How will Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah evaluate Kirk Cousins — and other big questions

New Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was formally introduced to the media on Thursday morning, answering a variety of questions about how his tenure might play out.

Now, of course, the real work begins.

Considered an unconventional hire given the route he took to the NFL, Adofo-Mensah figures to do this job differently in a lot of ways than his predecessor, Rick Spielman.

And there are some big questions about Adofo-Mensah and the job he inherits, which I talked about on Thursday's Daily Delivery podcast.

*Does this sort of hire work in the NFL? While Adofo-Mensah might not consider himself a pure analytics guy, his background as an energy trader means he likely approaches decisions in a different way than someone like Spielman with a football/scouting background.

The NBA and MLB have been quicker to hire decisionmakers with similar academic credentials to Adofo-Mensah — who holds degrees from both Princeton and Stanford — than NFL teams. Is that because the NFL is slower to adapt or because football decisions are different? We will find out.

*How does he value players/roster building differently than Spielman? Will Adofo-Mensah look at what the Vikings have traditionally spent on running backs and linebackers and re-allocate that money? Will he value holdover players the same way Spielman did? How will he run the draft?

*What data does he trust the most on Kirk Cousins? This is the biggest question. Cousins' value is often in the eye of the beholder. What factors will Adofo-Mensah use to determine the QB's future in Minnesota?

*Does this hire eliminate certain head coach candidates who might not be into an analytics or collaborative approach? As the Vikings shift to the search for a head coach, with Adofo-Mensah having significant input, is someone like Raheem Morris and his "stats are for losers" quote disqualified?

*If the Vikings hadn't had success in 2019, might we have seen this type of move two years ago, with Kevin Stefanski as head coach? This is more of a fun what-if than anything Adofo-Mensah can control. But just looking at the direction the Wilf family went with this hire makes me wonder how things might have played out differently two years ago if the Vikings hadn't made the postseason and won a playoff game.