Questions Answered: WR3 Endorsement, Dreaded Games in 2024, a Win Total
Dustin Baker
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The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by VikingsTerritory. Today is the May 7th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Questions Answered: WR3 Endorsement, Dreaded Games in 2024, a Win Total
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
Q: Do you have an official WR3 endorsement for the Vikings if they use free agency for the position?
Answer: Absolutely — Hunter Renfrow.
Especially with Tyler Boyd off the board to the Tennessee Titans (he was a favorite among Vikings fans), Renfrow makes all the sense in the world. The only question is whether the Vikings are interested in an additional veteran WR3 because — wouldn’t they have signed one by now?
Renfrow is still only 28 years old and should actually considered in his physical prime. Minnesota should try him on for size, especially because tight end T.J. Hockenson — the team’s de facto WR3 — will likely miss the beginning of the season.
Renfrow had 1,038 receiving yards in 2021. The production has diminished since, but he has that volume gene in his DNA.
Q: Which Vikings games in 2024 are you LEAST looking forward to?
Answer: Probably at Chicago.
The reason(s) is twofold. Foremost, Minnesota always plays meagerly at Soldier Field, with anemic everything from both teams, plus weird events arising. All of that is basically guaranteed for Vikings at Bears in Chicago.
Then, if Caleb Williams is the real deal, well, Chicago is suddenly formidable. There’s a chance that Minnesota heads to Soldier Field to play a good football team in a venue that always offers strange and horrific things for the purple team.
Also, hosting the San Francisco 49ers at home won’t be a cakewalk. They’ll want vengeance.
Q: Predict the Vikings’ 2024 win total.
A: 7-10.
We’ll talk ourselves into 8-9 by late summertime, mainly because training camp is so exciting, but with Sam Darnold running the show, Minnesota cannot be considered a Super Bowl contender. While J.J. McCarthy presumably watches and learns, 2024 should be classified as a transformational year — or a stepping stone to the McCarthy era.
It would be sweet if McCarthy is good to go by Week 1 and Minnesota pulls off a 2023 Houston Texans copycat act. But let’s face it: that’s unlikely.
So, 7-10 inside a brutally good + young division.
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 MIN 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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