What to expect from O'Connell's offense?

‘We had an old-style offense’

Confronting where the Vikings offense should transform demands acknowledging its areas of success. Star receiver Justin Jefferson, who set the NFL record for most receiving yards across the first two years of his career, serves as example.

Jefferson's 3,016 receiving yards the last two seasons eclipsed Odell Beckham Jr.’s 2014-15 mark of 2,755. Yet the 2021 Vikings offense finished 26th in third-down conversion rate (36.4%) en route to an 8-9 record.

“We had an old-style offense last year,” Jefferson told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s 2022. You get into a new age and move to a new generation. Adding new things to the offense definitely allows us to be more comfortable with the offense and work in different areas of the fields.”

To O’Connell, that new generation needs weekly game plans to respond to vastly different defensive structures, that response including identical personnel groupings that execute divergently to confuse and thus slow defenders. O’Connell will radio two-choice “canned” plays to Cousins, who is responsible at the line of scrimmage for choosing which look better aligns with his defensive read. Cue the shift in quarterback step numbers, running back landmarks, wide receiver release depth, and tight end cut angles. Jefferson expects more looks with three-plus receivers or additional tight ends, a chance to diversify the passing game with tactics that they hope also free Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook, who’s rushed for at least 1,100 yards each of the last three seasons, “so he ain’t got a stacked box as much.”
Expect the 2022 Vikings to spread the field.

“For so long the game kind of became this condensed game where everybody was building things, the marriage of the run and the pass,” O’Connell says. “But as times kind of moved forward, I think spreading the field out not playing the game in a phone booth has been a productive thing for some offenses. Putting the game in the quarterback’s hands a little more, trying to run some premier plays vs. premier looks. And really, when in doubt, trust space-rhythm-timing of offenses to hold you true to your core and what you’re trying to get accomplished.”

The 2022 Vikings core will incorporate pre-snap deception and off-script tempo changes, already emphasizing cadence in OTA meeting rooms and on the field.

“Very less predictable,” Jefferson said.

O’Connell is careful not to criticize his predecessors’ scheme or coaching philosophies, quick to point out that the Vikings “did some good things last year” while ranking 12th in yards per game (362.8) and 14th in scoring (25.0). He scoured the group’s 2021 tape for examples of when his current roster already executed some of the principles he’s teaching, albeit under different terminology and alongside different complementary roles. A time receiver K.J. Osborn’s route efficiently cleared a linebacker from Jefferson’s path? O’Connell rolls film to discuss the process and result. A moment in which Jefferson stressed the defense with a stem and weave that capitalized on his speed without sacrificing body control? O’Connell simply holds his clicker and says “do that” before advancing to the next example, a directive to tighten two steps perhaps next on the unending quest to instill player ownership.

The Vikings believe O’Connell’s scheme and this staff’s tutelage can elevate offensive personnel beyond the .507 regular-season win rate that has characterized the first four years of the Cousins era, a stretch with just one postseason appearance (the 2018 Vikings beat the New Orleans Saints in a wild-card game before falling to the San Francisco 49ers in a divisional contest).