Piece by Anthony Del Trecco
As of right now, the Vikings are the worst team in the NFC North. Confused? Let me explain. Dalvin Cook is obviously a great running back and Justin Jefferson is going to be a star. Adam Thielen is also very good but is getting older. There is a lot of uncertainty with the Vikings right now. Part of that problem is not willing to make the critical changes necessary to move forward. Kirk Cousins is not good and overpaid. He was brought to Minnesota to lead the team to a championship and so far, it looks like they have gone backwards. His inconsistent passing has become the target of rightful criticism since he has been QB1. The original plan the Vikings had in the draft was to take Justin Fields.
After being leapfrogged by the Bears, they had to change course and draft offensive tackle Christian Darrisaw from Virginia Tech. Don’t worry Vikings fans, of course there was a plan B in the draft in terms of the quarterback with Fields being off the board. Naturally, in the third round the team drafts…. Kellan Mond? Okay, I didn’t think things could go from bad to worse here. People put him on a pedestal for what he did in college when the reality is, he is not anything special. Cousins and Mond are exactly the same, overrated quarterbacks with poor mechanics. Good to know Minnesota has a type. While Darrisaw will certainly help an offensive line that hasn’t played well, the team did nothing else to address it besides drafting guard Wyatt Davis from Ohio State. That will only make things harder for whoever is playing quarterback. Irv Smith will be the new feature tight end with Kyle Rudolph joining the Giants and we haven’t seen enough of him to have a good idea of what he can do in the NFL.
Mike Zimmer takes pride in his defense, so why is it still so bad? Rookie linebacker Chazz Surat from North Carolina should be a welcome addition to an underwhelming unit since he is versatile. Danielle Hunter hopefully will come back from his injury and give the pass rush a boost. It just seems like the Vikings have thrown their hands up and said we don’t know what to do anymore. When teams in any sport get like that, it is a huge problem and is usually means mediocrity for the foreseeable future. The draft class and free agency efforts were very disappointing and essentially, this is the same team that did nothing last year. They are in rough shape and have the worst quarterback in the division, and yes, I am saying that with Jordan Love and Jared Goff being in the north. The biggest problem that everyone seems blind to, the Vikings are breaking Dalvin Cook’s back and forcing him carry the team.