Purple Rumor Mill: Early Darrisaw Snub, Jefferson’s New Goal, New FAs
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 December 10th edition.
Purple Rumor Mill: Early Darrisaw Snub, Jefferson’s New Goal, New FAs
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.
Here’s the second batch of the week. Yesterday’s can be read here.
Rumor: Once again, Christian Darrisaw appears on track for a Pro Bowl snub.
At least per early fan voting, the Darrisaw disrespect is loud and clear.
Among all offensive tackles in the NFL, Darrisaw ranks third per performance via Pro Football Focus‘ grading system. He’s habitually a Top 3 OT, but the league hasn’t realized it yet, at least not according to Pro Bowl voting.
Only Penei Sewell of the Detroit Lions and Tyron Smith from the Dallas Cowboys outgrade Darrisaw through 13 weeks.
Oddly, Darrisaw hasn’t even placed in the Top 10 of fan voting as of December 7th. The NFL community refuses to recognize Darrisaw as a Pro Bowl offensive lineman, and it’s getting a little weird. The man anchors the left side of the Vikings’ offensive line and must receive Pro Bowl kudos before too long. He just has to.
Rumor: Justin Jefferson’s individual goal, in addition to reaching the playoffs and winning the Super Bowl, is hitting 1,000 receiving yards.
The 24-year-old told reporters on Thursday, “Since I got hurt, the new goal is 1,000 yards. I want to end every single year over 1,000 yards.”
Jefferson missed seven games with a hamstring injury, as Minnesota produced a 5-2 record without him, an impressive mark because the club was 1-4 until his departure.
Jefferson will receive passes for the first time from Joshua Dobbs, who quarterbacked the Arizona Cardinals the last time Jefferson set foot on a gameday football field. Dobbs said about his budding relationship with Jefferson, “I’ve been texting him ideas. Because I want to play the best football I can because I know all the guys in here have worked so hard to get to this moment where we hold our own destiny. The communication has been both ways, which has been good because that’s communication you have to have in order to be successful on Sundays.”
To hit the 1,000-yard mark — Jefferson tabulated 571 before the injury — he’ll need 85.8 yards per game. Jefferson has averaged 98.1 yards per game throughout his four-year career, so 85.8 is assuredly achievable. It’s just that he banked that incredible stat with Kirk Cousins — close to 100% of the time.
Rumor: The Vikings probably won’t add any big-name free agents the rest of the way in 2023.
The Vikings had a full bye week to enhance their roster with some quasi-notable free agents. They did not, so “what you see is what you get” will probably prevail in December and January.
Men like Michael Brockers (DT), Melvin Ingram (DE), Marcus Peters (CB), Ndamukong Suh (DT), and Robert Quinn (OLB) are available, but Minnesota appears content with the as-is depth chart.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah already added Cam Akers, Anthony Barr, Joshua Dobbs, and Dalton Risner during the season, so it’s not like the club was idle.
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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 Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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