Purple Rumor Mill: Vikings as Quentin Johnston Favorites, 8.5 Wins, John Johnson
Dustin Baker
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VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the April 9th edition.
Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the Vikings, not necessarily items that will come to fruition.
Purple Rumor Mill: Vikings as Quentin Johnston Favorites, 8.5 Wins, John Johnson
Here’s the second batch of the week. Yesterday’s can be read here.
Rumor: The Vikings are the odds-on favorites to draft WR Quentin Johnston of TCU.
This one is correct. Per DraftKings, the Vikings have +700 odds to select Johnston on draft night, with the New England Patriots second at +750.
Snagging Johnson with the 23rd overall pick would’ve been unheard of about two months ago, but Johnston’s stock has dipped substantially since the NFL Combine. He may not even be the first wide receiver off the board.
Some believe Johnston will be a phenomenal pick, while others see “bust” written all over him. Such is draft life. The Vikings are also favored to draft Hendon Hooker with +600 odds. The Lions follow at +950 in the Hooker sweepstakes.
Rumor: 8.5 wins — again — is the Vikings Vegas outlook in 2023.
Eerily similar to this time last year, indeed, Minnesota is on deck for a mediocre 8.5 wins in 2023, according to sportsbooks. Most of the NFL body politic thinks the Vikings severely overachieved in 2022 and hence are everyone’s top regression candidate.
It’s unlikely Minnesota duplicates the fancy 11-0 record in one-score games from 2022, but they also won’t suddenly become awful in close contests. An easy way to think of the 8.5-win prognosis? Teams with Kirk Cousins at QB1 will typically hover around the mark.
Like last year, when the regular season nears, the Vikings win total forecast will probably climb to 9.5 or so.
Rumor: Free-agent safety John Johnson could be on Minnesota’s to-do list.
This is just an idea from Bleacher Report.
BR published an article this week about ideal landing spots for the league’s best remaining free agents, and the Vikings were linked to Johnson.
“Johnson could find a home with the Minnesota Vikings, who may need a veteran placeholder at safety while Lewis Cine recovers from a compound fracture in his leg. In 2022, Camryn Bynum started 17 games at safety, but he allowed a 123 passer rating in coverage. Johnson would be an immediate upgrade alongside Harrison Smith,” Bleacher Report‘s Maurice Moton wrote.
He added, “Assuming the Vikings trade or release edge-rusher Za’Darius Smith, who wants to play elsewhere, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, they’ll save $12.2 million in cap space, per Over the Cap, which should leave enough room to sign Johnson.”
Johnson would make sense if Lewis Cine’s injury recovery encounters hiccups, but no evidence suggests that as of April. The Vikings would onboard a damn good football player in Johnson — he played with Kevin O’Connell in Los Angeles during the 2020 season — so the idea isn’t silly.
But like most free-agent theories, though, this one is unlikely to materialize.
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 Sal Spice. His Viking obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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