NFL Coaching Matters: 2022 Minnesota Vikings Offense and Coaching Staff Preview

July 20, 2022

Eli Grabanski breaks down the 2021 Minnesota Vikings' coaching staff in search of buy-lows, fantasy football sleepers, and risers based on play-calling and historical data.

After every NFL season, NFL teams take the time to evaluate not only the players but also the coaching staff and front office as well. While many teams choose to retain the same head coach, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator, a few other teams opt to go in a new direction with their coaching staff.

The Minnesota Vikings decided to make a major coaching staff change this offseason, letting go of head coach Mike Zimmer, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson, and co-defensive coordinator Adam Zimmer. They decided to bring in Kevin O'Connell to serve as the team's head coach, Wes Phillips to serve as the team's offensive coordinator, and Ed Donatell to serve as the team's new defensive coordinator for the 2022-2023 season.

This article will look at the potential impact this coaching staff will have on the players and try to pinpoint the Vikings players' fantasy values in it.

The Baseline

To get a better understanding of the value the Vikings coaches bring to this team, we can look at the NFL league averages in each of the past two years in a variety of statistical categories and then compare them to the averages achieved by the Vikings' coaches. Here are 'The Baseline' NFL league averages over the past couple of years:

QB Impact

RB Impact

WR Impact

TE Impact

Defense Impact

Previous Coaching Staff

In order to get an understanding of how the Vikings' fantasy players may be impacted this year, we also need to look at one of the key members of the Minnesota Vikings' previous coaching staff: Mike Zimmer, Klint Kubiak, Adam Zimmer, and Andre Patterson. By doing this, we will have a better understanding of where the new regime is starting from and where the primary changes will occur.

Former Head Coach: Mike Zimmer

Mike Zimmer served as the Minnesota Vikings head coach from 2014 to 2021. Prior to being hired as the Minnesota Vikings head coach, Mike Zimmer served as a defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys (2000-2006), Atlanta Falcons (2007), and Cincinnati Bengals (2008-2013). Below are some defensive statistics from Zimmer's time in a defensive coordinator or head coaching role.

Former Offensive Coordinator: Klint Kubiak

Klint Kubiak is the son of former NFL coach Gary Kubiak. He's previously spent time as an offensive quality control assistant (2010-2011) and graduate assistant (2012) for Texas A&M, an offensive quality control coach for the Minnesota Vikings (2013-2014), a wide receivers coach for Kansas (2015), an offensive assistant for the Denver Broncos (2016-2018), and a quarterbacks coach (2019-2020) for the Minnesota Vikings.

QB Impact

RB Impact

WR Impact

TE Impact

Former Co-Defensive Coordinator: Andre Patterson

Andre Patterson served as the Minnesota Vikings' co-defensive coordinator from 2020 to 2021 and has also served as the team's defensive line coach from 2014 to 2021. Below are some of the Minnesota Vikings' defensive statistics during Patterson's two years as the team's co-defensive coordinator.

Former Co-Defensive Coordinator: Adam Zimmer

Adam Zimmer served as the Minnesota Vikings' co-defensive coordinator from 2020 to 2021 and also served as the team's linebackers coach from 2014 to 2021. Below are some of the Minnesota Vikings' defensive statistics during Adam Zimmer's two years as the team's co-defensive coordinator.

2022 Offense

2022 Head Coach: Kevin O'Connell

The Minnesota Vikings decided to hire Kevin O'Connell as the team's new head coach this offseason. Prior to taking the job with the Vikings, Kevin O'Connell spent the last three seasons as an NFL offensive coordinator - one year for the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins (2019) and two years for the Los Angeles Rams (2020-2021). Based on his offensive background, let's take a look at some statistics from Kevin O'Connell's time in an offensive coordinator or head coaching role to get a better understanding of how the Minnesota Vikings offense may look in 2022.

QB Impact

RB Impact

WR Impact

TE Impact

2022 Offensive Coordinator: Wes Phillips

2022 will be Wes Phillips' first opportunity in an offensive coordinator role at any level. Below is a list of all the coaching positions he's held over the course of his career.

Kevin O'Connell and Wes Phillips Takeaways & Expectations

Because the 2022 NFL season will be the first time that Wes Phillips will serve as an offensive coordinator or head coach at any level, this section will primarily focus on what we've seen from the offenses that Kevin O'Connell has been a part of as an offensive coordinator or head coach.

Over the course of his 49-game career as an offensive coordinator or head coach, Kevin O'Connell's teams have averaged 34.20 passing attempts, 250.63 passing yards, and 1.61 passing touchdowns per game. These numbers are right around the NFL league averages we've seen the last couple of seasons. In addition, O'Connell's quarterbacks have averaged just 2.49 carries per game over the course of his career as an offensive coordinator.

