Vikings' offense can become even more dangerous with one simple tweak from HC Kevin O'Connell
The Minnesota Vikings have one of the best playcallers in the National Football League in head coach Kevin O'Connell. The Vikings are consistently at the top of the NFL when it comes to generating explosive plays. Quarterback Sam Darnold is third in the National Football League in big time throws with 25 while first place […]
The Minnesota Vikings have one of the best playcallers in the National Football League in head coach Kevin O'Connell.
The Vikings are consistently at the top of the NFL when it comes to generating explosive plays. Quarterback Sam Darnold is third in the National Football League in big time throws with 25 while first place quarterbacks Josh Allen and Joe Burrow are tied for first with 26. He also has the third-highest average depth of target at 9.3 yards and the third highest time to throw at 3.11 seconds, meaning he's attacking down the field.
Those explosive plays that the Vikings are generating are consistent and it's due to O'Connell's creative play calling.
Kevin O'Connell loves using post/wheel
Throughout the course of the season, the Vikings have used multiple concepts a significant amount of time. One of those is a post/wheel concept that has star wide receiver Justin Jefferson in the backfield.
The Vikings ran it for a touchdown in the season opener against the New York Giants and have tried to run it multiple times since then.
O'Connell has had Jefferson both in the backfield and used in orbit motion behind the quarterback. It's a part of the illusion of complexity that O'Connell has talked about throughout his tenure. They haven't been able to strike gold again, but there is a way to make it happen.
The Vikings tried to run it against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon and it was close to working. Instead, the Vikings threw the ball to Jefferson in the flat and he got some yards after the catch.
If you look at how the play develops throughout the season, the post is supposed to draw the majority of the attention but teams haven't been buying Jefferson in the flat, as he's supposed to be the decoy. That isn't working, so put Jefferson as the receiver running the post.
If the receiver running the post route isn't drawing attention, use the receiver that draws attention in that spot to create that element. Have Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson or Jalen Nailor in the wheel route (also called a rail route) spot to take advantage of the defense.
Per Fantasy Points Data, the Vikings are facing a league-high 65.2% of two-high coverage and post/wheel is a great way to attack that. Use that little modification to attack the defense and create an explosive play.
O'Connell loves the illusion of complexity and this adjustment could be just the ticket to create one down the line this season.