Revisiting preseason bold Vikings predictions: What did we get right
The 2023 season for the Minnesota Vikings is over. The team finished 7-10 this season and had a real chance to make the playoffs when they were at 7-6 but lost their final four games.
Before the season, predictions for the team were all over the place. Some thought they would get the NFC North title for the second consecutive season while others thought they would take a sharp nosedive and finish as low as fourth in the division.
Before the season began, I made six different bold predictions that felt very plausible at the time. Let’s take a look at those and what happened with each.
Ed Ingram will cut his pressures in half
Result: Incorrect
The Vikings needed improvement from their right guard and they got it. That improvement just wasn’t as much as I had predicted early in the season. He ended 2022 with a league-high 63 pressures but cut those by a third with 42 pressures allowed. He also improved his PFF pass blocking grade from 42.6 to 60.9. Improvement year over year is really good and year three hopefully improves even more.
Danielle Hunter will have 17 sacks
Result: Incorrect (barely)
Hunter had reached 14.5 sacks twice previously in his career and I had projected him to top that with 17 sacks. He was dominant all season for the Vikings but fell just short of that after getting just one sack against the Lions.
Flores has shown the ability to maximize pass rushers and take things to the next level with great talent. Hunter was the latest of this bunch and he thrived under Flores’ blitz-heavy scheme that allowed Hunter numerous one-on-one opportunities.
Vikings defense will be at least 20th in points or yards allowed
Results: Correct
The Vikings defense desperately needed some life injected into their defense and Flores brought the juice. He took the 31st-ranked total defense and raised it up 14 spots to 17th while also being the 13th-ranked scoring defense. Yes, the final four games were brutal, but the overall scope of the defense was excellent. To take a brutally bad defense and make them both good and respectable is impressive beyond words. Imagine what happens when Flores gets more talent to work with.
Justin Jefferson gets 2,000 receiving yards
Result: Incorrect
It was a frustrating one for Jefferson due to the injuries and it certainly felt like he could have reached 2,000 receiving yards. However, he missed the majority of eight games and still found a way to surpass 1,000 receiving yards. Jefferson is the best in the game today and how dominant he was in his limited game time shows that.
Ty Chandler leads Vikings in rushing
Result: Incorrect
This was Mattison injuring his ankle a couple of games earlier away from potentially hitting. Chandler rushed 78 less times than Mattison but beat his yards per carry average (4.5 to 3.9) and finished with 461 yards on the ground. Mattison finished with a solid 700 rushing yards but only got to that level due to the sheer volume that the Vikings gave him. With improvements in his vision and pass blocking, Chandler has a chance to be the top back going into 2024.
Andrew Booth Jr. plays less than 300 snaps
Result: Correct
This is one that I didn’t want to be right about. Booth looked to potentially be a cornerstone on the outside for this team but he was beaten out by rookie cornerback Mekhi Blackmon. Booth only played 151 defensive snaps this season and played decently at times for the Vikings. With a full season in this system, the Vikings might be able to extract more out of Booth in 2024 and beyond.
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