The Minnesota Vikings’ offseason arrived too soon, as most fans expected at least one playoff win after a pretty fabulous regular season.
Vikings Roster: The Top 4 Disappointments of 2024
No such luck as the purple team lost to the Los Angeles Rams last Monday, ending the campaign in true one-and-done fashion.
The offseason is here. But before that months-long event, let’s look back at the 2024 campaign.
To put 2024 in the rearview, here are the Vikings’ top four disappointments, ranked in ascending order (No. 1 = most disappointing).
4. Brandon Powell (WR)
Heading into the summer of 2024, many Vikings fans envisioned Powell earning the WR3 job over Jalen Nailor and Trent Sherfield.
He did not.
Instead, he serves as Minnesota’s primary punt returner, and that’s about it. Powell caught 7 passes for 71 yards, which is more like a WR6 statline, not WR3. His production dipped from 324 receiving yards in 2023 to 71 in 2024.
3. Ty Chandler (RB)
Ty Chandler ended the 2023 season as the Vikings RB1.
Ty Chandler started the 2024 season as the Vikings RB2.
Ty Chandler ended the 2024 season as the Vikings RB3.
Not a good arc.
2. Ed Ingram (RG)
Minnesota benched Ingram for Dalton Risner midseason and never looked back. Ingram has played 48 games in purple, never turning the corner into an above-average guard.
And with the offseason shifting toward interior offensive line improvement, Ingram’s 2024 campaign did him no favors. He could even be waived. That would save Minnesota over $3 million.
1. Week 18 + Playoff Sam Darnold
Here’s that statistical skinny:
Sam Darnold,
EPA+CPOE Ranking,
2024:
First 16 Games = 7th
Final 2 Games = 31st
Darnold fell totally flat when it mattered the most, so much so that he basically erased all the goodwill he accumulated in the season’s first four months.
The 27-year-old is scheduled to hit free agency in March, and had he not flopped in Week 18 and the Wildcard Round, he could’ve reasonably expected to cash in on a contract worth $40-$50 million per season. Now, however, he’ll hope and pray to snag $30 million per year from a quarterback-needy team.
Regular Season Darnold was fantastic; Playoff Sam Darnold stunk.
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.