Just Need An Average O

MaroonBells wrote:

Valid points, PF. But aren’t those the kind of adjustments every team in the NFL deals with?

Remember last year at this time? Everyone was worried about the Lions without even considering they had lost their starting C, a starting CB, a starting Safety and a Pro Bowl guard. They were still good, but they weren’t the same. These things matter. Let’s fast forward a year and look at some other teams.

• Since Seattle's the team to beat, they lost their OC, they lost their starting RB, a starting CB, a starting S and a starting LB. Their biggest addition was WR Rasheed Shaheed.

• Lions again lost several key players. Their Pro Bowl LT, a starting Edge, a starting LB, a starting CB and David Montgomery. In terms of money, their biggest addition was Cade Mays, a league average center.

• Chicago lost their OC, their starting center, a starting LB and a starting WR. The biggest addition they made was Coby Bryant, the starting CB they pinched from Seattle. Their starting center is now Garrett Bradbury.

• Packers lost 11 players, including a starting LB, a starting WR, a starting Edge and a starting OL. They’ll get Tucker Kraft back and maybe Parsons later in the year. But their biggest addition was…wait for it…Javon Hargrave.

I’m glad you brought him up, because I think the most undervalued Vikings player going into 2026 is TJ Hockenson. Viking fans are talking about him like he’s in some kind of age-related decline. He’s 28. 4 years younger than Kittle, 8 years younger than Ertz and Kelce…and another year removed from the ACL.

TJH and AVG just look like Vikings of yore dont they? I hope he's not finished, but I got my doubts. My concerns are injury related, not necessarily age, not at 28.

Li JustInTime wrote:

Two assumptions: 

BFlo can hold serve. And he appears to be perfectly capable of turning chicken shit to chicken salad.

Our O, particularly the passing game, isn’t absolute dog shit two years in a row.

Not exactly a huge leap of faith.

I hope you’re right but I think we’re closer to mediocrity I. This young man’s game than we are to elite imho.

StickierBuns wrote:
If the 'O' just needs average QB play, we should be loading up on defense in this Draft. I keep reading about the weapons on offense, and that's awesome.... but lets get a corner, DT and safety out of this Draft then. 2027 will be VERY happy we did. Because to get to the Show, you need both an offense and defense and we have some holes on D. Give the Master Chef running the D some high quality groceries if you want a gourmet meal. If we keep putting garbage in on D, eventually we'll get garbage out.

This ^. Let's D it up in this Draft. Future 2027 will thank us.

Yep. As tempting as Sadiq or a WR might be, I wanna see defenders picked early and often. Saw an industry mock the other day where our first 3 picks were defense and it brought a smile to my face.

Reload the defense and see what Kyler and the offense can do this year with what they got, IMO. If they look Average or better like OP suggests they need to (I agree), then next year the team will have a lot more familiarity with Kyler and can better assess the best ways to help the offense. Right now they'd be working off old Arizona Cardinals tape I was told to throw out because it doesn't matter, and hypotheticals. Waiting a year to go Rd 1 WR or TE or RB seems prudent.

If the 'O' just needs average QB play, we should be loading up on defense in this Draft. I keep reading about the weapons on offense, and that's awesome.... but lets get a corner, DT and safety out of this Draft then. 2027 will be VERY happy we did. Because to get to the Show, you need both an offense and defense and we have some holes on D. Give the Master Chef running the D some high quality groceries if you want a gourmet meal. If we keep putting garbage in on D, eventually we'll get garbage out.
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[quote="medaille" pid="273017" dateline="1776345903"]
Defense has lost 3 starters and backfilled none of them.

I think we're closer to 2024 defense than 2025, with shit DTs, that let's teams move the ball pretty easily against us, but hoping the turnovers come in droves.

Also, we had 3 viable safeties in 2024 and 1 currently
[/quote]

This ^. Let's D it up in this Draft. Future 2027 will thank us.