The 3 Vikings in the Running to Win Awards in 2024
The Minnesota Vikings have the league’s ninth-best odds to win the Super Bowl, situated around a +2100 moneyline after seven games and five wins.
The 3 Vikings in the Running to Win Awards in 2024
Multiple players are also in the mix for individual awards.
So, these are the three Vikings players and coaches who could realistically take home individual award hardware at season’s end. They’re ranked in ascending order (No. 1 = likeliest to win award).
3. Sam Darnold
MVP
Odds to Win MVP: +2000
NFL Ranking = 8th
Darnold ranks ninth per EPA+CPOE, an efficiency metric measuring expected wins added among all qualifying quarterbacks. The guy utterly cooked through the season’s first three games, only cooling off recently.
He still has MVP odds, though, ranking eighth through eight weeks and inhabiting moneyline territory with Brock Purdy (San Francisco 49ers), Derrick Henry (Baltimore Ravens), and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals).
Darnold is on track for just under 4,000 passing yards, 34 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Not bad.
2. Justin Jefferson
Offensive Player of the Year
Odds to Win OPOY: +450
NFL Ranking = 3rd
Only Saquon Barkley (Philadelphia Eagles) and Derrick Henry (Baltimore Ravens) outrank Jefferson for OPOY through eight weeks.
He’s on pace for 1,569 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns on a 5-2 team. Of course, Jefferson has already won OPOY, so this would be his second achievement if he can oust Barkley and Henry, among others, for the trophy.
An injury is the only thing that would derail Jefferson from consideration.
1. Kevin O’Connell
Coach of the Year
Odds to Win COY: +500
NFL Ranking = 2nd
O’Connell led this race until last week, overtaken by Dan Quinn of the Washington Commanders (+220) — probably because of the sweet Hail Mary conversion over the Chicago Bears in Week 8.
The Vikings skipper has helped reclaim Sam Darnold’s career and is rapidly embodying the title of “quarterback whisperer.” Meanwhile, his team was only supposed to win about six or seven games this season, and it could reach those totals by Monday.
O’Connell has hit his groove as a head coach. His team would need a colossal collapse for O’Connell to fall out of this race’s Top 3. His COY cause will be helped a lot if his team avoids a three-game losing skid this weekend.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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