How to Improve the Offense

[VikingLord]

2015 Team Offensive Rankings (from http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/team/ ... asontype/2
Minnesota Vikings:

Total Offense - 29th
Passing - 31st (183 yards/game)
Rushing - 4th (138.2 yards/game)
Scoring - 16th (22.8 points/game)

So let's hear it - what should Spielman/Zimmer/Turner do during the offseason to improve the above? #1 receiver on the team ended up being a rookie 5th round pick. You've got a putative #1 WR who cost a mint and under-performed for the most part. Your star RB led the league in rushing, but he also costs a mint and showed signs of dropping off as the season went on. You had significant question marks all along the offensive line for most of the year, but you should be getting 2 injured vets back.

What specific moves do you make to resolve those questions (or any others you identify) and get the offense to a level where you can legitimately compete for a championship? Who can you count on in your plan? What are your target rankings and end-of-year stats you expect from your skill position players?

Some of this has already been discussed in other threads, but lets focus on offense only here. This is your chance to make Rick Spielman's offseason easy!

[IrishViking]

First, restructure Wallace and Peterson. Peterson slightly gentle touch but Hardball with Wallace.

Second, go after an established Offensive lineman in FA. If I were Spielman I would look at and pursue HARD anyone on the Cincy roster Zimmer wants. They imploded at the end of the year. We looked good. Anybody that Zimmer thinks is worth a look on that team, this will be the off season to get them.

Third plan to draft a big wide receiver threat. I don't think a raw talent like Patterson is the idea this time but rather any Tall physical receiver. He doesn't need world beating numbers, just someone that can develop into the type of receiver that Teddy can put the ball up to and will either get it or prevent the interception. Ideally I would have my eyes on 3-4 candidates, bring him in for a work out and see if there is chemistry for Bridgewater.

If we pick up some established FA help for the Oline and pick up a talented big man for WR I think most would consider this a successful draft.

On top of this all I would expect them to find a couple of project defensive players in the later rounds that Zimmer likes the build of.

[losperros]

If I was Spielman, there are a lot of things I'd address. Here are five:

First, find out what kind of offense Zimmer and Turner want to field. What should be its signature? Find out if Zimmer was sincere in saying he wants a more explosive offense. If he is, then we're on the same page and work to give Zimmer the offense he wants.

Second, decide if AD fits in this offense. After all, he can be explosive. And never forget Peterson's contract during the discussion.

Third, remind Zimmer and Turner that WRs Patterson (Spielman's own pick) and Johnson are on the team. Both of them, particularly Patterson, are playmakers. Spielman should slap Zimmer and Turner along side their heads if they say CP can't run routes, and then show them tape of CP doing exactly that during his rookie year. If needed, Spielman should shout through a bullhorn: "Get the freakin' playmakers on the field!" And remind them that Teddy plays better when he spreads the ball around (which again is something that Zimmer has talked about). If Turner can't handle that, then show him the door and hire a coordinator who can.

Fourth, plan to attack the draft and the free agency aggressively for more offensive line help. This is really important! The offense isn't going anywhere without better run and pass blocking.

Fifth, draft a rookie QB or get a decent one from the free agency who can challenge Teddy Bridgewater for the starting role, especially if he knows how to hit an open receiver downfield. I'm not saying give up on Bridgewater. But I am saying give him big time incentive to improve his game, which he needs to do.

[CbusVikesFan]

Let's see. How to improve the offense.
1. Replace TB with a QB that can throw down the field accurately and timely.
2. Draft some good lineman that can be plugged in and start right away or give great depth. (we have missed out on this)
3. restructure some contracts that are more cap friendly.
4. Drop the run, run, pass game plan. Period.
5. Get some WR's that get the job done.
6. Get/draft a punter that can kick it more than 30 yards downfield.
7. Give BW a shot of moonshine to calm his nerves, and NEVER KICK FROM THE LEFT HASH AGAIN.
Of course these are just my opinions, I don't think I am far off base because the numbers bear it out. If not for a swarming defense we would have most likely finished in the bottom ten again.

[fiestavike]

Fourth, plan to attack the draft and the free agency aggressively for more offensive line help. This is really important! The offense isn't going anywhere without better run and pass blocking.

This is priority 1, 2, 3, and 4 for me. WR and S are 5 and 6. RB is 7, CB is 8.

With no improvement at any position other than OL this team would have fielded a high scoring offense and probably had 14 wins.

[rugbyrugger23]

1. Cut Wallace. Rather see opportunity go to Patterson, Johnson, or Thielen, with Diggs on other side. Draft WR no earlier than third round to be added to mix.

2. Need to make FA splash on offense side of ball. Ideally an offensive lineman. Player who can start day 1, improve talent pool on that side of the ball while promoting competition for starting roles.

