After some games where Kirk Cousins struggled with the Vikings in 2018, the team started to emphasize a system where Cousins dropped back less and Minnesota ran the ball more.
In the first full season where that system was instilled and Cousins was behind center for the Vikings, the team was reportedly the run-heaviest team in the NFL, when that stat is game-script adjusted.
Despite the Vikings running early and often in 2019, and winning a playoff game with that system, The Draft Network’s Jaime Eisner thinks that Cousins could pass the ball more in 2020. Here’s what he said:
“Cousins did a lot of things well last season, but it went largely unnoticed because of how infrequently he threw the ball. A modest bump in pass attempts will do wonders for Cousins’ statistical output in 2020. He should flirt with 4,000 passing yards and the upper 20s in touchdowns over a full 16-game season.”
Eisner said that people shouldn’t expect a huge shift under offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, who was hired recently to replace former offensive coordinator and current Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski.
However, Eisner still thinks Cousins could average 33 attempts per game, putting him over 500 for the season. This past season, he had 444 attempts.
It might be a given that the Vikings will have to trend towards passing more just because they did it so infrequently in 2019. But this is still a run-heavy offense, so it’s hard to say.