Ezra Cleveland and Christian Darrisaw
Pro Football Focus has completed its annual player ranking before the season.
They give their top 32 players for each position, and 14 Vikings made the list this year. I will first look at the seven Vikings who made the PFF position rankings on offense before looking at the defensive side at a later date.
There’s a good mix of positions, from the Vikings’ seven players that made the cut, from playmakers to linemen, but starting with quarterback, where all 32 starters were ranked.
Only the Denver Broncos duo of Jarrett Stidham and Bo Nix stopped the Vikings from ranking dead last in quarterback play. Sam Darnold is expected to be the man under center to start the season, with Kevin O’Connell molding JJ McCarthy to take over at an undesignated point.
Ranking the Vikings QBs in 31st PFF, Trevor Sikkema opined:
I don’t think McCarthy will be the starting quarterback right out of the gate, but a combination of Darnold and McCarthy for the 2024 season seems likely. Darnold has never finished a season with a passing grade above 67.0, but his past two were his highest. I am surprisingly excited to see Darnold get a shot as a starter this year, as he finished his final year in Carolina with a 6.7% big-time throw rate and a 2.9% turnover-worthy play rate in six games as a starter.
–Trevor Sikkema
It’s almost the last chance saloon for Darnold, but he has landed in, by far, the best situation he’s been in as a potential starter, and I’m very interested to see what he does with this opportunity. PFF still rates
Minnesota desperately needed to do something about their run game, and the Vikings turned to an old foe to solve the problem. Who was better out of Dalvin Cook and Aaron Jones was an argument between Vikings and Packers fans for a few years, but now Jones will run out to in Vikings purple. PFF still rates the 29-year-old highly with an 8th place ranking — two ahead of Josh Jacobs, who replaced him in Green Bay.
Jones’ efficiency and ability to gain yards after contact were the reasons for his high ranking from Thomas Valentine:
Jones has been one of the most underrated running backs in the NFL for some time now. In his final season with the Green Bay Packers, the former UTEP running back earned a 76.1 grade in an injury-plagued season, but when he was on the field, Jones rushed for 656 yards and two touchdowns at a clip of 4.6 yards per carry. The fact that that’s a career low for Jones is a testament to his efficiency. Jones thrived at creating yards after contact, too. His 3.16 yards after contact per attempt number ranked 14th in the NFL, and he forced 26 missed tackles in just 11 games.
– Thomas Valentine
He also highlighted the concern. Jones has battled injuries in recent seasons, and at nearly 30 years old, he would be considered old for the position in the current NFL landscape. If the Vikings can get a couple of good seasons where he plays most of the games, then Jones can be considered a good signing. They need progression from Ty Chandler or someone new as the long-term answer.
It is no surprise that Justin Jefferson is the only Viking that tops their position list. Despite an injury-blighted 2023 season, Jefferson’s reputation as the best wide receiver in football remains intact.
Sam Monson put the Vikings superstar at the top of the pile and said, “Jefferson the best receiver in the NFL. Injury cost him much of 2023, but in 10 games, he still cleared 1,000 yards and averaged 2.91 yards per route run. Now, he has to do it with a new quarterback after Kirk Cousins departed for Atlanta.”
Jefferson proved he could put up big numbers with Nick Mullens in the final games of last season. Whoever the Vikings have at QB, I’m not worried about Jefferson’s production slowing. Jordan Addison didn’t make the 32, though I imagine he must have been close. If he can follow up his excellent rookie season with another good one, then maybe next year?
The move to Minnesota has proved excellent for TJ Hockenson, who has cemented his place as a top 5 TE in the league since joining the Vikings. O’Connell immediately made him a focal point of the Vikings offense, and it can be argued that he’s as important to how the offense operates as Jefferson is.
John Kosko placed Hockenson in fourth place: “When the Lions traded Hockenson, the former Iowa Hawkeye was considered a good but often injured and inconsistent tight end. A move to Minnesota was the jolt he needed, as he instantly became one of the best receiving threats in the game. Hockenson’s 82.4 receiving grade in 2023 was third-best in the NFL.”
Hockenson’s chances of breaking into the top 3 of George Kittle, Travis Kelce, and Mark Andrews this season will be greatly hindered by the knee injury that will see him miss the start of the season.
Christian Darrisaw was drafted a year after Jefferson, and while he doesn’t grab the headlines like the Vikings’ superstar wide receiver, Darrisaw is well on his way to becoming an elite offensive tackle.
Zoltan Buday placed the Vikings’ left tackle fourth in his list for PFF, behind only Trent. Williams, Tristan Wirfs, and Penei Sewell. He had this to say of the Vikings’ star tackle: “Darrisaw enjoyed an elite 2022 season in which he earned a 90.4 overall grade, which ranked second at the position. However, injuries slowed him down and forced him to miss time in 2023. As a result, his overall grade declined to 82.4, though his 85.3 pass-blocking grade was still good for third.”
The only thing slowing Darrisaw’s progress has been niggling injuries and concussions. He will be hoping for a clean bill of health in 2024 as he bids to take his game to the very top.
Brian O’Neill is the veteran of the Vikings OL. He heads into his seventh season as the Vikings’ right tackle. O’Neill has been a model of consistency on the right side of the line. The only concern is a couple of injuries over the last two seasons, but he should have plenty left in the tank and remain one of the best right tackles in the league.
Buday said of the Vikings right tackle, “O’Neill was slowed down by injuries in 2023 and was not able to replicate his amazing 2022 season, but he still put together a solid campaign. He finished top-25 in both pass-blocking and run-blocking grades and was just one of 15 players at the position to earn 70.0-plus grades in both facets of the game.”
C – 15. Garett Bradbury
No Vikings guard made it into the top 32 at their position, so the last player to make the list is the Vikings center. Like QB, the center is a one-man position, and every starter makes a list; it’s just a question of where. Bradbury comes in the middle of the pack at 15, with Thomas Valentine having this to say:
As a former first-round pick, Bradbury has been the Vikings’ starting center since day one but has struggled to stay healthy in the past three seasons. Despite his pass-blocking grade dropping to 56.8 in 2023, he has averaged a 68.5 run-blocking grade over the past four seasons.
– Thomas Valetine
Bradbury has never lived up to his first-round billing but has become an average starter. His strength lies in the run game, where he can showcase his athleticism. His smaller size for the position leads to trouble with big interior pass rushers. While the Vikings could do with a better center than Bradbury, they could also do worse.