3. Draft defense first 2 rounds, maybe first 3. With that side of the ball deep in talent and identity of team anyways (with Zimmer a defensive coach), offense can be improved but is-what-it-is: running team. Turner will never change his stripes, AP isn't going anywhere, and goal of offseason should be to improve O while cementing D. Imagine the BRIGHT future of Vikings D with first 2 picks added to Smith, Barr, Joseph, Griffen, Floyd, Kendricks, Rhodes, Waynes.

4. Hope organic growth of TB game after another season, and another offseason with his WR core, under his belt is a sharp trend upward.

[chicagopurple]

fix the OL.....the whole damn OL

Stop depending on AP.....its a losing strategy that is out-dated in todays NFL......AND he likes to give the ball away inthe playoffs.....AND he cant pass block.....and he needs to be fed the ball 20 yards deep.....and it seems he isnt much of a receiver since Norv didnt use him that way this year.

Shop for a QB....Teddy isnt looking like a remotely sure thing....at all....

[Purple bruise]

fix the OL.....the whole damn OL

Stop depending on AP.....its a losing strategy that is out-dated in todays NFL......AND he likes to give the ball away inthe playoffs.....AND he cant pass block.....and he needs to be fed the ball 20 yards deep.....and it seems he isnt much of a receiver since Norv didnt use him that way this year.

Shop for a QB....Teddy isnt looking like a remotely sure thing....at all....

Teddy has won more games than anyone else in his draft class. Carr has more numbers but plays on a more wide open passing attack with much better receivers and better o-line. Which one of these would you have selected
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Drafted Quarterbacks
NAME POS SCHOOL ROUND PK(OVR) TEAM
Blake Bortles QB UCF 1 3(3) Jacksonville
Johnny Manziel QB Texas A&M 1 22(22) Cleveland
Teddy Bridgewater QB Louisville 1 32(32) Minnesota
Derek Carr QB Fresno State 2 4(36) Oakland
Jimmy Garoppolo QB Eastern Illinois 2 30(62) New England
Logan Thomas QB Virginia Tech 4 20(120) Arizona
Tom Savage QB Pittsburgh 4 35(135) Houston
Aaron Murray QB Georgia 5 23(163) Kansas City
AJ McCarron QB Alabama 5 24(164) Cincinnati
Zach Mettenberger QB LSU 6 2(178) Tennessee
David Fales QB San Jose State 6 7(183) Chicago
Keith Wenning QB Ball State 6 18(194) Baltimore
Tajh Boyd QB Clemson 6 37(213) NY Jets
Garrett Gilbert

[chicagopurple]

sorry, he has a weak side arm delivery, he doesnt know when to toss the ball or eat it, and he has no down field accuracy.....it would be foolish to NOT look for a plan B. Right now we have nothing behind Teddy and that is foolish. He gets next year to prove himself. Meanwhile we need someone learning behind him.......

[VikingLord]

I'll take a crack at this.

First, the lack of passing production is the thing that jumps out. The Vikings were very good running the ball, and they weren't bad at scoring, but they were very bad in terms of passing yardage and, because passing yardage makes up an outsized chunk of overall yardage, they were almost equally bad overall on offense.

So it's time to take a closer look at the 3 components of the passing game - the QB, the receivers, and the offensive line. I'll try to do it in that order (although not necessarily all in one post).

To break Teddy Bridgewater down overall, I'll rely on individual passer stats available at http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/playe ... asontype/2

Teddy Bridgewater - 2015 Rankings
Completions - 292 (21st out of 40) - High was 437 (Phillip Rivers), Low was 78 (Ryan Mallet)
Attempts - 447 (21st out of 40) - High was 661 (Phillip Rivers), Low was 121 (Tony Romo)
Completion % - 65.3 (9th out of 34) - High was 69.8 (Kirk Cousins), Low was 55.3 (Andrew Luck)
Yards - 3,231 (21st out of 40) - High was 4,870 (Drew Brees), Low was 828 (Case Keenum)
Yards Per Attempt - 7.23 (17th out of 34) - High was 8.70 (Carson Palmer), Low was 6.09 (Nick Foles)
Long - Did Not Rank (out of 40) - High was 90 (Blake Bortles), Low was 57 (4-way tie between Matt Hasselbeck, Josh Freeman, Matt Stafford, and Zach Mettenberger)
TDs - 14 (Tied for 26th with Joe Flacco out of 40) - High was 36 (Tom Brady), Low was 4 (Tie between Mark Sanchez and Kellen Moore)
INTs - 9 (22nd out of 40) - High was 18 (Blake Bortles), Low was 4 (Tie between Matt Schaub and Josh McCown)
Sacks - 44 (Tied for 6th highest out of 40) - High was 51 (Blake Bortles), Low was 10 (Michael Vick)
Rating - 88.7 (22nd out of 34 listed) - High was 110.1 (Russell Wilson), Low was 67.9 (Peyton Manning)
Yards Per Game - 202 (32nd out of 34 listed) - High was 328 (Ben Rothslisberger), Low was 179 (Colin Kaepernick)

So what jumps out about these numbers?

