Brett Favre's Impact on Minnesota Vikings' Playcalling

Well, its official.  Brett Favre is a Minnesota Viking.  Three weeks after telling the media he would stay retired, Favre has signed a two-year, $25 million deal. 

There are many questions about the Favre signing.  Which of the current QBs will be cut?  Can Favre last a full season?  Will he play within Childress's scheme, or revert to the old gunslinger he was while in Green Bay? 

Right now, our focus will be on how Favre's presence will affect the playcalling and roles of other players on the offense.

Having Favre taking the snaps will open up the passing part of the playbook tremendously. 

In the past few seasons, it was evident that the playcalling for Tarvaris Jackson was rather limited.  When Gus Frerotte took over last season in Week Three, the passing attack took off, as the Vikings were calling plays that the defense had not seen on tape yet. 

With Favre, the passing playbook will be wide open.  During an interview with HBO's Joe Buck, Favre told Buck, "It's an offense I ran for 16 years.  I can teach the offense."

The time it takes to get used to the Minnesota's offense will be very short, allowing Favre's veteran mind to become as comfortable as possible with the scheme, and work on executing the plays during practice rather than working on understanding the concepts.

What difference in playcalling can we expect to see with Favre under center? 

To start, we can expect to see a lot of play-action passes to take advantage of a top run game.  With one of the top running backs in the league threatening with the ground game, Adrian Peterson, linebackers will have to key in on Peterson if they want any hope of shutting him down.  If they bite on a fake handoff, crossing patterns will be wide open for Favre to hit his receivers for some nice gains.

It's likely that the Vikings will pass a bit more than they have in previous years now that they have a legitimate passing threat. 

Last season, the Vikings had the fifth fewest number of pass attempts with only 452.  By comparison, Favre threw 522 passes last season, and that was one of his lowest number of attempts in his career. 

If the Vikings throw more passes this season, it's likely that the number of carries that  Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor get will go down because of it. 

Does that mean their production this season will also suffer?  Not necessarily.  Since defenses will not be stacking the box with eight or nine defenders as often anymore the backs will be more likely to make a defender miss and rush for a nice gain.  Their yards per carry average will likely increase this season, after both runners had a decreased average last season. 

Chester Taylor has also been quite a reliable receiving target, catching 45 passes last season for 399 yards and two touchdowns.  Peterson, whose numbers have been lower than Taylor's, has been working hard this offseason on his receiving abilities, and could turn into a legitimate threat as a receiver as well as a runner.

With a quarterback who is good at going through the passing progression and utilizing the backs, 2,000 combined yards out of Peterson is a very realistic possibility.  It is also likely that we will see Taylor and Peterson on the field at the same time more often next season.  This will help remove some of the predictability of having Peterson on the field for run situations and bringing in Taylor for third downs or passing situations.

In addition to play-action passes, expect to see a lot of different personnel packages on the field.  In Green Bay, Favre was great at spreading the ball around to different receivers, trying to get everyone involved so that defenses could not focus on shutting down one receiver.   That is a key element of the West Coast Offense, but an element that was not utilized to its full potential with Tarvaris Jackson and Gus Frerotte throwing the ball.

One up-and-coming star in this league who figures to have another great season now that Favre will be throwing the ball to him is TE Visanthe Shiancoe.  Favre has typically made good use of tight ends, especially in the red zone.  Mark Chmura, Bubba Franks, Donald Lee and Dustin Keller have enjoyed good production while being targeted by Favre in New York and Green Bay. 

Shiancoe will likely see another increase in production after finishing third among tight ends with seven touchdowns and nearly 600 yards last season.  Something along the lines of 50 receptions, six to ten TDs and 700+ yards is not out of the question for Shiancoe

Another question bugging fans all over is what impact will first-round pick Percy Harvin have now that Favre is running the offense?  He will likely be slowly introduced to the system, splitting time with Bobby Wade at the slot position.  That's not to say he won't be effective, though. 

In Green Bay, Favre was very effective throwing quick slant passes to Driver.  Harvin should thrive doing the same from the slot position.  His natural speed and quickness is perfect for that and he can take some short passes while getting some nice yards after the catch.  If he can make a defender miss, any pass to him is a potential touchdown.  Don't expect him to top 1,000 yards and 10 TDs, but 700 combined rushing and receiving yards with six to eight touchdowns would be a great start for him.

Should we expect Favre to completely rejuvenate the Vikings offense, making them the top offense in the league?  Not quite.  He's not a savior or the missing link to a Super Bowl team, he's just an upgrade at quarterback. 

Favre can certainly help the Vikings become a more balanced team and a more effective team, but he will still need the help of his teammates to reach that goal.  He's no longer the same quarterback he was when he won a Super Bowl with the Packers, but he is still a very good option.  If he can limit turnovers while still getting the ball downfield, the Vikings could have a very respectable passing game.

The Vikings already had one of the most talented rosters in the league.  Adding Favre was a step in the right direction to help them reach the ultimate goal: a Vince Lombardi Trophy.