Apr 28, 2022; Las Vegas, NV, USA; A group of fans wear the jersey of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports.
The Minnesota Vikings just cannot shake the mediocrityfrom the masses.
CBS Sports, among other NFL media entities, released post-draft power rankings on Tuesday, and unsurprisingly, the Vikings were considered the league’s 20th-best team.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”1005589″ player=”26279″ title=”WATCH%205%20Ideal%20Nick%20Foles%20landing%20spots%20in%20free%20agency” duration=”120″ description=”The Chicago Bears on Saturday made the right decision in releasing veteran quarterback Nick Foles.They had been attempting to find a trade partner for the former Super Bowl MVP. But nothing came to fruition during the 2022 NFL Draft.Clearly a backup at this stage of his career, Foles can offer a contending team that valuable experience. Below, we look at 5 ideal landing spots for Foles in NFL free agency.” uploaddate=”2022-05-03″ thumbnailurl=”undefined” contentUrl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/streaming/1005446/1005446.m3u8″ width=”16″ height=”9″]
And that’s about where the Vikings lived toward the end of the 2021 regular season in these pecking orders. Minnesota finished 8-9 last season, one game out of the postseason’s seventh seed.
Pete Prisco of CBS Sports explained the Vikings at #20, “New coach Kevin O’Connell inherits a team that should be able roll up big numbers on offense; the question is the defense, but they will be better on that side than they were a year ago after spending a lot of draft capital on it.”
Usually when the Vikings receive ho-hum preseason recognition, pundits and fans see Kirk Cousins as QB1 and immediately slap on an even-steven diagnosis. For folks who cherish “quarterback record” as an astute statistic, Cousins has a career win-loss of 59-59-2 (.500). Unlike Matthew Stafford, who posted an upside-down QB record before joining the Los Angeles Rams, Cousins’ critics do not believe he’s capable of much more than a .500 season.
Still, the Vikings recommitted to Cousins through the end of the 2023 season at a price tag of $35 million per season.
Additionally, new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah welcomed these new players to the organization via free agency:
After that, the NFL Draft took place, and Minnesota drafted 10 new players after a whirlwind of trades during the event. This is the draft class:
Other power-ranking outfits echo Prisco’s opinion. NBC Sports tosses the Vikings into the #21 hole. NFL.com is even lower at #22. And with the most scathing of feedback, Bleacher Report checked the Vikings in at #22, too.
Generally speaking, the Vikings are considered power-ranking bedfellows for 2022 with teams like Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers, and New Orleans Saints.
The 2022 regular season schedule will release on May 12th.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).