Where do you rank Vikes' offense for 2023?

First, the review. Opposing defenses tried to limit Jefferson and the Vikings offense by playing with two deep safeties. In fact, no NFL team attempted more passes against looks with split-safety coverage pre-snap than Minnesota. Furthermore, opposing defenses constantly shadowed Jefferson with two and sometimes three defenders, putting the onus on other Vikings receivers to separate.

For a while, they couldn’t. Veteran Adam Thielen, who occupied a spot opposite Jefferson, struggled to win his one-on-one reps. In 2022, Thielen ranked 151st among 159 qualified receivers in Telemetry Sports’ separation score against man coverage. Third receiver K.J. Osborn, meanwhile, ranked 120th. The only other Vikings’ options for the first eight weeks of the season were Irv Smith Jr., Johnny Mundt and Ben Ellefson.

Running the ball effectively could have forced defenses to alter their approach, and Minnesota tried against the split-safety looks. But the Vikings were largely unsuccessful: 23 percent of their runs against split-safety looks (which means fewer defenders are in the box, so, theoretically, it should be easier to run) went for zero or negative yards.

So the Vikings figured they had to take a swing, and that led them to Hockenson, a player whom O’Connell had long respected, a player whom O’Connell had studied as he was watching Matthew Stafford tape in Los Angeles. Hockenson, Minnesota’s staff believed, could cause problems for defenses. Align a linebacker over him in one-on-one coverage, and he’d separate easily. Put a safety against him, and he was too big to defend. Assign multiple defenders to him, and, well, now you have less attention on Jefferson.

The results speak for themselves. Pre-Hockenson, the Vikings ranked 20th in the NFL in expected points added per dropback. Post-Hockenson, Minnesota ranked eighth.

So what’s next? O’Connell hinted at the possibilities Thursday morning in his post-cutdown day news conference.

“We were able to kind of build off (2022),” the head coach said. “You have a full offseason to really reflect on the things he did well and other new areas where we can get him going … when you talk about having Justin Jefferson either lined up on the other side or maybe right next to him. Where’s Jordan (Addison), K.J. (Osborn)? How is that affecting our run game with the types of looks that we’re getting via being able to attack people formationally? All those things you take a step back and look at.”

How it all comes together will likely change from week to week. But an interesting place to start is with heavier personnel groupings. Last season, the Vikings only used 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) 11.8 percent of the time, which ranked 26th in the NFL. When Minnesota used those groupings, opposing defenses mostly matched with five defensive backs, meaning that the Vikings had a size and physicality advantage. That allowed Minnesota to average 5.2 yards per carry in those looks.

This season, especially with bulky tight end Josh Oliver in the fold, Minnesota could increase its usage of this grouping, ultimately forcing defenses to replace a defensive back with a heavier defender. This would, in the end, help Jefferson: Fewer defensive backs on the field means fewer players capable of covering the best receiver in the NFL.

The whiteboard inside Kevin O’Connell’s office is nearly the size of a movie screen. And, as of last week, it was covered in what might look to a layperson like ancient hieroglyphics.

Lines, drawn beautifully by black Expo markers, extended from other lines. Circles bled over into triangles. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of words and letters and arrows, each symbolizing a different formation, alignment or route combination.

“If you look up there,” O’Connell said, pointing at the whiteboard, “I drew those top-left ones.”

The second-year Minnesota Vikings coach had been explaining the creative process that led to the team’s offense, and now his mind has melded with the chicken scratch on the whiteboard.

“All that word is,” he said, squinting to read one small portion of the board, “is south right clamp with the X and the Z switched.”

If it sounds like a different language, that’s because it is. Understanding it requires a trip back in time.

Last February, the Vikings hired O’Connell, who had previously coordinated the Super Bowl-champion Los Angeles Rams’ offense. At the time, he was described as a former NFL quarterback who could create a positive culture for an organization that felt it needed one. As it related to his offense, most external narratives pigeonholed him as a Sean McVay disciple, a believer in 11 personnel who would just copy and paste the Rams’ playbook. Justin Jefferson, many believed, would slide directly into Cooper Kupp’s role.

While those portrayals proliferated in the media, O’Connell and his new Vikings staff — featuring offensive coordinator Wes Phillips, tight ends coach Brian Angelichio, wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell and quarterbacks coach Chris O’Hara — hunkered down in the TCO Performance Center’s offices and ruminated over the possibilities, especially with Jefferson.

The coaches agreed that Jefferson, like Kupp, could process defenses quickly and separate from defenders easily. They also concurred that Jefferson, like Kupp, would dictate defenses’ strategies depending on his pre-snap positioning and post-snap movement.

That said, they also felt it did not make sense to solely line Jefferson up in the slot or at the “F” position, which Kupp occupied in Los Angeles. Essentially, O’Connell said, the Vikings believed Jefferson could feast from the slot and on the outside. Limiting Jefferson to one spot was not the best way to maximize his skill set.

“At the same time,” O’Connell said, “it wasn’t just Justin you had to think about. It was all of our other weapons, too.”

Put simply, the Vikings coaches wanted Jefferson to be their “X” receiver. In most formations, the “X” receiver aligns on the outside. The Vikings knew their “X” receiver could also thrive in roles typically played by the “Z” or “F” receiver in the slot and away from the passing strength of the formation. This posed a problem.

“What I wanted to do is to be able to control where Justin is and the other guys at the same time and move them around,” O’Connell said. “But how do we do that simply?”

The answer to that question? Well, that’s how you fill a seven-foot-tall whiteboard with shapes, lines and letters.

“We built formation families,” O’Connell said.

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