Minnesota Vikings News and Links:  Has The Season Exceeded Yore Expectations?

The team is in prime position to truly compete for the title!

No game tomorrow. I will be watching the Ravens vs the Commanders as that is on where I am at. I will be rooting for the Cardinals to beat the Packers and the Cowboys to beat the Lions.

Minnesota Vikings News and Links

Vikings on the Verge of Move at Trade Deadline, Insider Says

The Minnesota Vikings will be buyers at the trade deadline, according to The Athletic’s Alec Lewis.

“During general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s tenure, he has not let a trade deadline go by without making a move. In 2022, the Vikings swung big for [T.J.] Hockenson. Last year, they fortified their quarterback position with Josh Dobbs. We should expect something,” Lewis wrote.

“The question is how aggressive they’ll get with a minimal bundle of picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. Losing any key defensive contributor could lead to some tire-kicking, and [Aaron] Jones’ health is another spot to watch. Broadly, though, the staff is satisfied with the roster depth,” Lewis added.

While fortifying the interior offensive line or adding running back depth could be moves made for insurance purposes, no addition would impact the Vikings more than acquiring a dominant defensive tackle.

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Vikings’ Stephon Gilmore Fact Checks Former Teammate With Strong Message

Stephon Gilmore has been one of the league’s best cornerbacks, and he has the hardware to prove it. The Minnesota Vikings star is the last defensive back to win Defensive Player of the Year, taking the award home in 2019.

“If you really know the game then you know. I won DPOY because I had 6 picks AND I gave up virtually no yardage – all while TRAVELING,” Gilmore posted on X on October 11. “I had stats and changed the game more than any other position that year.”

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Ten offseason acquisitions that look the best so far in 2024: Vikings and Packers each boast two selections

Rank 2

Sam Darnold – Minnesota Vikings · QB

Acquired via: One-year, $10 million contract.

For most of his career, Darnold has been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Any hints of ability he showed with the Jets were swallowed up by chaos and a lack of roster support, a pattern that continued after his trade to the Panthers. Maybe the universe is giving him his karmic reward now, because it doesn’t seem like Darnold could be in a better place at a better time than Minnesota under Kevin O’Connell in 2024. Darnold’s not being asked to make up for a bottom-of-the-barrel defense. He doesn’t have to attempt moving the ball with an over-the-hill back or a talent-deficient receiving corps. How refreshing it must be to throw passes to Justin Jefferson, then watch Brian Flores make the other QB wish he were someplace else.

OK, so Darnold was not at his best in Week 5’s win over the Jets, failing to top 6 yards per attempt and getting shut out of the end zone for the first time all season. And he’s obviously not carrying the load in an offense built around Jefferson and fellow offseason addition Aaron Jones. Still, the 27-year-old QB is having the season of his life, registering a career-high passer rating (103.4) with a TD-to-INT ratio of 11:4. And had he not been there when rookie J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury in August, Minnesota almost certainly would not have romped to a 5-0 start.

Rank 6

Jonathan Greenard – Minnesota Vikings · OLB

Acquired via: Four-year, $76 million contract.

Like the Commanders, the Vikings have ridden a healthy infusion of offseason talent to a winning record. Darnold got the nod over Aaron Jones to represent Minnesota’s offense; figuring out whom to highlight from Brian Flores’ defense was a tougher task. Blake Cashman leads the team in tackles and is tied for first in passes defensed. Andrew Van Ginkel does everything (19 tackles, including three for loss, and two pick-sixes). Stephon Gilmore helped hold off the Jets last week. I’m rolling with Greenard because he ranks fifth in the NFL in pressures (26) and boasts one of the faster average get-offs (0.78 seconds) in football. After a promising start to his career in Houston, he’s proving to be one of the most important players on one of the most impactful defenses in the NFL on his second contract. And, as a bonus, he’s younger (27) and less costly per year than the Vikings’ previous top pass-rushing weapon, the 29-year-old Danielle Hunter, who essentially swapped places with Greenard on a two-year, $49 million pact with the Texans.

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Kirk Herbstreit forgets Vikings while naming NFC’s best teams on TNF broadcast

“If I ask you who the best team in the NFC is, not right now, but when you look at the roster and you look at their potential, I still think San Francisco, especially if they get Christian McCaffrey back,” Herbstreit said to partner Al Michaels. “Who else besides them? You could bring up Dallas, you could bring up Green Bay, Tampa, there’s some good teams out there. But if San Francisco’s healthy, they’re still a force in this NFC.”

