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Kirk Cousins had a great year, and I'd like to see him stay as a Viking quarterback for a few more seasons. But when will the Vikings get serious about drafting a franchise quarterback?
— Hans Luckoff in Danbury, Wisconsin
We'll start this Mailbag with the starting quarterback, who is seemingly always in the spotlight no matter what time of year it is. As with any offseason, especially with the NFL's free agency frenzy to start in less than six weeks, there's plenty of speculation and chatter.
And while there's a lot of outside noise about Cousins' status in Minnesota, Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer quieted much of that Friday morning when he appeared on Good Morning Football and was asked about his quarterback.
"As far as the quarterback position, Kirk's our guy," Zimmer responded. "He had a terrific year – we were fourth in the league on offense.
"We have to get better on defense – we had a lot of injuries and young guys, but that's my job to get that fixed," Zimmer added.
I think we can all agree that if we evaluate Cousins' season overall, it was a strong year. He threw for 4,265 yards with 35 touchdowns and was the eighth-highest graded QB by analytics website Pro Football Focus.
Was he perfect? No. But he certainly played well, especially in the final 10 games when he cut down on the turnovers.
Hans suggests that he wants the Vikings to keep Cousins around but also implores the Vikings to draft a big-name quarterback. That's a little contradictory to me.
At some point, yes, the Vikings are going to have to think about life after Cousins, and the team would likely be wise to draft a quarterback a year early rather than a year late.
But I don't think we're at that point yet. Adam Thielen ranked third in the NFL with 14 receiving touchdowns, and Justin Jefferson finished with 1,400 yards, which ranked fourth overall in just his first season with Cousins as his QB. There are already high expectations for the Vikings offense going into 2021.
With Cousins at the helm, there's no reason why the Vikings can't field a top-five offense in the league once the 2021 season rolls around.
View the best quarterback photos from the 2020 season from Vikings photographers including stories behind the photos.

This photo of Kirk was taken during our game against the Cowboys in which we wore our Primetime Purple jerseys. I wanted to emphasize the Purple and Gold in our jersey so I used colored pieces of paper in front of my lens to create a multicolored effect. - Andy

In the home opener, Kirk Cousins showed off mobility by rushing for 34 yards on four carries. For this photo, I slowed down my shutter speed to create the panning/motion effect. - Andy

I feel this photo accurately represented the eeriness and strange vibe of the first regular-season game without fans. The empty seats in the background help tell this story. - Andy

It wouldn't be a game in Seattle without a little rain. This photo of Kirk Cousins was taken minutes before kickoff when the rain was coming down stronger. I didn't enjoy the hassle of using rain gear but I did like how the photos turned out. - Andy

Since access was more limited this season, I wasn't able to be as close to the team as usual. One way I adapted was by using longer lenses and cropping in my photos. This photo was taken with a 180-mm Macro lens and cropped so Kirk's head filled the frame. I exposed the photo for the highlights, which helped create deeper shadows framing his face. It was converted to black and white to enhance the contrast of the image. - Andy

This photo was taken during the team introductions at the stadium. I utilized an off camera flash to light the players. The flash also highlighted the artificial snow that our production team uses for intros. I converted the photo to black and white because I liked how the shadows and specks of light created an interstellar feel. - Andy

This photo was taken after our victory in Green Bay against the Packers. Players from both teams meet in the center of the field after games to pray. Usually the field is very busy with other media members and fans in the background. Due to COVID-19, however, the field and stands were empty, creating a more unique image than usual. Despite Lambeau Field being home to our rivals I really love the history and atmosphere of the stadium. - Andy

This image was taken before team introductions in the location where the players are staged and await being announced. I like this image because Kirk is standing in a hero pose with his two leading receivers, Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, standing behind him. I really appreciate the hard work of our game-day production team to make normal moments transform into visually stunning scenes. - Andy

This photo was taken moments before the team took the field at Detroit in Week 17. The tunnel gets crowded quickly as the players await the signal to run out. I scanned the helmets until I locked in on Kirk, calm and focused on the task ahead. After a long year, he was finally back home in Michigan. In that moment I thought back to his pregame quote "not the last game of the year, but the first game of 2021" I think it summed up the moment perfectly. - Kam

