New Minnesota Vikings

With the recent addition of free agent cornerback Bashaud Breeland I was thinking about the roster additions that the Minnesota Vikings have made this offseason. At 7-9 and no playoffs, the 2021 NFL season didn’t go as hoped. It was a difficult season. Most of the difficulties were on the defensive side of the ball. That was due to the unfortunate fact that the defense was throughly taken apart by an opt-out and a season-long run of injuries. The defense that took the field during the final month of the season looked nothing like the defense that was projected in August. Even with the return to health of injured players the Vikings roster needed work but there was little cap space available to do that work. In order to create the cap space to re-make the roster, the Vikings had to make some difficult decisions. Veteran leaders Kyle Rudolph, Riley Reiff, Shamar Stephen, and Dan Baly were released. Significant contributors Anthony Harris, Eric Wilson, Ifeadi Odenigbo, and Mike Boone signed with new teams. A couple players had their contracts re-worked. When the roster juggling and salary cap massaging was done the Vikings were able to take part in the free agency fun. There was a focus on one side of the ball. 

Free agency spending in terms of total dollars:

Defense: $42,047,500

Offense: $4,442,400

There was a clear focus on improving the defense. It makes sense. The Vikings offense was among the ten best in the league. The defense wasn’t.

Vikings Free Agent signings:

Dalvin Tomlinson, DT

Stephen Weatherly, DE

Patrick Peterson, CB

Xavier Woods, S

Nick Vigil, LB

Mackensie Alexander, CB

Bashaud Breeland, CB

Tye Smith, CB

Parry Nickerson, CB

Greg Joseph, K

That’s a lot of corners. Excluding the kicker, every free agent signing that the Vikings have made this offseason has been on defense. As many as five of the new players probably top their position’s current depth chart.

Dalvin Tomlinson

Stephen Weatherly

Patrick Peterson

Xavier Woods

Mackensie Alexander-nickel

That’s significant. Nearly half the starting defense will be players new to the team. Although Stephen Weatherly and Mackensie Alexander aren’t exactly new. Personally, I believe that either second-year D.J. Wonnum or one of the rookies Patrick Jones II or Janarius Robinson will be a starting defensive end over Weatherly. 

The offense wasn’t completely ignored this offseason. The Vikings traded a sixth-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for interior offensive lineman Mason Cole. 

Then there was the draft. After focusing on defense in free agency, the Vikings gave a slight edge (6-5) to the offense in the 2021 NFL Draft. 

Vikings Draft additions:

Christian Darrisaw, OT

Kellon Mond, QB

Chazz Surratt, LB

Wyatt Davis, OG

Patrick Jones II, DE

Kene Nwangwu, RB

Camryn Bynum, S

Janarius Robinson, DE

Ihmir Smith-Marsette, WR

Zach Davidson, TE

Jaylen Twyman, DT

Vikings Undrafted Free Agents:

Blake Proehl, WR

A.J. Rose, RB

Myron Mitchell, WR

Riley Patterson, K

Whop Philyor, WR

Tuf Borland, LB

Zeandae Johnson, DL

Christian Elliss, Edge

Turner Bernard, LS

Jordon Scott, DT

The undrafted free agent additions had an even 4-4 offense-defense split. A couple special teams players were added as well.  

Of the 89 players currently on the Vikings roster, 32 were added this offseason. 

18 defensive additions

11 offensive additions

  3 special teams additions

However the whittle to 53 players works out, it’s a certainty that the Vikings defense of 2021 will look little like the defense of 2020. Especially that late-season defense. Safety Harrison Smith and cornerback Cameron Dantzler are probably the only players that started games last December that will be starting games this September. The Vikings offense will look much the same in 2021 as it did in 2020. Two 2021 draft picks, Christian Darrisaw and Wyatt Davis, should emerge as starters on the offensive line. With Kyle Rudolph’s departure, Irv Smith Jr. will be a different sort of offensive weapon as TE1. The biggest offensive change might be one that was made on the sidelines. Klint Kubiak replaced his father as offensive coordinator. 

The Vikings offseason to-do list was fairly simple. The defense needed fixing. The offense needed some tweaking. Much of the defensive fixing was simply getting players healthy but all of those injured also revealed a weakness. The Vikings needed to add better players on defense. They also needed to add more of those players. There was a defensive focus in free agency. That focus was especially directed at cornerback. Defensive end is now the most suspect position. Danielle Hunter capably handles one side. The hope is for the quick development of youngsters D.J. Wonnum, Patrick Jones II, and Janarius Robinson on the other side. At worst, the perfectly capable Weatherly is the starter. As I see it, I guess a 2021 Vikings starting defense that looks something like this:

LE	Danielle Hunter
DT	Dalvin Tomlinson
NT	Michael Pierce
RE	Patrick Jones II
OLB	Anthony Barr
MLB	Erick Kendricks
OLB	Chazz Surratt
CB	Patrick Peterson
CB	Cam Dantzler
S	Harrison Smith
S	Xavier Woods
NB	Mackensie Alexander

Six of those projected starters were added this offseason. Dalvin Tomlinson, Patrick Jones II, Chazz Surratt, Patrick Peterson, Xavier Woods, and Mackensie Alexander. Danielle Hunter and Michael Pierce weren’t added this offseason but they missed the entirety of the 2020 season. Anthony Barr only played in about 1.5 games. Eric Kendricks missed a quarter of the season. It’s nauseating to think of the number of defensive players that missed all or large chunks of the 2020 season. Unfortunately, It’s tough to think about the changes this year without thinking about the difficulties last year. Projecting rookie linebacker Surratt as a starter is a wild guess. I expect a wide-open competition for the third linebacker spot. Cameron Smith, Nick Vigil, Troy Dye, and Surratt will be part of that competition. It might be a bit early for Surratt but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s at the top of the depth chart at some point during his rookie season. 

On offense, the Vikings started an offensive line rebuild in 2018 with higher-end draft picks. Brian O’Neill (2018 2nd round), Garrett Bradbury (2019 1st round), and Ezra Cleveland (2020 2nd round). This year, the Vikings added Christian Darrisaw in the first round and Wyatt Davis in the third round to hopefully complete that rebuild. The offensive line looks promising on paper. 

LT	Christian Darrisaw
LG	Ezra Cleveland
C	Garrett Bradbury
RG	Wyatt Davis
RT	Brian O’Neill

It has to be better than promising on the field. It has to be effective immediately. The offensive line has been a problem for far too long. 

The Vikings have had an interesting offseason. I can’t recall a free agency so focused on one side of the ball. I can’t recall an offseason with so many new Vikings expected to contribute immediately.