Sleeping on a Vikings Super Bowl
The Minnesota Vikings are less than a month from the upcoming NFL draft. Despite making multiple additions through free agency, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell’s team is set to get better.
How much better remains to be seen, but this could be a sleeper Super Bowl squad.
Going into the offseason, it was widely accepted that Mike Zimmer’s departure would leave Minnesota as the premier destination for an incoming head coach. With the firing of Rick Spielman, an entirely new regime was going to get a roster with plenty of workable talent. A veteran quarterback was already established, and skill players littered the roster.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”986483″ player=”26279″ title=”WATCH%204%20ideal%20Chicago%20Bears%20wide%20receiver%20options%20in%202022%20NFL%20draft” duration=”119″ description=”There is no doubt the Chicago Bears and quarterback Justin Fields could use some help in the passing game in 2022. Second-year wide receiver Darnell Mooney did an admirable job in being the team’s top receiver and racking up over 1,000 yards last season, but he does not project to be a legit WR1 in the NFL for years to come.Outside of Mooney there was a major production dropoff for the Bears receivers. Tight end Cole Kernet tallied the second most yards with 612 in 2021, and exiting free agent WR Allen Robinson was third on the team despite playing in only 12 games. After Mooney, the next four players on the team’s receiving stats list barely had over 1,600 yards combined.It is a serious enough problem that Bears General Manager Ryan Poles recently admitted they have a glaring weakness at the position. However, despite not having a first round pick in this month’s draft, he won’t waste a top pick on a WR reach.” uploaddate=”2022-04-05″ thumbnailurl=”undefined” contentUrl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/streaming/986456/986456.m3u8″ width=”16″ height=”9″]
Since then, the Vikings have basically decided to run it back with a similar look to what they had a year ago. Recently, Patrick Peterson was re-signed to bolster a depleted cornerback room. Anthony Barr is gone, but Jordan Hicks replaced him. Michael Pierce departed, but Harrison Phillips fills his shoes.
If there’s been a boost, it was adding the talent of Za’Darius Smith on the opposite side of Danielle Hunter. The scheme on the defensive side of the ball has switched, but there’s plenty of reason to consider the talent roughly equal.
Although Zimmer’s defense was a dumpster fire last season, two recurring themes were consistently pointed to as the problem. The offensive line has been an issue, and the coaching lacked any semblance of forward-thinking. The line has since added names like Jesse David and Chris Reed, while O’Connell brings his highly-regarded mind to the sidelines. If those key areas have and continue to be addressed, the outside factors begin to point towards a “why not us?” stance for Minnesota.
It’s fair to argue that the Green Bay Packers have regressed. They re-signed their superstar quarterback but lost his favorite target, and it seems Aaron Rodgers’ best hope for a wideout threat may come through the draft.
Smith swapped teams within the division, and Billy Turner has departed as well. There’s no denying Matt LaFleur is going to keep this team competitive, but it’s hardly a lock that they will run away and hide in the division.
Chicago is still figuring things out, and while Justin Fields appeared promising at times, he still took plenty of lumps. Khalil Mack is gone on defense, and they still need to show an ability to win. In Detroit, the Lions remain led by the middling Jared Goff, and it’s hard to argue success will simply find a three-win team in any swift fashion.
Looking at the Vikings schedule, although not finalized by date, Minnesota gets bottom feeders in both the New York Giants and Jets. Dallas has to come to Minnesota, and so do the Patriots and Colts. Washington is a team of intrigue as they’ll start the ever up-and-down Carson Wentz. New Orleans isn’t the team it once was, and there’s no telling how either Philadelphia or Miami will come out in the season ahead.
The reality is that the Vikings don’t need to be a juggernaut and rip off 13 wins during the regular season.
What they need to do is hold serve in a very winnable NFC North. Tabbed with an over/under win total of nine at Bovada, the group is being slept on.
With the talent at their disposal, that should be a fair expectation for them to uphold, and a first-round bye could also be in their sights. Beyond that, it’s about winning a game at a time and getting hot. I don’t think there’s any argument that Minnesota is among the best three or four teams in the NFL right now. I do believe the circumstances can allow their talent to force its way in, however.
Maybe Adofo-Mensah winds up looking silly for surpassing the idea of an overall and instead giving this group one more go with a new leader. There’s the flip side to that too, though. Maybe he doesn’t.
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