations.
If Cook isn’t ready to go at any time in 2020, it will put a lot of pressure on Alexander Mattison and that’s another piece of Minnesota’s offense that will change.
Did the Vikings do enough behind their top receivers?
Stefon Diggs may be off to western New York, but the same question still surrounds the Vikings receivers for 2020.
After trying to find someone to step up behind Diggs and Adam Thielen, Minnesota was chained to two-receiver sets last season as Laquon Treadwell, Chad Beebe, and others never answered the call.
This year, Minnesota added Justin Jefferson with the first-round draft pick they acquired in the Diggs trade. But this basically just put the Vikings back in the same situation. They still have their two stud receivers, but what happens when they need someone to step up?
The favorite in this regard is second-year receiver, Olabisi Johnson. His rookie season turned out better than most Minnesota receivers in the recent past. But his stat line of 31 catches for 294 yards and three touchdowns was disappointing when one considers he was thrust into the starting lineup when Thielen went down with a hamstring injury.
Behind Johnson is a group of mediocrity as the Vikings added Tajae Sharpe in free agency this year and K.J. Osborn in the draft to go along with Beebe, who can’t seem to stay on the field.
There’s a good chance that Minnesota may not need a third guy to step up if Thielen and Jefferson do their jobs, but this limits what Gary Kubiak can do offensively.
If nobody becomes the third option, Kubiak’s visions of using Jefferson and Thielen all over the formation go out the window and the Vikings essentially stay the way they’ve been since ditching the pass-happy ways of former offensive coordinator John DeFilippo.
Will Smith break out in 2020?
For years, Vikings have wanted a dynamic complement to Kyle Rudolph. Last season, they took a big step toward getting one with the selection of Irv Smith Jr. in the second round of the NFL Draft.
The Alabama product didn’t put up a rookie campaign that would help anyone win their fantasy league with 36 catches, 311 yards, and two touchdowns. But he showed signs of improvement down the stretch.
As Bo Mitchell of Zone Coverage recently pointed out, Smith’s snap count expanded despite not seeing 60 percent of the team’s offensive snaps until Week 8. From Week 8 to Week 16, Smith saw an uptick in snaps, which resulted in 20 catches for 126 yards and his first two career touchdowns.
Heading into 2020, the Vikings would probably like to see more from the young tight end. Smith was one of the youngest players coming out of last year’s draft class (he’ll turn 22 on August 9) and with a 40-yard dash time of 4.63 seconds, there’s a thought that Minnesota could use him more as a downfield threat.
Rudolph is still with the Vikings, but the development of Smith will be key for the team’s offense. If he can take a step forward in 2020, it will give Gary Kubiak another opportunity to move his pieces around and that should allow Kirk Cousins to become even more efficient.
Who will make up the starting five on the offensive line?
It would be nice if the Vikings had just one spot to worry about on the offensive line, but that’s just not how they operate.
Minnesota has struggled to field a competitive blocking unit for a majority of the past decade and after seeing several important games sabotaged by an inability to stop a pass rush, the Vikings need to figure it out heading into this year.
Gary Kubiak stated earlier this offseason that the best five guys would make up the starting offensive line, so there’s a good chance that position doesn’t matter. But what would that entail?
The only virtual locks heading into next season are right tackle Brian O’Neill and center Garrett Bradbury. O’Neill has continued to blossom into an elite cornerstone on the outside while Bradbury experienced an inconsistent rookie season in 2019. But what about the rest of the line?
That’s where things get interesting. The Vikings will be dealing with Riley Reiff’s $13.2 million cap hit this season, but that doesn’t mean his roster spot is safe.
Minnesota added Ezra Cleveland in this year’s draft and many feel he’s the heir apparent to Reiff at left tackle. If Reiff isn’t performing well during camp, it’s possible that the Vikings could cut him and create $11 million in cap space.
The problem is the Vikings might need Cleveland to line up at guard. Josh Kline was cut this offseason, leaving a starting spot at right guard open and with Pat Elflein struggling mightily at left guard, both spots have been declared wide open this offseason.
Cleveland would qualify under the criteria of the “best five offensive linemen”, but that still leaves the right guard spot.
Elflein could compete there, but it’s unlikely Minnesota wants to try him out at another position. Dru Samia also figures to be in the mix, but he is an unknown after basically spending last season as a “redshirt”.
No matter what they decide, the Vikings need to figure out their offensive line heading into 2020. If not, they might just be doing the same things and expecting a different result.