What are your expectations for Cousins ... and the offense?

When his supporting cast was at its best in Washington, complete with a dynamic tight end duo and an exemplary group of pass-catching running backs, so was Cousins. Without Jackson and Garcon last season and a rash of injuries to his crop of playmakers (not to mention the dire state of the offensive line), Cousins struggled. He was labeled by some as a system QB, incapable of being the difference maker his team needed.

That's why when exploring options for a fresh start and the chance to become a franchise quarterback, few, if any teams, were as appealing as the Vikings, given all they had to offer.

Cousins' clean slate comes with a host of established weapons, the NFL's No. 1 defense and one of the most complete rosters in the NFC. The players surrounding him in 2018 hold the key to Cousins' success, particularly the group of receivers that may be even better than the ones he had in 2016.

Diggs and Thielen elevated themselves into an elite category of wideouts last season while simultaneously elevating at times mediocre quarterback play. Establishing themselves as the league's top receiving duo, they combined for 12 touchdowns and 155 receptions. Thielen had the Vikings' best season at receiver since Randy Moss, and Diggs led the NFL in contested catches.

Entering their third season as a duo, having Thielen and Diggs on the same team creates a matchup nightmare. Teams struggled to figure out which guy to shadow and that often led the other receiver to break out for a big performance. Thielen and Diggs have become interchangeable chess pieces, finding success via the slot and as vertical threats.

The sheer versatility presented by both of these receivers should make Cousins' job easier. Diggs did most of his work out of the slot in 2016 (43 catches, 478 yards) and shifted to a role outside last season whereas Thielen lined up inside more often than not (46 catches, 592 yards) in 2017 and caused mismatches with his speed. Both of these receivers can torch defenders who show an ounce of hesitation in coverage, are tremendous route runners and can create space and separation.

Under new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, it's safe to assume Minnesota's offense will feature a high dose of movement sparked by where its top two receivers line up, how the backfield is utilized in the passing game (Dalvin Cook in the slot, maybe?) and the use of multiple tight ends at a time. All of that should benefit Cousins, who will have plenty of reliable pass catchers on the other end.

There are a couple of areas to zero in on in determining how having Thielen and Diggs can take Cousins' game to the next level. The first goes back to his bread and butter with Jackson: the deep ball.

Few receivers are as prolific a deep threat as the former Washington receiver, but the Vikings' top two pass catchers boast impressive numbers of their own. From 2015-17 on throws of 20 yards or more, Thielen posted a 51.4 reception percentage on 35 targets. Diggs notched a 43.5 reception percentage on 46 targets, with five of his touchdowns coming on such deep routes. That should help Cousins pick up where he left off with consistent, reliable vertical threats. He ranked third in completion percentage (48.9), third in passing touchdowns (30) and fifth in yards per attempt on passes of 15 yards or more during this same stretch, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Additionally, Diggs coupled his pristine route-running ability with his physicality to become one of the best wide receiver threats in the red zone. He has a league-high 132.2 receiver rating inside the 20-yard line since 2016, according to Pro Football Focus. Along with tight end Kyle Rudolph's 15 touchdowns in the red zone over the past three seasons, Cousins has plenty of weapons to help him improve in an area he struggled last season.

Thielen quickly established himself as Case Keenum's go-to guy on third down, receiving 32 percent of Minnesota's third-down targets. Crowder was Cousins' guy on third downs last season, with 24 percent of Washington's third-down targets going to him. This is another area where Cousins struggled -- producing a passing first down on just 30.4 percent of dropbacks on third down last season with a completion percentage of 57.2 percent. Cousins typically zeroes in on one player in these situations. Lucky for him, Thielen is used to being that guy.

As the Vikings offense gets to take the field as an entire unit over the next four weeks, Cousins will begin to learn the intricacies of a system built just for him.

The regular season is still a few months away, but that has not prevented some people from projecting how well Cousins will play for Minnesota in 2018. For the most part, the quarterback is expected to put up numbers that are similar to what he has finished with in each of the past three years.

Kirk Cousins’ 2018 Stat Projections:

Bleacher Report
64.7% completion rate
4,281 passing yards
29 touchdowns
13 interceptions

ESPN
65.1% completion rate
4,323 passing yards
27 touchdowns
14 interceptions

FantasyPros
65.6% completion rate
4,123 passing yards
26 touchdowns
13 interceptions

From these three projections, Cousins is expected to make it four seasons in a row with at least 4,000 passing yards and 25 touchdowns.

If the Vikings’ new quarterback were to accomplish this feat again in 2018, he would join Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Peyton Manning as the only signal callers in NFL history to do so for four consecutive seasons.