On paper and for most practical purposes, it was another solid
statistical season for the perennial undervalued Kirk Cousins.
Learning a new scheme, he guided the explosive Vikings offense
to a 13-4 regular season record, throwing for a career high 4,547
yards, and piling up 31 total touchdowns. He’ll somehow
get blamed for coming up short in the playoffs again, despite
the fact he completed 80% of his passes for 273 yards and three
total touchdowns in a defensive meltdown against the Giants.
Finishing as a standard scoring QB1 in seven of the last eight
years, Cousins enters 2023 as one of the best fantasy values at
the position. The Vikings seemed to have gone all-in on the passing
game, ditching former All-Pro runner Dalvin Cook and drafting
USC receiver Jordan Addison in the 1st round. Throw in the game’s
best receiver in Justin Jefferson, rising youngster K.J. Osborn,
and the 2022 acquisition of T.J. Hockenson, and Cousins has the
gourmet ingredients to cook up a fantasy smorgasbord this season.
Season that meal with another young defense that’s likely to struggle,
and Cousins should continue to compile stats as he’s done for
a majority of his career. He may never get a team over the hump
with a deep playoff run, but that hardly matters to your fantasy
team. Snag a QB with top-5 upside, at a mid-round price.
After playing the dashing understudy to Dalvin Cook for a majority
of his career, Mattison was resigned this off-season to a two-year
deal, as Cook was sent packing. Mattison enters 2023 as the Vikings
clear lead back, and he should be their workhorse based on previous
usage. While filling in for an injured Cook in previous seasons,
Mattison has five 20+ carry games. In those games, Mattison averaged
104 rushing yards, and scored three touchdowns. Throw in at least
24 receiving yards in each game, and you see the kind of numbers
Mattison is capable of as an unchallenged three-down starter.
Possessing a similar build and skillset to Cook, just with much
less wear, it says a lot about Minnesota’s confidence in
the 5th year back that they would cast off Cook despite possessing
a “win now” roster. Based on his poor inefficiency
as a change of pace back, the heavy volume should benefit Mattison,
and your fantasy team. With a 250-touch floor, dual-threat game,
and chance for double digit touchdowns, Mattison is a rock solid
RB2 in all formats.
As a 5th round pick stuck behind Cook and Mattison, Chandler
didn’t see the field until Week 18 with just six touches
for 20 yards, but he likely has the upper hand as the backup,
as only raw 7th rounder DeWyane McBride and kick returner Kene
Nwangwu stands in his way. The Vikings seem intent to bolster
the notion that runner backs have become replaceable parts in
the modern NFL, as they have some of the fewest draft and financial
capital invested in the position. While none of the backups are
currently fantasy relevant, pay close attention to how this depth
chart shakes out in camp. If McBride can develop 3rd down skills,
his college production, and athleticism give him some serious
upside on an offense as wide open as this one will be.
After a historic two year start to his career, Jefferson was
somehow even better last season. Blasting off to a 128-1809-9
season, Jefferson was simply unrecoverable for stretches of the
season, including a dominant three-game stretch from Week 14-16
that likely propelled his fantasy owners to league titles. After
the Hall of Fame start to his career, there isn’t much fantasy
analysis necessary here, as he is the consensus No.1 receiver.
But I’d be remiss if I didn’t raise an eyebrow after
watching Jefferson reduced to a mere moral in the final weeks
of the season. 1-15-0 against the Packers, was followed up with
a 4-38 dud in Week 18. When it mattered most in the playoffs,
the Giants secondary was able to blanket the eventual Offensive
Player of the Year, holding him to 47 empty yards on seven receptions.
That three-game stretch was by far the worst of his young career,
and was enough for the Vikings to upgrade the receiving core to
take pressure off of Jefferson. Don’t overthink things,
just hope you somehow get a shot to draft him.
Osborn put up solid numbers behind target hogs Jefferson and
Adam Thielen during his first two NFL seasons. After back-to-back
650+ yard, 5+ touchdown seasons, Osborn opens the 2023 season
as the starter next to Jefferson. After a quiet 2022, Osborne
flashed down the stretch as teams dedicated major resources to
stopping his All-Pro teammate. The former 5th rounder has become
more than a simple field stretcher, and with the continued up-tempo,
pass-happy style, has a chance to set career highs in targets,
receptions and yards. Osborn could ascend to be a weekly WR3 in
standard formats if rookie Jordan Addison doesn’t eat into
his share too much.
They are certainly developing some quality NFL receiving talent
over there at USC. Addison joins fellow Trojans Drake London,
Amon-Ra St. Brown, Michael Pittman Jr., and Juju Smith-Schuster
as players that are surely to be in fantasy starting lineups this
season. All of those aforementioned players came into the NFL
ready to ball, and contributed right away. In what was widely
considered a deep position in the draft, Addison was the 4th receiver
picked in the first round. While not as physically gifted as the
other receivers drafted, Addison makes up for it with superior
technical ability and elite production over his collegiate career.
Rookie receivers adjust to the NFL game faster than ever, and
if Addison can prove to be a quick study and establish chemistry
with Cousins, he could overtake Osborne as the 3rd option in this
passing game. Add Addison as an upside bench stash that could
develop into a reliable WR3.
A surprise inter-division trade after Week 8, made Hockenson
a Viking and he casually caught all nine of his targets for 70
yards in his Minnesota debut. More impressive than the targets
and receptions, Hock produced those numbers with less than a week
of practice. There was plenty more volume where that came from,
as the former Lion saw no fewer than six looks in the remaining
meaningful games. At the end of the season Hockenson ended up
setting career highs in targets (129), receptions (86) and yards
(877). He enters 2023 as the clear No.2 option in the passing
offense, as the Sean McVay based scheme that Kevin O’Connel
runs, demands a dominant route running tight end to function at
an elite level. Hockenson is up there with Andrews and Kittle
as the tight ends to own after his majesty Travis Kelce goes off
the board.
