It was a long ride with some ups and some downs. The Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer era in Minnesota is over. Despite a lot of pieces ready to compete, there is likely to be plenty of change coming for the Minnesota Vikings over the next few years. This starts with the new Viking’s General Manager and coach.
The Minnesota Vikings brought in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as general manager following an extensive background in football analytics, an ivy league education, and a wall street career. He brings a focus on collaboration, communication, and information processing.
After an extensive coaching search, he landed on Kevin O’Connell as the Minnesota Vikings 10th head coach in franchise history. O’Connell was a backup to Tom Brady during his non-descript NFL career, before getting into coaching. He coached under Chip Kelly with the 49ers for a year before moving to Washington where he was Kirk Cousins quarterback coach. He later served as Washington’s offensive coordinator for one year in 2019. That offense wasn’t exactly high flying with Case Keenum and the shell of Adrian Peterson, but did oversee the rookie breakout of Terry McLaurin. Most recently, O’Connell coordinated the explosive super-bowl-winning Rams offense.
As for the roster, the Viking’s stars continued to shine in 2021. There is no reason to believe that changes in 2022 under new coaching. Kirk Cousins played very well this year and is reuniting with his old quarterback coach. Justin Jefferson is already a superstar and will now work with the coach that coordinated Cooper Kupp’s historic season. Dalvin Cook continues to produce whenever he is healthy. The questions will be around how the new coaching staff wants to run the offense, but the pieces they use seem locked in.
Free Agency Preview
Projected Cap Space (w/ Rank): -$14,020,023 (29th)
Notable impending free agents
Minnesota Vikings backup Sean Mannion will be a free agent, leaving youngsters Kellen Mond and Nate Stanley as Cousins’ backups. All the Vikings running backs will be back under contract in 2022. DeDe Westbrook and Chad Beebe will be hitting free agency after failing to beat out K.J. Osborn for the Vikings third wide receiver spot.
After a breakout year in 2021, the Minnesota Vikings will have to decide if they want to bring back Tyler Conklin to compete with Irv Smith. They will also be losing Chris Herndon to free agency, who they traded a fourth-round pick for last year.
Needs and player fits
The Minnesota Vikings don’t have a crazy amount of short-term needs on the roster. This is good considering they have negative cap space entering the offseason. With the changes in leadership, we will likely see some of these veterans cut loose to free up cap space. This might open some holes on the roster, but I expect most of them to be on defense.
Offensively, they are very unlikely to add any big-name running back or wide receiver in free agency. There are rumors of the new regime trading Kirk Cousins, but I expect him to remain the starter in 2022. The biggest decision will likely be deciding whether to re-sign Tyler Conklin or put all their eggs in the Irv Smith basket.
Draft Preview
Assuming Cousins doesn’t get traded, I wouldn’t expect any sort of quarterback selection in 2022. I also wouldn’t expect the Minnesota Vikings to bring in much, even for depth, at running back. They have too many other long-term needs to fill.
If Tyler Conklin isn’t re-signed I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Vikings grab a mid-round tight end such as Jeremy Ruckert, Charlie Kolar, Jake Ferguson, Jelani Woods, or Cole Turner. I will have very low fantasy expectations for any of these guys if they land on the Vikings.
There is always room to add wide receivers during any NFL draft. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw the Minnesota Vikings try to add to depth on day three. Possible fits include Alec Pierce, Kyle Philips, Romeo Doubs, Danny Gray, Velus Jones, and Jaivon Heiligh.
2022 Preview
Despite such a large shake-up in leadership, I don’t expect a lot of change from a fantasy perspective. The Minnesota Vikings are loaded with proven weapons that will continue to dominate usage. Kirk Cousins isn’t the fun quarterback to draft, but I don’t see any reason he can’t continue to perform as a back-end QB1. It is particularly encouraging that he is now paired with an offensive-minded head coach that has experience with Cousins in the past.
Justin Jefferson is a top-three wide receiver in the NFL and should be drafted as such for fantasy football. He may not have even entered his prime yet and he can do it all. He should be a locked-in first-round pick.
Adam Thielen is going to turn 32 before the beginning of the 2022 season and has had some injury issues. But he has still produced when healthy, especially in the redzone. I don’t want to count on Thielen as a weekly start at this point. He could be a nice value still as a flex option in this offense.
K.J. Osborn is worth a late-round dart throw in 2022, particularly in deeper leagues. He can produce in this offense when given the opportunity, but he may not see that opportunity outside of an injury ahead of him.
Dalvin Cook isn’t a spring chicken, but he also hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. He is a well-rounded running back who acts as a workhorse. He needs to still be a first-round pick. Alexander Mattison has also earned respect as a high-end handcuff.
I am likely avoiding the tight end position for the Minnesota Vikings if they re-sign Tyler Conklin, as I think Irv Smith will eat into his workload. If they decide to let Conklin walk, Irv Smith becomes an interesting later-round tight end option. His price would likely rise beyond what I am willing to pay however in that scenario.
Continue drafting your Minnesota Vikings studs high. The offense should run through a few key pieces, which is fantasy gold. I don’t expect much change from a fantasy perspective from what we have seen in the last few years.
