The Minnesota Vikings finished the 2023 season with a 7-10 record and missed the playoffs for the third time in 4 years. There was a lot that transpired for the Vikings during the 2023 season – but one word that I think summarizes the year best is – frustrating. This was a team that flashed at times throughout the year – like a win over the 49ers on monday night football in which Kirk played at an MVP level without star receiver Justin Jefferson, and even the following week when Minnesota beat the Packers in Lambeau by double digits. But as we know – Kirk Cousins would go on to tear his Achilles and that effectively ended the Vikings season right there. They of course had the Josh Dobbs Linsanity run for two weeks after in which the vikings would improve to 6-4 – before losing 6 of the final 7 games with the lone win coming in a thrilling 3-0 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. But the Vikings made a lot big moves this offseason. Kirk Cousins is no longer the teams quarterback and for the first time in franchise history – they selected a quarterback in the top 10 of the NFL draft. But even with the improvements the Vikigns made to the defense – the Minnesota Vikings are in a tough situation. And we’re going to break everything down in today’s video. Now let’s begin
And we are starting today’s video by breaking down the Minnesota Vikings departures in free agency – outside of Kirk Cousins of course – and the big loss was long time Viking Danielle Hunter. Danielle had a career year for Minnesota last year as he had 23 tackles for a loss which led the league by the way, as well as 16.5 sacks and 4 forced fumbles. Now as most of probably know I am a Vikings fan and a few years after he retires – I would like the team to induct to Danielle into the teams ring of honor. Replacing Daniele is not an easy task and the Vikings addressed this by bringing in multiple guys in free agency. And they did this by bringing in guys like Jonathan Greenard, and Andrew Van Ginkel who we will soon discuss. But aside from losing Danielle – they lost other guys like DJ Wonnum, Jordan Hicks – who I do believe will be a bigger loss than people realize – and other players like KJ Osborn, Marcus Davenport, Alexander Mattison and the man himself – Josh Dobbs. The breakup between the Vikings and Kirk Cousins had to happen at some point and the only question was when – and GM Kwesi Adofo Mensah and head coach Kevin O Connell wanted to have their guy of the future – along with not wanting to commit as long term to Kirk as long as Kirk would have liked – and the breakup happened. But pertaining to the Minnesota Vikings defense this year – this is a unit I am very much looking forward to seeing play for a few reasons. This was a unit last year that was vey good at times – and I mean very good – but like we often talk about on the channel – complimentary football is essential for team success. And there were times where the defense was hung out to dry. And I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a team that routinely set their defense up for failure as much as the 2023 Vikings did early in the year. They had 12 turnovers in the first 5 games of the season but what was frustrating about the turnovers offensively was – they weren’t the interceptions Josh Allen throws where a lot of the time he’s throwing an arm punt on 4th down and it’s essentially a touchback. No. Not even close.
These were strip sacks that would put the opposing team in the red zone immediately and at that point – if you are starting out a drive in the red zone as a defense – you are really hoping for a field goal in the best case scenario. And within the same concept of complimentary football – the average opponents starting drive against the Vikings last year was at their own 30 yard line – which was 28th in the entire league. And two plays in the Eagles game summarizes how a lot of the Vikings season went. The Justin Jefferson fumble which was a touchback and gave Philly the ball – and the immediate next drive in which Philly strip sacked Kirk and started their drive on the Vikings 7 yard line – which not surprisingly – ended in a touchdown two plays later. Before the Jefferson fumble – it was a 10-7 game and in a span of two minutes of game time – Philly was up 20-7 instead of it being a 10-10 game or even a 14-10 game with the Vikings leading. And that was the story of the 2023 Vikings. And that is the only time in Jefferson’s career that he fumbled the ball out of bounds that became a touchback. And as long as the Vikings do not commit 34 turnovers again this year – for an average two per game – and set the defense up in a bad position – they’re going to be a much more competitive team by default. This was also in a year where the Vikings had a -12 turnover margin and in a year where the Vikings had 11 multi turnover games – and not surprisingly – they were just 2-9 in those games. And if you were wondering – the wins were over the Panthers and Falcons – who of course – both finished with bottom 8 records in the entire league
So as long as Sam Darnold and JJ McCarthy – if or when he takes over – simply hold onto the ball and as long as Aaron Jones doesn’t cough up the pigskin – the defense should be improved for a unit that already flashed in a big way last year. Aside from the Eagles game in week 2 – the run defense was great throughout the year and actually finished 4th in yards per carry allowed. Teams didn’t want to try and run the football against the Vikings aside from a game here or there – and they allowed 150 or more rushing yards just 3 times throughout the entire 2023 season – one of which was in a 23 point blowout loss to the Packers in which they ran the ball 39 times. Now I do worry about their secondary entering the 2024 season because this is a unit that’s going to have their work cut out for them. And this is where Brian Flores is going to have to be in his bag as a DC this year because the NFC North became good – and quick. Entering the 2023 season the Bears were in a now or never situation with Justin Fields and the Packers were a young team and supposed to go through a growing phase with Jordan Love as their starter – which they did – except it was only for about half a season – and the Lions were expected to step up – which they did. But I don’t think people were expecting Jordan Love to finish 2nd in the NFL in passing touchdowns and have an 18-1 TD to INT ratio in the final 8 games of the 2023 season in which he also completed 70% of his passes. And the Bears also just drafted the best quarterback prospect since Trevor Lawrence and Caleb is in the best situation a number one pick has ever been in. So this leaves the Vikings in an incredibly tough situation because the rest of the division became good – and fast. And this is also with a team that’s number one corner is Byron Murphy and their number two corner is Shaquille Griffin – who was released by the Texans in the middle of the 2023 season. After that it’s corners Mekhi Blackmon – who had a solid rookie year – and Akayleb Evans – who I don’t think is a good NFL corner and a player who is most known for being the guy who got mossed on the Tee Higgins touchdown during the Bengals and Vikings game last year. And after that it’s Andrew Booth who was a second round pick back in 2022 and has played just a little over 250 snaps since being drafted – on a secondary that’s been thin during his time in the NFL – and he is at best – hopeful at this point. And certainly not someone that can consistently be relied on entering the year. And the reason why secondary is such an emphasis for the Vikings in 2024 – aside from the obvious – is because of how much they blitz. They led the league in blitz percentage last year as they blitzed at a rate of 57% and they led the league – by a lot. The next closest team was the Giants at 44.2% and this is big because guys have to be on the same page because of the defense Brian Flores runs. I think Cam Bynum is one of the more underrated players in the entire NFL and while Harrison Smith is not the player he was back in 2017 – he’s still better than what people think and I expect that to be the same this year. And the Swiss Army knife Josh Metellus is all over the field in every game – and that’s also something I expect to continue this year too.
For the concerns I have with the corners – I love the Vikings front 7. There were some comments throughout the 2023 season to do an underrated players video and to make sure to include then rookie Ivan Pace – and Ivan had a great rookie year for Minnesota as he had over 100 tackles and was all around a really good player. I don’t think this was a one year wonder by him and think he will be a great player for this team for a long time. I loved the Blake Cashman signing in free agency and I love the trio of pass rushers in Greenard, Van Ginkel, and of course – 1st round pass rusher Dallas Turner. The Vikings defense is an underrated unit and as long as they don’t have a -12 turnover margin this year – and are put in prime positions even for the 2000 Ravens to fail – they should be a solid unit. And they are going to be key for the Vikings this year. Because there are rightful concerns with the Vikings offense entering this year – specifically at the quarterback position.
