Minnesota Vikings: 3 Things to watch for in Preseason Week 1

1. Cousins commanding the offense

One area with zero controversies in Minnesota will be the quarterback position. After they gave Kirk Cousins a fully guaranteed three-year, $84 million contract, everyone knew he was the new face of the franchise.

Everyone should know what Cousins can do. While with the Washington Redskins, he became the first player in their storied history to throw for 4,000-plus yards in three straight seasons. Those also happened to be the only three seasons he was a full-time starter.

On top of that, he kept that streak going in 2017 despite having less-than-ideal receiving targets to get the ball to. That won’t be an issue in Minnesota.

At receiver, the team features Adam Thielen and the previously mentioned Stefon Diggs. They also made an underrated move to bring in Kendall Wright, who has a 1,000-yard receiving season on his resume. Add in tight end Kyle Rudolph and the potential of Laquon Treadwell to finally break out and the sky is the limit for this offense.

What will determine how far it goes is how comfortable their gunslinger is under center. When the Vikings do take the field for their first preseason game, we won’t see the offense open up the entire playbook. What we will see though is how much command Cousins has of the unit. That is by far the most important thing to look for when they do take the field in Denver.