The Minnesota Vikings currently sit at 9-2 and have clinched a winning season just 12 weeks into the year.
As they prepare for the New York Jets on Sunday, the Vikings have a chance to sweep the AFC East, something that they have yet to accomplish.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins has been playing tremendous football over the last month, including leading double-digit comebacks against both the Washington Commanders and Buffalo Bills.
Leading into the game against the Jets this Sunday, I put out a call for questions asking about the Vikings in any capacity. We got some good ones and I broke them down here.
The draft isn't too far away
JSN. Thoughts?
— Lucas (@Ba5que) December 1, 2022
I’m torn on Jaxson Smith-Njigba the wide receiver out of Ohio State. He is a tremendous player and proved so as the bona fide top option in the Rose Bowl against Utah where he set records with 15 receptions for 343 yards and three touchdowns. What I am concerned about are both medicals and athletic testing. Smith-Njigba has only played 62 snaps this season with a hamstring injury and that is something to worry about. Once the medicals look good, then it’s all about the athleticism.
In my initial viewings of his tape this summer, he didn’t look to be the most athletic or explosive, but the man is a technical maven at the position. I want to see quality athletic testing, especially because what the Vikings need the most at the receiver position is a true field stretcher.
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler had the Vikings selecting Smith-Njigba with the 29th selection in his first mock draft of the cycle.
Ideal playoff matchups
Assuming Vikings hold onto the 2-seed, best, most logical 7-seed matchup for them, and worst?
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) November 30, 2022
For this, let’s use the hypothetical situation that the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers win their respective divisions.
The pool of teams that are likely the Washington Commanders, New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions. If I had to rank them in order of preference:
- Falcons
- Seahawks
- Lions
- Giants
- Commanders
I think playing the teams with the most inconsistent quarterbacks paired with the same on defense would give the Vikings a better chance to win. The Falcons have a lot of inconsistency at the quarterback position and they are now without Kyle Pitts for the rest of the season.
The Seahawks aren’t the most consistent, but they are explosive on both sides of the ball. Their success relies on Geno Smith staying consistent and he has started to fall off a little bit after his tremendously hot start.
The Lions are a team that plays incredibly hard for their head coach Dan Campbell but they are talented and it is incredibly difficult to beat a team three times in a season, which is why they rank so low.
The Giants and Commanders might have the most inconsistent quarterbacks on this list, but they consistently make things work on offense with their great play callers. The biggest concern I have with these teams is their defenses are both really good and can get after the passer consistently.
What is sustainable for the Vikings?
What do you think from there previous victories is sustainable and what isn’t?
Without taking into consideration draft position which potential draft prospects do you like for the Vikings?— Ameer Eldomiatti 🇺🇦 (@skiyouMeeko) November 30, 2022
This is an interesting question, but I really like the angle of focusing on the last three victories.
I think what is the least sustainable is the come-from-behind victories. While the Vikings are undefeated in one-score games (8-0), the way they have been winning some of them isn’t what you want to see your team do on any sort of consistent basis. In November, the Vikings came back from 10 points down against the Washington Commanders and 17 points against the Buffalo Bills, both comebacks in the fourth quarter. Asking the team to do that consistently is definitely not sustainable.
The most sustainable thing is how we have seen Kirk Cousins play so far this season. The confidence and aggression that he has played with has directly translated to wins and losses. He is trusting his receivers consistently and that has made a real impact.
Would you replace Ed Donatell?
when to change donatell?, this defensive does not stop anyone
— QUE TE IMPORTA? (@F559n72x) November 30, 2022
This is a question that a lot of people have. I don’t think he should be fired for two main reasons.
- It’s difficult to not only install your own defense, but also completely change philosophies in one year
- They may allow yards (31st in the NFL), but they don’t allow points at near as high of a rate (21st)
This defense needs time to gel and they need players better suited to run this defense as well. The other side to that coin is that the defense hasn’t adjusted at all. They continue to rank at the bottom of the NFL in playing man coverage and blitzing despite having issues at the cornerback position. Generating quick pressure can make a massive impact in helping corners that aren’t great. Even with the issues, Donatell deserves at least one more season.
Should Jalen Reagor play more?
Hey…throw our QUESTION #1 in there about Jalen Reagor: Can Jalen Reagor have a bigger role in the @Vikings offensive plans? Can he ever be a WR2 or WR3?? #SKOLTable
— The SKOL League (@theskolleague) December 1, 2022
This is an interesting question. Reagor hasn’t had a lot of playing time this season and it begs the question if he has been performing well and/or better than K.J. Osborn in practice. So far this season, Reagor has played only 38 offensive snaps, but he has shown that athletic ability that made him the 21st draft pick in the 2020 NFL draft.
Why hasn’t he played more than Osborn or even in general? That’s tough to say, as we don’t get a chance to see Reagor in practice. It’s no secret that he struggled frequently in Philadelphia as a true wide receiver. It’s likely that those struggles have transitioned over to Minnesota, but we don’t know that for sure.
I say all of this as the pre-requesite for the actual answer. He definitely has the ability to but he hasn’t put it together. I think he can be your WR3 in this offense, but he’s currently a 13 year old that owns a Porsche: has everything needed but doesn’t know how to use it. Under head coach Kevin O’Connell, the hope is that Reagor can figure enough of it out to become that guy.
How will the Vikings attack the offseason?
Early draft question… we only have 4 picks in the 2023 draft and lots of needs… #2 WR, CB, OL. Do we do it through FA, and who are likely to be cap casualties or adjustments?
— Jim Witt (@BigSweatyViking) December 1, 2022
Strap in, as this is a loaded answer.
Let’s start with the cap casualties. If you move on from Dalvin Cook and Eric Kendricks, you would see your salary cap situation improve by $16 million. You can also extend players like Kirk Cousins to lessen the cap hit, but I wouldn’t recommend that at this point.
As far as what I think our needs are going into the draft are as follows.
- Wide receiver
- Running back
- Linebacker
- Defensive tackle
- Edge rusher/Center
These needs are pretty fluid and I could be convinced to move any of them after wide receiver. I think that needs to be the priority. The Vikings are (presumably) going to be giving T.J. Hockenson a contract extension. Not having a true number two opposite Jefferson at wide receiver has been an issue this season and getting that player will be key. A few guys I like that could be available at the end of round one:
- Jordan Addison-USC
- Bryce Ford-Wheaton-West Virginia
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba-Ohio State
- Josh Downs-North Carolina
As far as free agency, the running back class is absolutely loaded but it’s also loaded in draft as well. You could realistically get a starter in the fifth round kind of loaded. I don’t know what the Vikings will do with free agency otherwise because there are so many questions to answer about how they plan on crafting the direction of this team.
I will say that we will be delving into this topic quite a bit this off-season.
