Vikings Announce Six Captains For 2020 Season
The Vikings officially named their six captains for the 2020 season on Wednesday: Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Kyle Rudolph, Riley Reiff, Anthony Barr, and Harrison Smith.
The two differences from last year are that former captains Everson Griffen and Linval Joseph departed in free agency this offseason. In their place are first-time captains Cook and Smith.
This is the third straight year that Cousins and Barr are Vikings captains, and it's the fourth straight year for Rudolph and Reiff.
Here's a quick breakdown of all six.
Kirk Cousins, QB
This is Cousins' fifth straight year as a captain, dating back to the 2016 and 2017 seasons in Washington. Entering his ninth season in the NFL, the veteran quarterback is looking to build off of the most efficient and explosive season of his career. That could be difficult without Stefon Diggs, but Cousins still has plenty of weapons at his disposal. He has mentioned multiple times this offseason wanting to make more plays off-script and become more of a threat to scramble.
"We’ve talked about it quite a bit," Cousins said Wednesday of looking to improve when things get off schedule. "I’m not going to reinvent the wheel. I’ve had success playing with a certain style but if I can build on that a little bit, then I’ll look to do that.”
Dalvin Cook, RB
It's a major sign of the respect Cook has within the Vikings organization that he has been named a team captain in his fourth season. The 25-year-old star famously had some red flags coming out of Florida State, but he has been nothing but fantastic on and off of the field for the Vikings during his NFL career. The big question here is whether or not he's frustrated by the inability of his agent and the team to work out a long-term contract extension.
"From a standpoint where I’m sitting now and being in negotiations and seeing it from this side, you kind of put both of them together," Cook said when asked about being valued without having that new contract. "It’s just like if I value you as a person, I would treat you such as I value you. It’s the same thing with me. I’m going to give 1,000 percent on the field, every time I walk in the building, every time I’m out in the community. It’s kind of the same thing. Like I said, I just hope both sides come to an agreement so they can value Dalvin Cook on and off the field."
Cook hasn't said anything that indicates there's a possibility he won't be out there going 100 percent, even in the final year of his rookie deal.
"If Coach Zim calls my name, I’ll be out there," Cook said.
He's in line for another huge season in 2020 if he can stay healthy.
Kyle Rudolph, TE
Rudolph was named a captain back in 2017 and has been one ever since. The veteran tight end is one of the team's most important leaders in the locker room and an incredible representative of the organization. He's been the Vikings' nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for two straight years because of all the amazing work he does with the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital. Rudolph has also emerged as an important voice in the team's efforts to bring about change with various social justice initiatives.
On the field, he ranks in the top five in franchise history in receptions and touchdown receptions. Entering his tenth year with the Vikings, Rudolph is the team's longest-tenured player.
Riley Reiff, LT
It was somewhat surprising when the Vikings named Reiff a captain back in 2017 after acquiring the former Lions tackle in free agency. However, he lived up to that role with his leadership and like Rudolph, has remained a captain ever since.
"I was talking to some of the younger guys the other day about when he first came here, he kind of changed the culture of that offensive line room," Adam Thielen said of Reiff recently.
The past few weeks have been eventful for Reiff. After trading for Yannick Ngakoue, the Vikings needed salary cap space. So they went to Reiff and essentially told him he could either take a pay cut or be released. For a while, it looked like they were going to have to cut him. But Reiff eventually changed course and agreed to the pay cut, and he'll continue to hold down the left side of the Vikings' offensive line in 2020.
Anthony Barr, LB
Barr is a crucial part of the Vikings' culture on defense and handles a ton of complex roles and responsibilities as an outside linebacker who plays every single snap. Only Rudolph, Smith, and Thielen have been with the franchise for longer than the 2014 first-round pick out of UCLA. It was a big deal when Barr appeared to be headed to the Jets last offseason before changing his mind and staying in Minnesota.
Along with fellow linebacker Eric Kendricks, Barr is one of the leading voices on the team's social justice committee.
“I think this is the responsibility that we have not only as citizens but as athletes in the community, especially the event was so close and hit so close to home for us with the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis," Barr said recently. "It only felt right to kind of be a little more proactive that I have been. I kind of put pressure on myself and my peers and my family members to the do the same. Obviously the work is far from done."
Harrison Smith, S
Smith is the second longest-tenured player on the team and the longest-tenured player on Mike Zimmer's defense. He's been one of the NFL's best safeties for nearly a decade now; Smith can take over a game with his combination of mental acuity and physical talent.
This is his first time being a captain, but it's basically a guarantee that he's been asked before if he wants that honor. Smith has certainly earned it. However, he's always been a fairly quiet guy who leads by example rather than being a super vocal motivator. But with Griffen and Joseph leaving, a captaincy role opened up and Smith has finally accepted.
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