3 early Vikings training camp standouts who fans can’t ignore

1. Kirk Cousins is building up optimism for the Vikings

Getting excited about Kirk Cousins has often been a fool’s errand. He’s long been the epitome of a quarterback who is good enough to put up the stats but not good enough to carry a team, whether that means in a big moment, in a playoff game, or even propelling his team into the postseason. So I understand any skepticism that might be present about him being called a standout.

With that said, the talk around Cousins under the watch of Kevin O’Connell thus far is impossible to ignore as he’s drawing rave reviews.

Not only is Cousins meeting with O’Connell weekly for 1-on-1 coaching — something that was shockingly not happening under th eprevious regime — but we’re seeing the molding under the new head coach in others ways as well. He’s picking up the offense and breaking old habits, as noted by Dean Jones of The Viking Age.

We know that Cousins has proven he can put up numbers with these receivers and in the NFL as a whole. But the changes that are coming for this team seem to be trickling to the quarterback right off the bat, something that should raise the level of optimism about what he, the offense, and this Vikings team can be in the 2022 season.