- Over the course of the year, Bridgewater took a lot of sacks, which confirms he was either under a lot of pressure, held the ball too long consistently, or a combination of both
- The fact he didn't rank in the long pass category confirms the lack of explosiveness in the passing game. Since many of those longer plays are catch-and-runs, it might also indicate an overall lack of playmaking ability among his wide receivers
- Yards per game was near the bottom, but yards per attempt was right in the middle of that ranking. This confirms that when Bridgewater threw the ball, his targets were deep enough compared to his peers. His ranking in attempts also indicates he threw it about as often as average for his peers. I'd take this stat to indicate then again a lack of after-the-catch playmaking ability from the receivers, especially in light of the Did Not Rank for long passes.
- TDs were low, but not as bad as I feared compared to his peers.
- In the majority of these categories, Bridgewater is right in the middle of his peers. He excelled in completion percentage, while the sacks, lack of a long TD all year, and low overall passing yardage seem to point to what Spielman, Zimmer, Turner, and Bridgewater himself need to focus on during the offseason.

Passing Offense Improvement Plan - Part A

- Cut down on the sacks
To do that will require 2 things
1) Identify and fix the pass protection issues among the offensive linemen, tight ends and running backs. Look at the film. Who is breaking down most often and in what situations? Identify those weak players and seek to improve those positions during the offseason. I am not going to call out specific players here (yet, anyway), but this is what Spielman, Zimmer and Turner need to spend a substantial part of the offseason evaluating and developing a plan to address.
2) Work with Bridgewater to improve his read and recognition over the offseason. Sure, the sacks were a result of protection breakdowns and missed assignments, but Bridgewater also had a tendency to hold the ball too long. Turner needs to work with Bridgewater to develop a plan to improve his pre-snap reads, audibles that will put Bridgewater and his receivers into favorable postions post-snap, and Bridgewater's ability to rapidly process what is happening in front of him (read - LOTS of offseason tape study).

- Improve explosiveness
Before I started looking at the stats I fully expected the weight of this to fall squarely on Bridgewater's inaccuracy on deep passes, and while I still think that is an issue, it's clearly not the only issue. There is a real dearth of explosiveness from the WRs as well. Bridgewater's yards per attempt and total attempts, coupled with his completion percentage, paint a picture of a QB who is certainly putting the ball into play where his receivers should have chances to create explosive plays, but they're just not happening. And come to think of it, if your consensus best receiver after 16 games is a 5th round draft pick who wasn't even starting to begin the season, it makes sense that this is a major part of the problem. Wallace didn't pan out. Charles Johnson was AWOL. Cordarelle Patterson was consigned to kick return duties. The guys who were out there just didn't POP. This is a Spielman problem and, to a lesser degree, a Turner problem as well. Bridgewater, of course, needs to hit those deep opportunities when they present as well, so he doesn't get off the hook, but at least in this area, the problem is much more complex than simply that.

It's hard to come down too much on Bridgewater given his youth. He ranked solidly in the middle of all his peers in most of these categories. If I'm Turner and Spielman, I think it's reasonable to expect him to jump into the top 3rd in most of the categories where he ranked in the middle this year provided the other issues are fixed prior to the season.

Next up will be a closer look at those receivers, and then I'll try to cover what I can of the blockers and their overall success or lack thereof. Who was getting it done, who wasn't, and where should Spielman be looking to improve on those areas heading into the offseason.

[Pondering Her Percy]

Let's see. How to improve the offense.
1. Replace TB with a QB that can throw down the field accurately and timely.
2. Draft some good lineman that can be plugged in and start right away or give great depth. (we have missed out on this)
3. restructure some contracts that are more cap friendly.
4. Drop the run, run, pass game plan. Period.
5. Get some WR's that get the job done.
6. Get/draft a punter that can kick it more than 30 yards downfield.
7. Give BW a shot of moonshine to calm his nerves, and NEVER KICK FROM THE LEFT HASH AGAIN.
Of course these are just my opinions, I don't think I am far off base because the numbers bear it out. If not for a swarming defense we would have most likely finished in the bottom ten again.

To say replace Teddy might be one of the most far fetched things I've seen on here. I've been on him all year but to just replace him after his second year is just dumb. DUMB

[mondry]

Improve the O-line

Go for more TD's

done.

[Boon]

Make the Oline solid, get teddy a stud WR, move Patterson to RB

[DK Sweets]

Make the Oline solid, get teddy a stud WR, move Patterson to RB

I really don't think Patterson as a RB is the answer. Besides, with Adrian, McKinnon, and Asiata on the roster it's not like he would be getting any more touches than he is now.

[autobon7]

This big time......and perhaps giving Norv the boot. I know.... I just feel there is no valid excuse that we did not see Johnson and Patterson. Sure could have used those athletic/tall specimens when we were in Seahawks red zone.....agree?