Elite Minnesota Vikings Defender Thinks Kirk Cousins’ Departure May Result in Improvement

Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Harrison Phillips explained the leadership void left by the departure of quarterback Kirk Cousins.

Cousins spent six years as the quarterback for the Vikings before making the decision to move on and sign with the Atlanta Falcons for the next four years.

Harrison Phillips said current Minnesota Vikings players will be forced to fill the leadership void left by Kirk Cousins

Phillips explained that the lack of leadership created by Kirk Cousins’ departure will be something that will require multiple teammates to make up for.

He said in an article from NFL.com that he even thinks the team could be better off with more players stepping up into leadership positions.

“There’s gonna be a huge loss,” Phillips said Wednesday on NFL Total Access. “Kirk Cousins as a person, as a leader, as a teammate, that’s a big void in your locker room. One of the most humble guys that I’ve ever been around. Servant leader, just a great motivator. He’s great. To ask one person to fill that void is probably not probable.

“So what we’re going to do is have a great leadership team, which we’ve already seen. There’s already guys that I’ve seen these last few seasons being on this roster — some are captains, some are not captains yet but will be in their careers — and so we’re going to pass that torch off and kind of division of labor. We’re going to all carry that load together, and maybe we can be a better football team for it.

“Kirk’s obviously amazing. I’ve learned a lot from him and the leadership side of thing, and that’s an area I’m trying to step up and improve my game by working on those abilities.”

Harrison Phillips, who is reaching veteran status, could be one of the players that will have to step up for the Minnesota Vikings

Although Harrison Phillips has been with the Minnesota Vikings for just two years, he is approaching his seventh year in the NFL.

Phillips is coming off his most productive season yet and could be one of the players who is required to step up and fill the leadership void left by Cousins.

In his first three years, Phillips never had more than 35 tackles in a season. In each of the last three years, Phillips has had over 50 tackles with a staggering 92 tackles in 2023. Phillips’ ability to control the interior of the defensive line could mirror his ability to control the defense as a whole.

Harrison Phillips driving the center back then shedding him to make the third-and-1 stop a gap over. Really good player who does all the dirty work: pic.twitter.com/fZ00J3BAZk

— Nick Olson (@NickOlsonNFL) November 13, 2023

Phillips has yet to reach Pro Bowl status, but if he continues on the trend defined by the leap he made from 2022 to 2023, he could easily find himself being one of the best players on the Vikings’ defense.

Despite high praise from former teammates, Kirk Cousins’ leadership didn’t result in much for the Minnesota Vikings

While the Vikings were far from bottom feeders in any capacity with Cousins at the helm, they didn’t really accomplish all that much.

their crowning achievement with Cousins as the signal caller was a loss in the divisional round in 2019. The year before Cousins was on the team, the Vikings made it to the NFC Championship Game.

Minnesota went 13-4 in 2022 but lost in the wild-card round. If a leadership-by-committee Vikings team can manage to win more than one playoff game in a span of six years, they will be more successful than a team led by Kirk Cousins.

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