All Things 2025 Minnesota Vikings In-Season Thread

[Slim Tubby]

Adam Thielen claimed by the Steelers.

 

[Ope3]

The 4th place schedule is overrated. There are 3 non-division games that are different. The 4th place teams from the 2 divisions that we don’t play, and the AFC crossover.

It's not as much of a difference as it used to be when it was 3 Divisions per conference. In a parity driven league though, 3 games in a 17 game season is still rather significant, IMO.

It certainly can be a factor in making the playoffs or not. It can also enhance seeding. Currently both the teams with the best records in the NFC (Bears) & AFC (Patriots) are playing 4th Place schedules.

It does matter. At least somewhat.

 

[TNGophfan]

I'd love to have Vrabel as a coach. Think he gets a lot out if his guys and they almost always play good defence.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

This just isn't true. The Bears have been riding a serious luck factor, and until just a few days ago, they had a negative point differential; a historically negative point differential for a team with 9 wins, something like the first time in 20+ years, something I had heard like that. The Vikings have won 13 games twice already under KAM; this Bears roster isn't doing that anytime soon.

If the Bears win a playoff game this season it will be a better season than any the Vikings have had under KAM. The Vikings were paper tigers in both of these 13 win seasons. They beat 2 playoff teams both years. Buffalo and the Giants, who they lost in the playoffs to in 2022. Last year it was the Packers twice and Houston. And if you want to talk about luck, the Vikings were a -3 in point differential in that 13 win 2022 season. That has to be historic and it's worse than the Bears currently have.

They passed on Bryce Young, and CJ Stroud, because they still thought Justin Fields could be a viable NFL franchise QB; not because it was some astute evaluation on Young (or Stroud). Their handling of trying to squeeze some value out of Fields was a laughable exercise, they embarrassed themselves.

How do you know it wasn't evaluation? Stroud had one good season and has been below average since. Young has been below average his entire career. Fields and Williams are better than any QB currently on the Vikings roster, and I'll take Williams over Stroud and Young right now.

The two starters let go and playing well elsewhere is pretty much exactly an affirmation of what I said earlier; why isn't there being more attention given to the fact that the players that have been brought in haven't been developed and improved by the coaching staff?

I'll definitely grant you, the gamble on bringing in Fries and Kelly was a massive fail, even though every couch fan in Vikingsland was screaming for them to replace Bradbury and Ingram. Yes, this was a big fail on their part. But again, why hasn't this staff developed people like Ingram, Rouse, Jurgens, and a laundry list of other OL that have been through the building in the last handful of years?

No argument here. But the GM still shares the blame.

Of course their jobs are probably hinging on how JJM does. That is 100%, and it's true of basically every NFL Front Office that has been in that situation. If the QB any Front Office fails, that usually means everyone is looking for a job. The way it's always been, and it's the way it will be with this regime.

The bold is one of the dumbest things I've seen on this board in a while. If the Bears succeed, it will be because they landed one of the most highly sought after Head Coaching candidates in a long time. Poles has been a f*cking moron, almost every step of the way

I've laid out the facts that show Poles has run circles around KAM. If you want to dig your heels in and ignore the truth, that's on you. He also deserves credit for admitting his mistake withe Eberflus and hiring the right coach the second time. If you want to admit they hired the right coach this time, then you have to give credit to Poles for that too.

 

[Ogie Ogilthorpe]

If the Bears win a playoff game this season

They have to even get to the playoffs first. But sure that could be true. Getting to the dance and winning a game would be better than the Vikings have done under the current regime, using that metric.

I've laid out the facts that show Poles has run circles around KAM. If you want to dig your heels in and ignore the truth, that's on you. He also deserves credit for admitting his mistake withe Eberflus and hiring the right coach the second time. If you want to admit they hired the right coach this time, then you have to give credit to Poles for that too.

I don't agree. At all. I won't debate how good or bad KAM has been, I'm not blindly and faithfully defending him, and I won't really compare the two until we know more.

But Poles has shown himself to be a f*cking idiot, I'm sorry. Most KAM haters point to the Cine pick as one of his worst, arguably so. Poles gave up basically the equivalent of the Cine pick to acquire Chase Claypool from the Steelers, a move many say is one of the worst trades in the NFL in the last 5-6+ years. Poles gave up roughly the equivalent of the Cine pick to acquire Montez Sweat, a handful of weeks before the Bears could have just signed him in FA for zero draft capital. WTF? Trading away Roquan Smith to the Ravens, who has been All-Pro ever since.

It's important, very important, to note just how Poles and the Bears fell into the #1 pick to draft Caleb Williams (who I'm not convinced will be a top 10 QB either). I know this because I had a major vested interest as that next season played out. The Bears acquired the Panthers #1 pick the next year to draft Bryce Young #1; The Cardinals acquired the Texans #1 pick the next year, to draft CJ Stroud. As a Cardinals ST holder, I watched that whole next season, thinking/hoping the Cardinals would end up with a top-5 pick from the Texans and watched them win, and win, and win, and ended up giving the Cardinals the #27 pick I think. The Panthers, conversely, just lost and lost and lost, handing the Bears the #1 overall pick. That was not through some pure brilliance of Poles that they got the #1 overall pick. It was blind dumbass luck.

