Kirk, Or A Potential First Round QB in 2024?

Keeping Kirk around longer is ultimately delaying the inevitable. We will not win a ring with Cousins. Cousins needs to be on a team with everything put in place, kinda like when Brady first went to Tampa. He needs to be on a team that's completely stacked. Here we need a QB we can build around but actually have more money to spend. Kirk requires too much money for one.

Two we need a younger QB that KOC can mold into the type of QB he needs to fit this system. Kirk was doing the best he could. We need a QB with Kirk's accuracy and arm strength but also the ability of Josh Dobb's legs to escape pressure and extend plays. We can probably find a guy like that in the draft.

But Kirk has got to go. He's too old. Guys his age that are still playing at a high level need to be on teams that are legit contenders. We are not legit. We just get by.

Does the writer realize how much money it'd cost to re-sign both of these guys? It might cost $50M a year to retain the two of them... does that sound like a wise way to use cap space?

There is so much utterly stupid nonsense being written about football these days.

Of course the only reason I know that is because it keeps getting reposted here.

I won't argue against that. Do you suppose those other areas are something he can develop? I tend toward believing he is the team coordinator type that should hire the OC genius....and asking him to evolve his own abilities quick enough is too much to expect.

I struggle with this answer because I'm a data guy. And that data sucks.

Data Point #1. Bradbury, Cleveland and O'Neill are lighter, athletic guys that were drafted to play in an OZB scheme. Ingram was drafted solely for his alleged pass blocking. Only Darrisaw is strong enough to run IZB and Power/Gap stuff. And obviously IZB is mostly focused on running up the gut.

Dalvin Cook was almost exclusively an OZB runner at FSU.

So O'Connell walks in the door and immediately implements the opposite run scheme to his personnel. When it fails spectacularly he convinces his GM to throw money at a blocking TE and extends the FB while parting ways with Cook, who's admittedly washed.

But how does a blocking TE help when you're consistently running up the gut? What good is a FB if he's not on the field when you run inside? It makes zero sense. Like, at all. And BTW, Shanahan and McVay run OZB.

Data Point #2. Before Kirk got hurt whenever Minnesota would go with Quick Passing to mitigate blitzing and issues with interior pressure it worked. Not all the time, of course. But consistently. But after a series of 2, unless he's down 30 Kevin is going back to under Center calls with 5-7 step drops.

Data Point #3. He's designed some of the dumbest screen plays I've ever seen. Those Hockenson screens behind the LOS. Asking Addison to block for KJ instead of vice versa on a WR screen. It wasn't the execution. Those plays were DOA because they completely ignored the strengths and weaknesses of the Players involved in the plays.

But damn can he dial up Intermediate Passing Plays. I truly believe every play in the Rams final drive to take the lead were plays designed by Kevin. McVay had the guts to call one play after another where Kupp was the primary read regardless of what the Defense was doing. And Stafford had the gunslinger mentality to keep throwing it to Kupp regardless of how many Bengals Defenders were around him. It was an amazing drive considering how few weapons besides Cooper they had left.

I think that actually was the worst possible thing that could have happened to Kevin O'Connell. He saw his vision of a perfectly executed Offense go out and win a Superbowl. The Rams were never some run heavy Team. They run enough to keep Defenses honest. But they do love to spread the ball around while also giving their Elite WR a ton of chances to dominate.

O'Connell gets to the Vikings and suddenly he can't get enough run production to keep Defenses honest. His QB is hesitant to force the ball to the Elite WR. There aren't enough other options to spread the ball around to.

So how does he adjust? Frankly, he didn't. He got Kwesi to get him another option in Hockenson. He abandoned the run game like a kid having a temper tantrum when he doesn't get his way early in games. He harped on staying on the primary read until Kirk was programmed enough to hold the ball forever and take such a beating that Netflix made Cousins into an iconic sympathetic figure. He blew a 1st on another weapon when equally good options have already been proven to have been available later, leaving the Defense, particularly the D-Line, starving for attention.

The reality is that all of these data points show a man who is completely unable to acknowledge his mistakes and make changes. He appears to be in the 'forever chasing that final Rams drive' mode. Unwilling to understand why he can't get back to that with any kind of consistency.

But damn can he lead. Inspire. And get guys open.

Ultimately, if he doesn't give up the playcalling this Offseason I will root for Minnesota while 100% believing he's never going to be the one that gets them to the promised land. Which sucks, but that's all I've ever known as a fan. 1 or 2 years with the New Guy and then resignation that he isn't the one.

See that's problem, we need to stop expecting a QB to come in right away and turn things around. That's curse that's been haunting the Vikings for years, lack of QB development. We fail to develop the QBs we draft and then have super high expectations for FA QBs that we overpay. We need to focus on finding a young QB that the coaching staff can groom and then we focus on building the team around him. Don't even think about the super bowl right now, this team is not going nor are we close to being a legit super bowl contender. Even if this team does make the playoffs, we probably won't make it out the wildcard. We need more than just a QB to help this team contend. 

When it's a TD or less, it's more than just the QB you can look at.

The running game for instance has been putrid.