Minnesota Vikings outlook for 2016
The hype surrounding the Minnesota Vikings continues with the release of the unofficial depth chart on Tuesday. Not since 2009 has there been this kind of excitement and anticipation surrounding a Vikings’ team and season. Expectations are high, the Super Bowl is on the mind of many, even after the injury to Bridgewater. With Bridgewater sidelined for the duration of the season, the move for Bradford has been seen as necessary.
It looks as if Shaun Hill is set to start at quarterback for the team’s opener in Tennessee, but there is still a chance Bradford could start on Sunday. He has been getting a crash course in Turner’s offensive system where the goal is for Bradford to progress to where he feels comfortable on the field in the offense. Bridgewater had surgery to repair his injured knee on Thursday and is expected to return to the team before the start of the 2017 season. If Bradford plays well, it is doubtful that the Vikings will just hand Bridgewater the job. With Bradford under contract through next year, the starting job could be his to lose.
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The offense is expected to run through Peterson at least for the early part of the season, until Bradford can get acclimated with the offense. Even then, if Bradford struggles to perform or pick up Turner’s system, the offense could find difficulty in achieving a more balanced attack, at which point they will just need someone to hand the ball off. While Bradford gets up to speed, look for Minnesota to play smash-mouth football with Peterson ending up with 20 to 30 carries per game. McKinnon is set to back him up with an expanded role in the offense this season and is expected to be the team’s third-down back while also contributing out of the backfield in the passing game. It’s doubtful he plays a large role in the Vikings’ offense unless something were to unfortunately happen to Peterson.
The wide receiving position is becoming one of the bright spots of the roster. Diggs and Johnson are slotted in as the team’s starting wideouts with Treadwell listed behind them. Thielen figures to see most of his work out of the slot as Minnesota’s third wide receiver with Patterson and Wright rounding out the group. The expectations for Diggs are high after his breakout rookie season last year and is sitting in the right position to have a highly productive sophomore campaign. Johnson looks to rebound to his 2014 form where he was a key contributor in the Vikings’ passing attack. Finally healthy after a difficult 2015 season in which he was slowed by injury, Johnson showed flashes of 2014 during the preseason.
Treadwell, the Vikings’ first-round draft selection, will begin the season as a backup but it is only a matter of time before he finds his way onto the starting roster. He is much too talented of wideout to be sitting on the sidelines. Thielen and Patterson figure to see work on special teams which should help them find their way onto the field. Thielen has done well to carve out a spot for himself on the team, while Patterson has struggled to even get noticed, despite a strong training camp. The odd man out, in his current role, Wright doesn’t even figure to be active on Sundays.
The tight end position figures to play a large contribution in the Vikings offense this year. With Bradford coming in to replace Bridgewater at quarterback, will take some time for him to get up to speed. This will call for greater dependency on the tight end position as a safety valve and outlet for a quarterback learning the offense. Rudolph is finally healthy and poised for a big year as the team’s starting tight end. Rhett Ellison will back him up, despite returning from injury and not playing a snap during the preseason. MyCole Pruitt will be the the Vikings’ third tight end after being productive in limited reps last season. Rookie, David Morgan II, brings up the rear as the fourth tight end. While he has an impressive skill set as both a blocker and receiver, he does not figure to see the field very often, but could play a key role if there is an injury.
The Vikings should have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. They invested a lot of money in good offensive linemen to strengthen up protection. They actively signed Boone and Smith in the offseason and are returning Kalil, Fusco and Berger to complete their starting five. To the chagrin of fans, the offensive line is still looking for improvement. They struggled with pass protection throughout the preseason and gave up far too many sacks for what is supposed to be one of the better lines in the league. Hopefully it is just a matter of them learning to gel with one another.
The defense remains mostly unchanged and returns all 11 starters for a group that consists of: the same big men up front, the same powerful linebackers and an improved secondary that is deeper than it has been in years. They proved to be one of the most stout and efficient defenses this preseason yet struggled when it came to giving up the big play on the ground. Minnesota’s defense was gashed for touchdown runs of 20 plus yards in nearly every game. If they are to remain a top-ranked group this regular season, they will have to limit the big gains on the ground. With the defense’s ability to shut down opposing attacks it is all that much more imperative that keep opposing running games in check.
Up front, the defense is led by Floyd, Joseph, Robison and Griffen with Hunter, Johnson, Stephen and Trattou backing them up. On the face, the defensive line should be dominating opposing rushing attacks, but at times fail to respond to offensive audibles, leaving them poorly out of position and vulnerable to the big play. As badly as they have struggled on the ground, they have been that much better when executing the pass rush and applying pressure to opposing quarterbacks. The Vikings have a young defensive line that is deep with talent and each of the team’s backups are nearly as capable of handling the starting role. It is expected that there will be enough snaps for all eight defensive linemen this year.
