Minnesota Vikings 2025 Offense Bold Predictions: Justin Jefferson's domination continues, while the offensive line is finally fixed

The Minnesota Vikings are one week away from the first game of the 2025 season where they will face the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

There are a lot of interesting storylines for the Vikings. Will J.J. McCarthy be able to come close to replicating what Sam Darnold did last season? How much will the running game grow? How does the defense improve from an overall excellent season?

Minnesota Vikings Offense Bold Predictions

The bold predictions from last season were a mixed bag, as we hit three of the four.

• Hit: Sam Darnold 4,000 passing yards, Justin Jefferson under 2,000 receiving yards, Ed Ingram less than 30 pressures
• Miss: Ty Chandler leads the team in rushing

This year, we make another four bold predictions.

J.J. McCarthy has a higher than 2.5:1 TD:INT ratio

The biggest reason for keeping this bold prediction rather vague is not understanding what exactly the Vikings' offense is going to be moving forward. How much they run the football versus throwing it. Head coach Kevin O'Connell is still going to throw the ball a significant amount, but the red zone could see a significant amount of running the football, as the offseason was essentially predicated on fixing the red zone issues.

McCarthy does a good job of protecting the football on an overall level, and it should translate to the NFL. He's already shown plenty of ability to throw with anticipation and plus ball placement among other things.

Where this prediction becomes bold is looking at the amount of quarterbacks who have a career TD:INT ratio above 2.5 for a career. Only nine of them rank that high for a career, and four of them have won an MVP award.

Jordan Mason runs for 10+ touchdowns

The running game for the Vikings was one that needed to be fixed quickly. The red zone was a brutal spot for the Vikings, as they ranked 19th in touchdown percentage across the league. Those issues were a major factor why they lost to the Detroit Lions in the regular season finale.

As mentioned above, the biggest focus was on fixing the trenches, mainly because of the issues they had in converting once in the red zone. Arguably, the biggest single addition was running back Jordan Mason, as he brings a level of physicality and contact balance. He is the perfect counter to what Aaron Jones brings, and that will be a huge factor in the Vikings' offense taking a huge step forward when it comes to efficiency.

Josh Oliver sets career highs across the board

The suspension for Jordan Addison, along with the renewed focus on the running game is going to make tight end Josh Oliver a major beneficiary. He is going to see more action, and in turn, will set records.

It's not necessarily a hot take for Oliver to set records in one or two metrics, but this prediciton is across the board. These are his current career highs:

• Targets: 28
• Receptions: 22
• Yards: 258
• Touchdowns: 3

Watch him take a step forward and break all four of his previous career highs.

Vikings offensive line allows 28 or less sacks

The offensive line for the Vikings was good enough for the majority of the year last year. In fact, they won 14 games, including a nine-game winning streak. However, they were the biggest issue for the Vikings and ended up costing them their season.

Last year, the Vikings allowed 48 sacks, and a lot of those had to do with Darnold holding onto the ball too long. McCarthy doesn't have that issue, and has a very quick release. That, paired with how much the offensive line has improved, will end up making a huge impact on the season.

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