The Vikings have spent this offseason loading up on veteran defensive talent in the hope that a resurgent defense combined with an established, dynamic offense will result in a highly successful season. It's a critical year for Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman, and they're going all in on fixing Zimmer's defense.
Suddenly, the prospects of this 2021 season for the franchise are rather exciting and expectations are rising. With a quarterback holdout controversy in Green Bay and a rookie QB battling for the starting job in Chicago, the NFC North might be there for the taking. What's more, this is a Vikings roster with very few holes on paper but a lot of big personnel decisions coming in free agency next spring. The window is open right now. There's no reason why this team shouldn't at least make the playoffs and potentially make a deep run.
But when discussing whether or not Minnesota can be a legitimate Super Bowl contender, we do have to look at those holes and see how problematic they could wind up being. So with that in mind, here's a look at the Vikings' three biggest roster weaknesses as things stand right now.
1. Special teams
It got overlooked at times because of the defense's struggles, but the Vikings' special teams were an almost unparalleled disaster in 2020. Per Football Outsiders' DVOA, the Vikings lost more value on special teams than every team in the last seven years except the 2020 Chargers, who were somehow even worse.
Nothing went right. Field goals, punts, returns, coverage units, field position...it was all awful. Even with a defense that was truly horrendous late in the season, the Vikings probably would've snuck into the playoffs had their special teams not cost them multiple wins.
In theory, the only way they can go this year is up. But they'll have to make some serious improvement in many different areas in order for special teams not to be a liability again. New coordinator Ryan Ficken and kicker Greg Joseph are taking over for Marwan Maalouf and Dan Bailey, respectively, and both have plenty to prove. Ficken is a rookie coordinator — although he's been around in Minnesota for a long time — and Joseph hasn't made a regular season field goal since 2018.
One can imagine a world where Joseph is reliable, Britton Colquitt bounces back from a down season, a rookie like Kene Nwanwgu or Ihmir Smith-Marsette makes an impact in the return game, and Ficken generally helps clean things up in the field position game. However, that requires a lot of faith, which may be a lot to ask of Vikings fans jaded by kicking nightmares from the past few decades. The more likely scenario is one where the Vikings make incremental improvement, but special teams are still inconsistent and a question mark heading down the stretch.
Make no mistake: special teams could make or break the season for Minnesota this year.
2. The offensive line
Special teams and the O-line? We're just playing the hits, huh? As easy as those two areas are to identify as concerns for the Vikings, that's just the way things seem to play out for this team year after year.
The Vikings deciding not to act aggressively to fix their offensive line early in the offseason was a bit surprising, and their uninspiring moves — re-signing Rashod Hill and Dakota Dozier and trading for Mason Cole — created a bit of panic within the fan base. But then came the draft, and the Vikings did very well in landing Christian Darrisaw at No. 23 overall and Wyatt Davis at No. 86. Although they'll have to earn it in training camp, both guys should realistically be starters in Week 1 (Darrisaw at left tackle, Davis at right guard).
Although I'm high on both Darrisaw and Davis, the reality is that having two rookie starters up front will likely lead to some growing pains and inconsistency. And if Garrett Bradbury doesn't improve much in year three or Ezra Cleveland struggles with another position change — to left guard this year — things could be ugly at times. There's a lot of potential on this line due to its overall athleticism and draft pedigree, but there's also a lot that needs to be proven.
3. The other defensive end spot
Some may choose the No. 3 wide receiver spot here, but I'm less worried about that for a couple reasons. One is that the Vikings just don't use 11 personnel all that much, and their tight end room is very solid. The second is that between Chad Beebe, Bisi Johnson, Smith-Marsette, UDFA Blake Proehl, and a few others, the depth at WR could be worse. They're in trouble if either Justin Jefferson or Adam Thielen get hurt, but that was always going to be the case.
To me, the biggest roster concern other than special teams and the OL is at the other defensive end spot opposite Danielle Hunter. Hunter's contract situation being resolved and the presence of three outstanding defensive tackles are great things, but there still is a lot of uncertainty elsewhere at DE. And unlike WR3, that's a position that needs to be filled on every snap. Stephen Weatherly is a decent vet, but you'd prefer to have him in a rotational role. Other than Weatherly, everyone else is either young (D.J. Wonnum, Patrick Jones II, Janarius Robinson) or not very good (Jalyn Holmes, Hercules Mata'afa, Jordan Brailford).
Perhaps someone in that group emerges and complements the rest of a very talented front seven with adequate play. But if the Vikings were going to make one more addition to this defense prior to the season, adding another edge rusher would make a lot of sense.
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