Considering Kirk Cousins is not the most mobile quarterback, it is likely that these rushing numbers are once again below average. Overall, with an average number of passing attempts and a below-average number of rushing attempts, it seems likely that Kirk Cousins once again will finish somewhere in the QB2 range of fantasy league(s) in the 2022 season with Kevin O'Connell calling the plays.

Jumping to the running back position, Kevin O'Connell has generally been mediocre in providing the position work. O'Connell's running back room has averaged 21.84 carries, 93.80 rushing yards, and 0.57 rushing touchdowns per game over the course of his 49-game career.

On the ground, the carries and rushing yards from Kevin O'Connell's running back room are right around the league averages we've seen the last few years, but the rushing touchdowns have been a little below average.

Besides the number of carries, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns going to O'Connell's entire running back room, we also need to consider how much of the work on the ground O'Connell may give to one tailback versus multiple backs.

In 2019 with the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins, O'Connell gave lead back Adrian Peterson 211 carries (66.98% of the season running back carries). In 2020 and 2021 with the Los Angeles Rams, O'Connell was the offensive coordinator of a team that took more of a hot hand approach to the position. He's clearly willing to adapt based on his personnel, and considering Dalvin Cook has been one of the better running backs in the league over the past couple of seasons it's likely that he goes with more of a bell-cow approach in 2022.

Finally, O'Connell has been a part of teams that have given his running backs a below-average amount of work in the passing game with his tailbacks catching 3.63 receptions on 5.10 receptions for 29 receiving yards and 0.14 receiving touchdowns per game.

This usage in the passing game is below the league averages we've seen the last few years for running backs. Overall, Dalvin Cook should still be an RB1 in 2022 if he's healthy, but his receiving usage could be a little underwhelming with O'Connell calling the plays.

Jumping over to the wide receiver position, over the course of his 49-game career as an offensive coordinator or head coach, Kevin O'Connell has seen his wide receiver room average 14.65 receptions on 22.12 targets for 179.33 receiving yards and 1.18 receiving touchdowns per game.

These career numbers are all above the NFL league averages we've seen the last couple of seasons, and suggest that Kevin O'Connell's presence should be a good thing for Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, and K.J. Osborn. You should feel good about investing in the Vikings receivers at their current ADPs.

Lastly, looking at the tight end position, the offenses that Kevin O'Connell has been a part of haven't utilized them as much as the average NFL coach. Over the course of his 49-game career, Kevin O'Connell's tight end room has averaged 4.08 receptions on 5.98 targets for 42.31 receiving yards and 0.29 receiving touchdowns per game.

Based on this information, it seems unlikely that Irv Smith Jr. finally experiences his breakout season under Kevin O'Connell, and he should be viewed as more of a TE2/streamer going into the 2022 season.

Fantasy Relevant Players: Kirk Cousins, Sean Mannion, Kellen Mond, Nate Stanley, Dalvin Cook, Alexander Mattison, Kene Nwangwu, Ty Chandler, Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, K.J. Osborn, Bisi Johnson, Ben Ellefson, and Irv Smith Jr.

2022 Defense

2022 Defensive Coordinator: Ed Donatell

Ed Donatell served as a defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers (2000-2003) and Atlanta Falcons (2004-2006) and also worked in the secondary with the Denver Broncos (2009-2010), San Francisco 49ers (2011-2014), Chicago Bears (2015-2018), and Denver Broncos (2019-2021) prior to joining the Vikings for the 2022 season. Below are some statistics from Donatell's career as a defensive coordinator at the NFL level.

Other Notable Assistants

Special Teams Coordinator: Matt Daniels - The Minnesota Vikings will have a new special teams coordinator for the 2022 season as they go from Ryan Ficken to Matt Daniels. Prior to becoming the Minnesota Vikings special teams coordinator, Daniels served as an assistant special teams coach for the Los Angeles Rams (2018-2019) and the Dallas Cowboys (2020-2021). In addition, Daniels played safety at the NFL level for the St. Louis Rams (2012-2014), Jacksonville Jaguars (2014-2015), and San Diego Chargers (2015).

QB Coach: Chris O'Hara - In the coaching staff shuffle, the Minnesota Vikings will have a new quarterbacks coach in 2022, going from Andrew Janocko to Chris O'Hara. 2022 will be O'Hara's first time working as a quarterbacks coach, but he has previously coached in a variety of other roles at the NFL level for the Jacksonville Jaguars (2014-2016, 2020), Washington Redskins (2017-2019), and Los Angeles Rams (2021).