We disagree, that's fine. That's the beauty of this exercise.

For the heck of it, I did a quick internet search on the most NFL GM rankings I could find. Poles was #20 in one of them, and #23 in the other; KAM was #9 in one of them, and #13 in the other.

KAM may end up failing and getting fired, I'd be completely fine with that. But Poles is a f*cking moron, plain and simple. The Claypool and Sweat deals should have gotten him shitcanned alone.

 

[Ogie Ogilthorpe]

Some pretty interesting stats here on some of the younger QBs who are on winning teams, who statistically aren't playing really that great, but their teams are finding ways to win. Wow

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

A few comments/factiods -

The Vikings have the 10th best yards per carry at 4.6 and 25th in yards per game at 99.4 - maybe we need more attempts per game, KOC

And we’re last in using motion on running plays - that’s some fuzzy, wuzzy math.

In that article I posted snippets from regarding Darnold, it said that before Cousins was out the door and JJ was drafted, Darnold was listed internally as the QB they wanted to sign and envisioned as a starter.

Furthermore, there were folks inside Winter Park, who wanted to sign him and go with him, vs. drafting a QB, and were overruled.

Maybe KOC wanted to stick with Sam, but was overruled by Kam or the Wilfs said no to one or both of them?

KOC seems like he would be the minority stakeholder in the that triumvirate.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

The Athletic mock draft, has us taking a Rb at 11. To many other holes to address.

10. Cincinnati Bengals: Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State​

Downs is one of the best players in this draft class, but a lot of teams — possibly including the Bengals — wouldn’t feel great drafting a safety in the top 10. That said, the Ohio State All-American would give Cincinnati a monumental talent upgrade on the back end and instantly help its defense develop a more disciplined culture. Don’t overthink this one, Bengals.

11. Minnesota Vikings: Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame​

Like Downs, Love is one of the best players in the draft but positional value will limit his landing spots in the top half of Round 1. Here, that just means the Vikings get value by adding the draft’s most explosive offensive weapon — a versatile back who’d help both the run and pass games.

 

[Ope3]

For the heck of it, I did a quick internet search on the most NFL GM rankings I could find. Poles was #20 in one of them, and #23 in the other; KAM was #9 in one of them, and #13 in the other.

Poles hiring Eberflus to begin with and then sticking with him for a 3rd season, not cutting bait has to be a major reason for this ranking.

Looks like he's saving his bacon with the Ben Johnson hire.

 

[howeda7]

 

[Ope3]

I get your point but you're not exactly talking about an apples to apples comparison. The Vikings in two of those years were coming off 12+ win seasons, not a shitload of holes to fill. All those Bears picks, almost all of them, were significantly higher than the Vikings picks, and they were starters out of necessity.

It's not Ingram-Dawkins fault he's playing behind a couple of major FA signings; it's not Tai Felton's fault he's playing behind JJ, Addison and Nailor; it's not Rouse's fault he's playing behind two really good OT starters in O'Neill and Darrisaw.

But for argument's sake, I'll concede that KAM has not drafted well. In light of that, the draft is not the only job of the GM. His job is to assemble a competitive roster within the confines of the cap. His first job, mandated by EVERYONE, was to get the Vikings free of Cousins and that dead weight contract. He did that, and they still won 14 games with a resurrection QB.

They had to ditch a lot of other big dollar bad contracts left over by the Spielman regime as well. The roster cleaning they had to do was extensive.

You can say Poles drafted well, but he's been a dumpster fire in other areas where KAM has been better. KAM didn't give up the 32nd pick in the draft for a WR that barely played for the team (Claypool); KAM didn't give up the 33rd (I think?) pick in the draft for a pass rusher in Montez Sweat that they could have just signed in Free Agency for nothing, and then gave him $100M for a guy who can't notch double digit sacks.

The Vikings' record this year is largely because Kelly, Fries, Jackson, O'Neill, and Darrisaw can't manage to get on the field together at the same time. It's not much more complicated than that.

While I mostly agree with your post, it is more complicated that the Vikes O-Line not being able to stay healthy (though that's a major reason).

Just one example is Turnover Margin. Who has the Best Ratio?

The Chicago Bears at +17. In the basement resides the Purple, - 15.

Uffda.

https://www.footballdb.com/statistics/turnovers.html

For the season the Vikings have forced a paltry 11 Interceptions and Fumbles. 5 of those were in a single game against the Bengals.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

They have to even get to the playoffs first. But sure that could be true. Getting to the dance and winning a game would be better than the Vikings have done under the current regime, using that metric.



I don't agree. At all. I won't debate how good or bad KAM has been, I'm not blindly and faithfully defending him, and I won't really compare the two until we know more.

