Kirk Cousins isn’t a quarterback known for running the ball himself but it is something that he is capable of doing.
Every so often, Cousins will scramble and run for a few yards and it will be a reminder that he has the ability to take advantage of a defense that isn’t expecting it. In fact, he did so on the final drive this past week against the Bears.
Really nice pocket savvy from Kirk Cousins pic.twitter.com/WFPMuFmSZV
— Tyler Forness (@TheRealForno) October 12, 2022
When he spoke to the media on Wednesday, he talked directly about wanting to use his legs more, something that could help open up the offense a little more.
Kirk Cousins said he needs to tap into running more and believes he has the ability to effectively use his legs but he’s not going to overdo it
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) October 12, 2022
The Vikings have started using some RPOs in their offense. RPO stands for run-pass option and is a play that gives the quarterback multiple options on a singular play.
The usual read is a linebacker. Depending on what he does at the snap, you either hand the ball off at the mesh point (putting the ball in the running back’s stomach) or you throw the ball. The usual route is a glance route (cross between a slant and a post) and it can be a lethal way to move the ball down the field.
They have done a couple of different RPOs this season. One of the concepts they have run has been in a split-zone concept.
They ended up running off of this but if Tyrann Mathieu ends up crashing hard to take out the run, K.J. Osborn is wide open for the score.
This past Sunday against the Bears, they ran an RPO with a glance route, which is the usual RPO concept that you see run.
The key here is the farside linebacker. He stays relatively flat-footed which allows Irv Smith Jr. to get behind him easily. The play nets the Vikings 16 yards and a first down.
How does Cousins factor into this? When you run RPOs, one option that you have is to run the ball. That would come from the edge defender crashing the line to stop the running back. If that happens, Cousins can take advantage in the running game with gashes of 10+ yards. Having that element also makes things easier for you in the running game with Cook and Mattison along with the passing game off of the RPO action.
How much will Cousins run? That remains to be seen, but the fact that Cousins wants to run more is a sign that it could very well be in the pipeline.
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