RB Coach: Curtis Modkins - The Minnesota Vikings will have a new running back coach in 2022, as the team goes from Kennedy Polamalu to Curtis Modkins. Curtis Modkins has been coaching football since 1995 and worked at the NFL level since 2008. At the NFL level, he's worked as a running backs coach for the Kansas City Chiefs (2008), Arizona Cardinals (2009), Detroit Lions (2013-2015), Chicago Bears (2017), and the Denver Broncos (2018-2021) prior to joining the Minnesota Vikings. He's also served as an offensive coordinator at the NFL level for the Buffalo Bills (2010-2012) and the San Francisco 49ers (2016).

WR Coach: Keenan McCardell - Keenan McCardell joined the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff in 2021, serving as the team's wide receivers coach. Prior to joining the Vikings, McCardell had previously served as a wide receivers coach for the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins (2010-2011), Maryland (2014-2015), and for the Jacksonville Jaguars (2017-2020). He also played wide receiver at the NFL level for the Washington Redskins (1991), Cleveland Browns (1992-1995), Jacksonville Jaguars (1996-2001), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002-2003), and San Diego Chargers (2004-2006).

TE Coach: Brian Angelichio - Though the first name won't change for the Minnesota Vikings tight ends coach, the team will indeed have a new tight ends coach in 2022 - going from Brian Pariani to Brian Angelichio. Angelichio has been coaching football since 1995 and has previously served as a tight ends coach at the NFL level for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2012-2013), Cleveland Browns (2014-2015), Green Bay Packers (2016-2018), Washington Redskins (2019), and Carolina Panthers (2020-2021).

OL Coach: Chris Kuper - In the midst of the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff changes, the team will have a new offensive line coach - going from Rick Dennison to Chris Kuper. This will be Kuper's first time as an offensive line coach at the NFL level. He's previously worked as an offensive quality control coach for the Miami Dolphins (2016) and as an assistant offensive line coach for the Miami Dolphins (2017-2018) and the Denver Broncos (2019-2021). He also played guard at the NFL level for the Denver Broncos from 2006 to 2013.

DL Coach: Chris Rumph - When the Minnesota Vikings let go of former co-defensive coordinator & defensive line coach Andre Patterson, they needed to hire a new defensive line coach. They went with Chris Rumph for the coaching position. Rumph has previously served as an outside linebackers coach for the Houston Texans (2020) and as a defensive line coach for the Chicago Bears (2021) at the NFL level and also spent over 20 years coaching football at the college and high school levels.

OLB Coach: Mike Smith - The Minnesota Vikings let go of linebackers coach Adam Zimmer and decided to hire both an outside linebackers coach and an inside linebackers coach for the 2022 NFL season. With their outside linebackers coach, they decided to go with Mike Smith. Prior to joining the Minnesota Vikings, Smith spent the last three years with the Green Bay Packers.

ILB Coach: Greg Manusky - The Minnesota Vikings let go of linebackers coach Adam Zimmer and decided to hire both an outside linebackers coach and an inside linebackers coach for the 2022 NFL season. With their inside linebackers coach, they decided to go with Greg Manusky. Manusky has previously coached linebackers with the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins (2001, 2016) as well as the San Diego Chargers (2002-2006). He has served as a defensive coordinator at the NFL level for the San Francisco 49ers (2007-2010), San Diego Chargers (2011), Indianapolis Colts (2012-2015), and Washington (2017-2019). He also played at the NFL level for the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins (1988-1990), Minnesota Vikings (1991-1993), and Kansas City Chiefs (1994-1999).

DB Coach: Daronte Jones - The Minnesota Vikings will have a new defensive backs coach in 2022, as the team goes from Karl Scott to bringing back Daronte Jones. He has previously coached defensive backs at the NFL level for the Miami Dolphins (2016-2017), Cincinnati Bengals (2018-2019), and Minnesota Vikings (2020), and his most recent coaching position was as a defensive coordinator for LSU (2021).

Safeties Coach: Roy Anderson - Roy Anderson will serve as the Minnesota Vikings safeties coach once again in 2022. He's also spent time coaching at the NFL level for the Baltimore Ravens (2005-2011), Indianapolis Colts (2012-2015), San Francisco 49ers (2016), and Chicago Bears (2017-2018).

Enjoy this series? Be sure to check out all of the other 'Coaching Matters' team previews!

AFC North: Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals

AFC South: Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts

AFC West: Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders

AFC East: Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, New York Jets

NFC North: Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions

Follow Eli Grabanski on Twitter: @3li_handles

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