Former offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski is with the Cleveland Browns, and the Vikings are replacing him with a veteran coach, who was already on staff at the time of his hiring.
Minnesota announced shortly after the season that Gary Kubiak would take over as the Vikings offensive coordinator. Kubiak was an offensive advisor last season.
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Rick Spielman said recently that Kubiak helped Stefanski take the next step in his coaching. Stefanski called the plays, but Kubiak still had a role in the offense.
Here’s what Vikings fans can expect now that Kubiak has taken the reigns.
The team will still emphasize the run
When Stefanski first took over the offensive coordinator position, Mike Zimmer wanted him to emphasize the run, and that’s exactly what he did. In Stefanski’s first full season as offensive coordinator, Dalvin Cook had a career year, rushing for 1,135 yards. Kirk Cousins also passed the ball 444 times, compared to 606 the previous season.
Here’s what Kubiak had to say about the run game to KFAN’s Paul Allen:
“I remember coming in here about this time last year and Zim’ talking to us as a staff, saying, ‘We’ve got to get more physical; we’ve got to run the ball,’ ” Kubiak said. “Obviously, we have a great piece back there in Dalvin [Cook] to do it.”
Zimmer emphasized running the ball to Kubiak right away and Kubiak clearly likes Cook as a runner, so it’s very likely that Minnesota will focus on having Cook pick up where he left off, in addition to having Cousins drop back less than he did in his first year with the team.
Alexander Mattison could see a sophomore surge
Kubiak likes Cook, but he also talked about another running back on the team.
Alexander Mattison is coming off a year where he had 462 yards on 100 attempts. As Cook takes on another year with a big workload, a player like Mattison needs to step up.
“[Mattison] got to sit next to Dalvin every day,” Kubiak told KFAN’s Paul Allen. “I think the atmosphere that [Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman] and Zim’ have created here … enables some young players to really latch onto the right thing.”
The run game might look different with Mattison taking more carries, but it will look similar in terms of the balance between rushing and passing. In short, with the promotion of Kubiak and the departure of Stefanski, Vikings fans can expect more of the same.