Familiar with Staff & Scheme, Rauscher Ready to Work with Vikings O-Line

[Viktor]

He's been excited to rejoin those colleagues for meetings the past couple of weeks to watch cut-ups of game film.


"I think getting a chance to work with Coach Kub' again, who you know, gave me my first opportunity in the NFL, to get back with him has been awesome," Rauscher said. "Klint has been a close friend of mine. Rico (Dennison), Pariani, that whole crew, just to get back in the meeting rooms with them and see how well they all work together has been tremendous. Having familiarity with the system has been a help the past two weeks. Just being away from the system for the past two years and coming back in, it's been great to have some familiarity with it.


"We've really spent the past two weeks in the meeting room, just watching all of the cut-ups and spending time with Rico, just getting a feel for everybody on the roster," Rauscher said. "It's been a crash-course two weeks, as it is when you're a new coach in a new place, trying to figure out everybody. Now, if you line 'em up in a room right now and say, 'Who's who?,' I need a media guide."


Count Rauscher as a fan of the zone-blocking scheme and commitment to the run game that helped Minnesota go from 30th in the NFL in rushing yards per game in 2018 to sixth this past season.


"The zone-blocking scheme really opens up a lot of running lanes for the back," Rauscher said. "When I was at Washington, we did a lot of studies of this blocking scheme. The opportunity to work with Dalvin [Cook] as the back really opens up a lot of different things, but [zone-blocking] gives you an opportunity to play fast and be physical, which is something that all lines strive to have, but the opportunity with the zone scheme really opens that up in a lot of ways."


Minnesota's per-game rush average increased by more than 40, going from 93.3 in 2018 to 133.6 last season thanks to the commitment to the run, a healthier Cook and impressive contribution from rookie Alexander Mattison. Mike Boone and Ameer Abdullah also helped in relief.