“Agreed,” Michaels said.

The general point about the 49ers still being “a force” in the NFC is accurate; they’re a very good team that’s going to be a tough matchup for anyone in the playoffs. But who else besides them, Kirk? How about the 5-0 team that just beat San Francisco less than a month ago? The Vikings, the NFC’s lone undefeated team, went unmentioned by Herbstreit as he threw out some of the contenders that came to mind.

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How Vikings 2024 Free Agency Class Helped Fuel 5-0 Start with Big Plays

Blake Cashman

Stat to know: Cashman’s impact on quarterbacks is growing. In five games, the Vikings green dot player has paired 40 tackles with a personal-best five passes defended, tying his 14-game mark last season, and is one quarterback hit shy of his career high of five, which he registered consecutively in 2022-23.

Sam Darnold

Stat to know: Minnesota’s marriage of the run and pass is getting defenses to bite and serving Darnold well on play-action concepts. Darnold is 29-for-44 (65.9%) with 450 yards, five touchdowns and one interception on play-action passes according to Pro Football Focus. Darnold has attempted the fifth-most PA passes and is first in TDs and second in yards, behind Detroit’s Jared Goff, in those circumstances.

Stephon Gilmore

Stat to know: The last to the party in terms of signing date (Gilmore became part of the core in the middle of training camp) is first in Vikings fans hearts after his game-sealing interception of Rodgers in Week 5. Anyhow, “Gilly” shared a favorite stat: He’s picked off Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Rodgers.

Jonathan Greenard

Stat to know: J.G. has produced five or more pressures in each game so far and is tied for second in the NFL with 29 total. Aside from a personal-best three sacks Week 3 against his old team, Greenard isn’t getting a ton of love on the stat sheet – but his motor and ability to create havoc is noticeable on practically every rep.

Shaq Griffin

Stat to know: Griffin doesn’t start but he’s played more than half the defensive snaps in nickel or dime packages, which Flores adores. (We should note opponents have often been in passing situations, trying to overcome deficits against a Minnesota team that has trailed less than four of 300 minutes played this season.) The performance has been good. Griffin leads the Vikings secondary in passer rating against (39.6) and completion rate allowed on targets (42.9%).

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Ranking every game left on the Minnesota Vikings’ schedule by difficulty

1. Week 18 at Lions (3-1)

2. Week 7 vs. Lions (3-1)

3. Week 16 at Seahawks (3-2)

4. Week 17 vs. Packers (3-2)

5. Week 12 at Bears (3-2)

6. Week 14 vs. Falcons (3-2)

7. Week 8 at Rams (1-4) (TNF)

8. Week 13 vs. Cardinals (2-3)

9. Week 15 vs. Bears (3-2) (MNF)

10. Week 9 vs. Colts (2-3)

11. Week 10 at Jaguars (1-4)

12. Week 11 at Titans (1-3)

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Minnesota Vikings Super Bowl and Playoff Odds

Sportsbook : Playoffs : Super Bowl : Title Position

FanDuel : -700 : +1200 : 7th

DraftKings : -1000 : +1100 : 5th

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Yore Mock

Trades

Lions Receives:

Sent: Pick 165

Minnesota Receives:

Pick 166, Pick 244

…

28. Ashton Jeanty RB Boise State 5’9” 215

Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images

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97. Walter Nolen DT Ole Miss 6’3” 305

Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images

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141. Luke Kandra OG Cincinnati 6’4” 323

Photo by Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

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166. Rylie Mills DT Notre Dame 6’5” 295

Photo by Michael Miller/ISI Photos/Getty Images

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244. Jay Higgins LB Iowa 6’2” 232

Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images

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An alternate mock …

Trades

Minnesota Receives:

2025: Round 4, Pick 105

2025: Round 7, Pick 215

..

New England Receives:

2025: Round 3, Pick 97

…

32 Jonah Savaiinaea IOL Arizona 6’5” 336

105 Shemar Turner DL Texas A&M 6’4” 300

144 Xavier Nwankpa S Iowa 6’2” 215

168 Kyle Monangai RB Rutgers 5’9” 209

215 Deontae Lawson LB Alabama 6’2” 239

237 Nash Hutmacher DL Nebraska 6’4” 310

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