The core of the Vikings’ defense is centered around the linebacking unit of Barr, Kendricks and Greenway. When the defense is without Barr or Kendricks it shows on the field and feels as if it is missing something. They are one of the elite units in the league and few can match their defensive prowess. Barr is backed up by the little known Robinson, which is understandable when playing behind Barr as snaps are at an all-time premium.
The lineup behind Kendricks is comprised of Cole and Brothers. Cole has proven to be a capable backup when called upon. Brothers excelled in the preseason and has the potential to contribute in a more significant role. Eventually the Vikings will have to find a spot for Brothers. Whether that means Kendricks moves over to the weakside and Brothers steps into the starter’s role or perhaps moving Brothers over, will eventually be resolved; it is just a matter of time.
Greenway has decided to return for one final season and has managed to hold down the starting position at weakside linebacker over Lamar, who was brought in during the offseason. It was thought he might beat Greenway out for the lead role and there is still a chance he could at some point this year.
Head Coach, Mike Zimmer, has done a tremendous job of preparing his secondary as they look to be in midseason form heading into the team’s season opener. Already a strong unit, they still found a way to improve during the offseason. During the preseason they proved capable of shutting down the opposing team’s passing game while turning over their quarterback. If they are able to carry over that production into the regular season, they will present an imposing force to opposing offenses to overcome.
Xavier Rhodes naturally will resume his starting role and has drawn comparisons to the Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Scherman. He has shown shutdown potential and remains the Vikings’ top corner. Behind him is Captain Munnerlyn who should see plenty of work in the nickel corner position. Marcus Sherels brings up the rear with most of his contributions coming on special teams. At 38-years-old, Terence Newman enters his 14th year in the league and will start opposite of Rhodes. Waynes was not able to crack the starting lineup and backs up Newman for the second straight season after being selected in the first round of 2015. He should find plenty of opportunities in the defense this year and could push Newman for the starting gig. Bringing up the rear is second-round rookie, Mackensie Alexander. He put together one of the best defensive performances on the team in preseason. With his level of talent it will be difficult for the Vikings to keep him off the field and should also see time at the nickel corner position with Munnerlyn.
At free safety is the NFL’s second ranked defensive back, Harrison Smith. Harry The Hitman, as he has fondly come to be known, has proven to be a reliable and hard-hitting safety for the Vikings. He may just be the best free safety in the league and is always a constant threat to opposing quarterbacks. The safety battle was shaping up to be one of the most contested and watched competitions during training camp and throughout the preseason until the Vikings were dealt a couple of serious blows with season ending injuries to Michael Griffin and Antone Exum Jr. — both of whom have been subsequently waived.
The injuries have changed the team’s landscape at safety. Andrew Sendejo won the starting strong safety job opposite of Smith. Sendejo is a capable safety but often goes for the big play and gets himself out of position. Jayron Kearse has climbed ahead of Griffin — who was brought in from Tennessee to compete with Sendejo for the starting job — after he was lost for the season due to injury. Kearse looked like a man on the mission during the preseason and played as if he had something to prove. He displayed unbelievable talent with great ball hawking skills for a seventh-round-pick. Kearse is an injury away from the starting job and could end up overtaking the role by season’s end. Now that Exum is no longer with the team, Anthony Harris finds himself backing up Smith, but provides little threat of taking over the starting position.
The Vikings’ special teams unit is one of the most exciting in all of football and looks like the same group as last year. With two of the more explosive return men in the game in Patterson and Sherels, their abilities could play a major role in Minnesota’s field position battle while setting up the offense with great starting field position. Minnesota was a top-10 kick and punt return group in 2015 and are very likely to repeat that feat again in 2016. Patterson will continue to return kickoffs for the Vikings with Sherels backing him and returning punts. Aside from his role in the passing game, Thielen also slots in as the team’s backup punt returner.
It was thought the team would bring in a punter to compete with Locke for the starting spot, however, he went unchallenged and is the Vikings’ punter of record. Walsh has somehow managed to muster up the strength and courage to show his face again in Minnesota after missing a chip shot field goal, in what would have most likely advanced the Vikings to the next round of the playoffs. Despite his shortcomings, Walsh was ranked sixth in field goal percentage, connecting on 28 of 31 attempts, tied for second in the league in field goals from 50 yards or beyond with six and completed the longest attempt of any kicker last season, nailing a kick from 61-yards out.
Though the Vikings lost Bridgewater for the season, they are still a complete squad — the defense is loaded with talent, the offense still has Peterson and the special teams unit remains one of the best in the league. As the core of the team, Peterson and the Vikings’ defense will be expected to carry this team throughout the season again. Bradford being here helps mitigate the blow leveled by Bridgewater’s gruesome knee injury. Whether Bradford is the answer or not, the rest of the team is good enough to keep Minnesota in the Super Bowl discussion.
– Miles Dittberner, is a Managing Editor at cover32 and covers the Minnesota Vikings. Like and follow vikings32 on Facebook and Twitter.
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