The Sweetest Part of the Vikings’ 3-0 Start
The Minnesota Vikings have started the 2024 campaign with a 3-0 record, a win-loss standing nobody anywhere saw possible, with an exception for the team’s players and coaching staff.
The Sweetest Part of the Vikings’ 3-0 Start
And several factors have contributed to the unblemished start, but one reigns supreme through three games.
That’s the team’s roster depth, which seemed to suddenly appear, and it is evident to all onlookers.
Injuries Don’t Matter
These notable players have missed games for the 2024 Vikings:
- Jordan Addison
- T.J. Hockenson
- Dallas Turner
- Ivan Pace Jr.
- J.J. McCarthy
- Mekhi Blackmon
- Dalton Risner
A list that long “should” catch up to Minnesota, so much so that blowout wins over Super Bowl contenders like the Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers are not attainable. Instead, the opposite occurs — the “next man up” arrives, and the Vikings’ offense, defense, and special teams don’t miss a beat.
Few teams can survive a barrage of injuries like Minnesota’s current situation, and in fact, sometimes NFL seasons are about attrition — the healthiest teams remain standing in January and February.
For now — somehow — Kevin O’Connell’s team is injury-proof.
The Contributors
When Jordan Addison missed Weeks 1 and 2, Jalen Nailor stepped up to score touchdowns, extend drives on 3rd Down, and spring key blocks on 97-yard touchdowns. Versus the Texans, linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill intercepted a C.J. Stroud pass on the game’s first drive, and it didn’t feel like Ivan Pace Jr. was needed.
Dallas Turner missed Week 3, and without him, Patrick Jones II and Jihad Ward continued their 2024 quarterback terrorism. Without T.J. Hockenson, Johnny Mundt and Josh Oliver had caught crucial passes, albeit on a diminished scale from Hockenson’s typical eight targets per game.
One after another, a reservist player has answered the calling, and at least for now, Vikings fans can look at a weekly injury report and say, “Dah well.”
A Testament to Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
Carefully, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has deconstructed Minnesota’s roster since arriving in 2022, offloading bloated contracts possessed by aging players and onboarding youthful alternatives, sometimes affordable ones.
Some fans have been so damn focused on his first two draft picks — Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth — that they’ve been too jaded to realize he’s built a tremendous roster. He told everyone that he would competitively rebuild the Vikings, and he did precisely that.
Roster depth doesn’t happen by accident. NFL heads have wondered for years how the 49ers could “get away with” so many bad 1st-Round draft picks and still contend for Super Bowls. Well, in Minnesota, Adofo-Mensah is proving in real-time how that can work, even if men like Cine and Booth now play elsewhere.
Adofo-Mensah should receive his flowers for producing a deep-deep roster. Cine and Booth do not matter.
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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.