What some around the league think of the Vikings this year

Some teams are easy to project. The Chiefs are most likely going to be good. The Jaguars are most likely going to be, well, the Jaguars.

The Vikings are not one of those teams. Minnesota has divided fans and analysts alike with its 2021 offseason. Will CB Patrick Peterson have a resurgent year? Will the Vikings offensive line hold up? At the moment, these are polarizing questions.

The Athletic’s Mike Sando recently asked NFL executives to rank the teams in the NFC. With the Buccaneers being the ranked the highest and the Lions being ranked the lowest, the Vikings ranked in the middle at No. 8.

“I don’t know what direction they are heading in, whether it’s up or down,” a voter who ranked Minnesota seventh said, per Sando. “Once they paid the quarterback, the complexion of that team changes dramatically and they have stretched themselves and retained a lot of veteran players defensively, but do they have the horses to play the way they want to defensively?”

Although the the Vikings are possibly looking at an easy divisional schedule, outside of the Packers,

“I think it is going to be a well-coached team and will have some toughness,” another voter said, per Sando. “They got a chance to win a good handful games in the division, which gives you a chance to compete for a wild card possibly.”

So it seems like people still kind of don’t know which way the Vikings’ season will go. The team needs a lot of things to pan out, but isn’t that the life of many teams in the league? Anything could happen.