We’re well into the month of June, and fans of the Minnesota Vikings are wondering exactly what the team is going to look like in 2024 as they embark on a brand new era. According to at least one of the Really Smart Football People™ out there, fans of the purple really don’t have a whole lot to look forward to.
The football writing staff at SI dot com debated who the “least improved” teams in the NFL are as things stand right now, and someone named Gilbert Manzano cast his vote for our favorite squad.
I would have felt better about the Vikings had they traded up to get Drake Maye in the draft. Instead, they waited to take J.J. McCarthy, the fifth quarterback selected in the draft. McCarthy was impressive during Michigan’s playoff games, but he has boom-or-bust potential because he wasn’t asked to do much in Jim Harbaugh’s run-heavy offense. Minnesota could lean on veteran Sam Darnold, but he struggled with making quick decisions during his time with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers.
But this goes beyond the quarterback position. Minnesota didn’t do much to address the weak interior lines on offense and defense. There are also concerns with the cornerbacks. And there could be a case made that Danielle Hunter is better than free-agent addition Jonathan Greenard. The two edge rushers swapped places, with Hunter joining the Houston Texans.
Manzano also declared in the story that he’s picking the Vikings to finish 3-14 this year, which. . .I’m sorry, just LOL.
Now, part of this I guess I understand. Say what you will about Kirk Cousins, and lord knows that everybody has already, but at this point he’s a significantly better quarterback than Sam Darnold or J.J. McCarthy, although the latter is a largely unknown commodity. Then again, Justin Jefferson is back healthy, Aaron Jones is a huge upgrade at running back, Jordan Addison is one of the best young receivers in the NFL. There really shouldn’t be much of a drop-off on offense, if any.
As far as the defense, you can certainly make the argument that Danielle Hunter is better than Jonathan Greenard, as Manzano does. You can also make an argument that Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Dallas Turner are better than Hunter, D.J. Wonnum, and whatever the hell that was Marcus Davenport did last season. The defense was solid last year until everyone just got gassed because the offense couldn’t sustain drives or stop turning the ball over, and it would be hard to argue that the defense, as a whole, isn’t more talented than it was last year.
I know that the Vikings might not have made a lot of noise this offseason, but it’s hard to fathom that they’re the “least improved” team in the NFL, and damn near impossible to consider that there’s a chance they could only win three games this season.