It’s getting closer, folks. We’re astir 3 weeks oregon truthful from the commencement of grooming campy for the Minnesota Vikings, and that means the lists are getting much and much prevalent astir the sports media world. We’ve gotten a acceptable of roster rankings to chew on, and if you’re trying to find the purple connected it, you’re going to person to bash a spot of scrolling earlier you find our favourite team.
ESPN has ranked the rosters of each 32 teams from champion to worst, and they person our squad ranked astatine #22. That’s not truly wherever we’re accustomed to seeing them, to beryllium honest, and it’s a spot of a daze to spot them that low. Let’s interruption down what they person to accidental astir the Vikings, shall we?
Biggest strength: Pass catchers. Receivers Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and newcomer Jauan Jennings and choky end T.J. Hockenson form a terrific radical of targets for whoever wins the QB job. Even successful a down play (no responsibility of his own), Jefferson delivered his sixth consecutive play with 1,000-plus receiving yards successful 2025 and remains arguably the league’s champion wide receiver. Addison produced 875-plus receiving yards and nine-plus TDs successful his archetypal 2 seasons earlier the QB woes of 2025. Jennings broke retired successful 2024 with the 49ers and has a 132-1,618-15 receiving enactment implicit the past 2 seasons. Hockenson’s stats person been down the past 2 seasons, but the 29-year-old remains 1 of the league’s champion two-way choky ends.
It’s hard to reason this one. Jefferson and Addison were already 1 of the league’s champion duos, and adding a subordinate of Jennings’ caliber to beryllium WR3 conscionable gives the squad an embarrassment of riches astatine the wide receiver position. Hockenson hasn’t been rather the aforesaid subordinate since his genu injury, but helium inactive has the quality to beryllium an above-average choky extremity and tin inactive contiguous arsenic a important reddish portion thread. Josh Oliver, who isn’t mentioned successful the ESPN breakdown, has besides been a batch amended than advertised arsenic a walk catcher, successful my opinion, and his blocking quality allows him to enactment connected the tract and get much opportunities than a much accepted blocking choky extremity mightiness different get.
Biggest weakness: Running back. It was a spot astonishing that Minnesota did small to code this presumption aft its moving backs finished 30th successful some rushing yards and scrimmage yards past season. Aaron Jones Sr. has been coagulated passim his career, but he’s entering his age-31 play and ranked dormant past among 65 qualified backs successful forced missed tackle rate. Jordan Mason is an effectual rusher (career 5.1 YPC) but isn’t a receiving enactment (28 vocation receptions). Undersized sixth-rounder Demond Claiborne was the team’s lone offseason summation of note.
Again, it’s a spot hard to disagree here. I cognize that Aaron Jones has been a warrior during his clip here, but he’s starting to dilatory down a spot and truly can’t beryllium counted connected to beryllium a pb feline anymore. He’s going to enactment successful tandem with Mason, who is simply a precise bully powerfulness runner and should beryllium the superior goal-line option. Of course, fixed that this squad seems to beryllium allergic to moving the shot wrong the 10-yard line, that truly doesn’t mean arsenic overmuch arsenic it mightiness connected astir teams. It’s going to beryllium absorbing to spot what Claiborne brings to the array successful this offense. He should get plentifulness of opportunities, and the squad intelligibly liked him a batch successful the pre-draft process. Hopefully helium tin unit his mode onto the tract early.
X origin for 2026: Interior violative line. Will Fries struggled past play astatine defender aft signing a big escaped cause contract, with a sixth percentile walk artifact triumph rate. But helium boasts upside, arsenic does chap guard Donovan Jackson, Minnesota’s first-round draught prime successful 2025. Blake Brandel played 347 snaps astatine halfway past play successful his archetypal clip playing the presumption successful the NFL. He is expected to commencement determination again successful 2026. How those 3 players amended could play a large relation successful however overmuch violative occurrence the Vikings person this season.
Seriously, this could person been a copy-and-paste from immoderate twelvemonth for astir the past decade. The Vikings person had the tackle spots figured retired for a while, peculiarly if Christian Darrisaw is each the mode backmost from the genu wounded that made his 2025 play each kinds of weird. Brian O’Neill has been a stalwart astatine close tackle for a decennary now, but the interior continues to struggle, nary substance who the Vikings draught oregon motion successful escaped bureau oregon determination to those positions to effort to hole it. Hopefully immoderate continuity astatine those spots tin assistance them to get it figured out.
DL/Edge Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins. A fifth-round prime retired of Georgia successful 2025, Ingram-Dawkins is the lone drafted subordinate connected the borderline extent illustration down starters Andrew Van Ginkel and Dallas Turner. He’s moving implicit aft playing wrong arsenic a 5-tech antiaircraft extremity past season. In 2025, helium had a higher walk unreserved triumph complaint wrong (17.6%) than connected his borderline snaps (8.0%). None of Minnesota’s borderline rushers played much than 67% of the snaps past season, truthful Ingram-Dawkins is going to get adjacent much chances to marque plays successful 2026.
Ingram-Dawkins moving to borderline is an absorbing move, peculiarly fixed the stats supra and fixed the information that the Vikings are going to beryllium hurting a spot connected the antiaircraft interior with Jon Allen and Javon Hargrave having been released aboriginal successful the offseason. With Jonathan Greenard retired of the picture, Ingram-Dawkins is present going to beryllium relied upon to beryllium 1 of the superior backups down Turner and Van Ginkel, and fixed Van Ginkel’s caller wounded history, that’s a spot that could go reasonably important alternatively quickly. Aside from Ingram-Dawkins, the extent connected the edges presently consists of Tyler Batty, Chaz Chambliss, and Bo Richter.
Advertisement
The Vikings’ #22 ranking, arsenic you’d expect, puts them down each of their NFC North brethren. The Detroit Lions. . .the last-place Detroit Lions. . .are astatine #6 connected the ESPN list. The Green Bay Packers cheque successful astatine #10, portion the Chicago Bears find themselves astatine #17, not that acold up of Minnesota, which is simply a small astonishing arsenic well.
What bash you think, folks? Are determination truly 21 teams successful the NFL with much talented rosters than the Minnesota Vikings have? Sound disconnected successful the remark conception and fto america cognize your opinion!
English (US) ·