This photo was taken right after our MNF victory in Chicago. With the new COVID protocols, the media has limited field access and conducts the postgame interviews from the stands. As I left the field, I snapped a few shots of Kirk as he waited for the cameras to roll. It seemed fitting that he had a big smile on his face after winning "The Big Game" (Monday Night Football vs. a divisional rival). It doesn't get much better than that. - Kam





























Recognizing that I'm not an expert on young players like the Vikings brass is, I can only offer my thoughts from the perspective of a long-time fan. The draft prognosticators are touting at least four offensive linemen, including a couple who could excel at tackle or guard, to be first-round picks. With the Vikings emphasis on pounding Dalvin Cook through the line, I pray to all football gods great and small that they go with one of these guys to resolve the left guard position once and for all. Don't wait for a later round; go early and get a blue-chipper.
That said, if they do focus on defense early, how about this scenario: trade our first-round pick plus possibly a third to Houston for J.J. Watt. That's the only move they could make on defense that would make me leap from the couch and yell, "SKOL!"
— Dan Callahan in Burlington, Connecticut
I wrote in my season recap of the offensive line that it's almost a yearly tradition for the position group to be in the spotlight in Minnesota. It appears that will be the case once again.
Here's what we do know: the trio of Brian O'Neill, Garrett Bradbury and Ezra Cleveland are viewed as long-term building blocks. We'll see what happens with veterans Riley Reiff and Dakota Dozier this offseason. If the Vikings do chose to go with an offensive lineman with the 14th overall pick, getting someone who is ultra-athletic and offers position flexibility would appear to fit their recent mold.
I mentioned above that the Vikings have the potential to be a high-flying offense in 2021. If the Vikings allocate resources toward the offensive line (whether in free agency or the draft), that's a way it can happen. It's worth noting that what the team does in free agency will likely decide the direction they go in the draft.
It's early February, a typically slow month in the NFL, but things will start to heat up soon. Does that mean a trade for J.J. Watt? He's due a hefty contract figure in 2021, so while it's intriguing to envision, perhaps the Vikings choose to go the younger and cheaper route to try and improve their pass rush.
Hello Eric, I've got an idea for the 17th regular-season game, and I wanted to see what you thought about it. Before adding Game 17 to the schedule, I believe the NFL should eliminate the two games played within the conference against the teams who finished in the same place in the previous year. I believe those two games, and Game 17, should be played within the division … so three games against each of the three other divisional teams. The other eight games against another a division in each conference should remain the same. The third divisional game will be played on a neutral field. These games can be played overseas or at other team's stadiums — being a Chicagoan, I would go to Soldier Field to see the Vikings vs. Lions, or Vikings vs. Packers. What do you think?
— John Burchardt
Before we get too deep into this interesting idea from John, it's worth pointing out that there is nothing definite on a 17th game being added to the 2021 schedule. Here's what NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said about that topic last week:
"We are looking at the 17-game schedule. ... We've already agreed to that in the Collective Bargaining Agreement," Goodell said. "There's still more work to be done on that. Once the [Super Bowl] is done, we'll turn our focus a little bit more to that. Even though we have that option, we're going to continue to talk."
With that said, John certainly brings up an interesting point. He argues to have nine divisional games instead of the current six, and then play a division in each conference to equal 17 games.
While I like the idea, I do think the logistics of that third divisional game will create more headaches than anything for the league and teams, simply because of the fact John proposes the game be played at a neutral site or overseas.
I can tell you the planning that went into the Vikings 2017 game in London against the Browns was a massive one, and one that a team usually only has to deal with every few seasons. To ask every team to figure out a neutral site or overseas game each season would be a tall ask.
Now, if that third game was a rotation between home stadiums each season (meaning the Vikings played the Packers twice at U.S. Bank Stadium one year, and then twice at Lambeau Field the next season), that's something I could see as more reasonable.
Either way, we shall see what the league decides to do about the potential 17th game in 2021 and beyond.