But Poles has shown himself to be a f*cking idiot, I'm sorry. Most KAM haters point to the Cine pick as one of his worst, arguably so. Poles gave up basically the equivalent of the Cine pick to acquire Chase Claypool from the Steelers, a move many say is one of the worst trades in the NFL in the last 5-6+ years. Poles gave up roughly the equivalent of the Cine pick to acquire Montez Sweat, a handful of weeks before the Bears could have just signed him in FA for zero draft capital. WTF? Trading away Roquan Smith to the Ravens, who has been All-Pro ever since.

It's important, very important, to note just how Poles and the Bears fell into the #1 pick to draft Caleb Williams (who I'm not convinced will be a top 10 QB either). I know this because I had a major vested interest as that next season played out. The Bears acquired the Panthers #1 pick the next year to draft Bryce Young #1; The Cardinals acquired the Texans #1 pick the next year, to draft CJ Stroud. As a Cardinals ST holder, I watched that whole next season, thinking/hoping the Cardinals would end up with a top-5 pick from the Texans and watched them win, and win, and win, and ended up giving the Cardinals the #27 pick I think. The Panthers, conversely, just lost and lost and lost, handing the Bears the #1 overall pick. That was not through some pure brilliance of Poles that they got the #1 overall pick. It was blind dumbass luck.

We disagree, that's fine. That's the beauty of this exercise.

For the heck of it, I did a quick internet search on the most NFL GM rankings I could find. Poles was #20 in one of them, and #23 in the other; KAM was #9 in one of them, and #13 in the other.

KAM may end up failing and getting fired, I'd be completely fine with that. But Poles is a f*cking moron, plain and simple. The Claypool and Sweat deals should have gotten him shitcanned alone.

Poles is an idiot to you based on two moves Claypool and Sweat. Cine/Claypool can cancel each other out. Sweat is still a starter and a good player. That's all you have.

KAM's bad draft picks and bad FA signings completely dwarf those two moves.

 

[Ogie Ogilthorpe]

Poles is an idiot to you based on two moves Claypool and Sweat. Cine/Claypool can cancel each other out. Sweat is still a starter and a good player. That's all you have.

KAM's bad draft picks and bad FA signings completely dwarf those two moves.

Okay.

Moving on.

The line for this game has been moving all over the place. If I'm not mistaken, the Vikings opened up as small favorites and it quickly moved to Washington around (-1.5), although I still see Vikings (-1.5) on BetMGM.

Rumors that Jayden Daniels might play, although I also heard a rumor that there are people in the building that don't want Daniels to play the rest of the year; what's the point, he could get injured worse, etc.

It sounds like Darrisaw is going to play after a normal week of practice. Things aren't as certain for Donovan Jackson. Haven't heard a thing about Kelly or Fries. I wouldn't touch betting this game until the end of the week injury reports.

 

[GophersInIowa]

The Athletic mock draft, has us taking a Rb at 11. To many other holes to address.

10. Cincinnati Bengals: Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State​

Downs is one of the best players in this draft class, but a lot of teams — possibly including the Bengals — wouldn’t feel great drafting a safety in the top 10. That said, the Ohio State All-American would give Cincinnati a monumental talent upgrade on the back end and instantly help its defense develop a more disciplined culture. Don’t overthink this one, Bengals.

11. Minnesota Vikings: Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame​

Like Downs, Love is one of the best players in the draft but positional value will limit his landing spots in the top half of Round 1. Here, that just means the Vikings get value by adding the draft’s most explosive offensive weapon — a versatile back who’d help both the run and pass games.

I would agree but Love is so good though it would be hard to pass him up if he's still there.

 

[Slim Tubby]

The Athletic mock draft, has us taking a Rb at 11. To many other holes to address.

10. Cincinnati Bengals: Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State​

Downs is one of the best players in this draft class, but a lot of teams — possibly including the Bengals — wouldn’t feel great drafting a safety in the top 10. That said, the Ohio State All-American would give Cincinnati a monumental talent upgrade on the back end and instantly help its defense develop a more disciplined culture. Don’t overthink this one, Bengals.

11. Minnesota Vikings: Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame​

Like Downs, Love is one of the best players in the draft but positional value will limit his landing spots in the top half of Round 1. Here, that just means the Vikings get value by adding the draft’s most explosive offensive weapon — a versatile back who’d help both the run and pass games.

I wouldn't put RB in our Top 5 positional needs even if Aaron Jones is a Cap casualty, especially when you can find quality guys in Rounds 3-5. However, with our current roster, we shouldn't be drafting for "need" at any point of the 2026 Draft.

Love is an immensely talented guy and if he's your highest rated player on the board, you take him IMO. We're also not in a position to consolidate draft picks to move up in the Draft, although Caleb Downs seems worthy of consideration for just that.

CB Mansoor Delane from LSU is the guy I'm enamored with as a prospect but he keeps moving farther up Draft Boards as the college season has unfolded. CB Aevion Terrell is another talented dude that should be available at our pick.

Of course, it really doesn't matter much if our QB play continues to looks like the closing scene of every Benny Hill Show episode. (Cue the music, Maestro)