Throwback Thursday: Then And Now

The evolution of an NFL team's roster has always fascinated me. When I started following the Minnesota Vikings in the 1970s their roster, and the rosters of most teams, didn't changed much from year to year. In this era of free agency and a need for immediate returns a roster can change drastically in a single year. It might be better to look at last year's Vikings lineup compared to this year's lineup (I'm sure that I'll doing that in the coming months) but I was recently thinking about the changes that have taken place since Mike Zimmer became the head coach in 2014. Here's a comparison of the 2014 Vikings starters to the expected 2018 starters. Then and now.

2014

Offense

WR	Greg Jennings
TE	Kyle Rudolph
LT	Matt Kalil
LG	Charlie Johnson
C	John Sullivan
RG	Joe Berger
RT	Phil Loadholt
TE	Rhett Ellison
WR	Jarius Wright
QB	Matt Cassel
RB	Adrian Peterson

Defense

DE	Everson Griffen
DT	Sharrif Floyd
DT	Linval Joseph
DE	Brian Robison
LB	Chad Greenway
LB	Jasper Brinkley
LB	Anthony Barr
CB	Xavier Rhodes
CB	Captain Munnerlyn
S	Harrison Smith
S	Robert Blanton

2014 was the year that Roger Goodell took from Adrian Peterson. He started the opener and that was it. The Vikings ground game was carried by Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon the rest of the way. It was also the year that an early-season injury to quarterback Matt Cassel opened the door for rookie Teddy Bridgewater. At least on offense, there were some things didn't go as planned in 2014.

2018

Offense

WR	Stefon Diggs
TE	Kyle Rudolph
LT	Riley Reiff
LG	Nick Easton
C	Pat Elflein
RG	Danny Isidora
RT	Mike Remmers
WR	Adam Thielen
QB	Kirk Cousins
RB	Dalvin Cook
FB	C.J. Ham

Defense

DE	Everson Griffen
DT	Sheldon Richardson
DT	Linval Joseph
DE	Danielle Hunter
LB	Ben Gedeon
LB	Eric Kendricks
LB	Anthony Barr
CB	Xavier Rhodes
CB	Trae Waynes
S	Harrison Smith
S	Andrew Sendejo

Only Kyle Rudolph remains on offense. Adam Thielen was on the roster but he was just beginning his climb up the roster. Everson Griffen, Linval Joseph, Anthony Barr, Xavier Rhodes, and Harrison Smith are the heart of the current defense and have been with Zimmer from the beginning. Joseph and Barr came in with their coach. Griffen, Rhodes, and Smith were happily inherited.

Four seasons have passed since Zimmer kicked off his Vikings career. It probably takes a few seasons, more accurately a few offseasons, for a new head coach to get something close to the team that he wants. Zimmer might finally be getting close to that team, the defense in particular. Four seasons is an NFL career for the majority of the players trying to make it. Nearly every NFL team changes considerably over four years. Especially if a coaching change is involved. It can be fun and interesting to look back at the evolution of a team. What's changed and what's stayed the same.