The Minnesota Vikings Are In A (Very) Bad Situation

The Minnesota Vikings Are In A (Very) Bad Situation

The Minnesota Vikings entered the 2025 season with high hopes and were looking to take the next step. To the surprise of, well, everyone, they finished the 2024 season with a 14-3 record and for the first time in NFL history were a 14- win wildard team. It was a very unfortunate ending to the 2024 season as they entered the week 18 game against the Lions with one seat on the line and lost with a score of 31 to9. and then the following Monday night were embarrassed by the Rams as their season ended with a 27 to9 loss. And in the 2024 season, the Vikings only lost to two teams, the Lions and Rams. And entering the 2025 offseason, they had quite the decision in front of them. Do they bring back quarterback Sam Darnold, who despite a very non-traditional career path, threw for 4,300 yards and 35 touchdowns, or do they roll with 2024 firstround quarterback JJ McCarthy and do what they had been intending to do since GM Quazia Adafensa and head coach Kevin Okonnell took over back in 2022, which is build around a quarterback on a rookie contract. Well, they rolled the dice with McCarthy and the results backfired almost instantly. And fast forward to the present day and the Minnesota Vikings are in a very bad situation. As you can imagine, there is a lot to break down in today’s video. And if you could like the video before we start, a football will appear and would also be very much appreciated. And with those prefaces out of the way, let’s begin. And we are starting today’s video by breaking down the Minnesota Vikings roster and how we got to where we are today. Because contrary to what the national media makes this out to be, it’s not just bad quarterback play. There are good and hell even great players on this roster, but this is also a flawed roster at a few spots and it’s due in large part to bad drafting and repeated bad drafting. It is not an exaggeration to say the 2022 Minnesota Vikings draft class is one of the worst of the 2020s. They had four picks in the top 66 and received next to zero contribution from any of those said picks. And there’s a reason the old saying is to build through the draft and to supplement through free agency. And it’s because you do not want to be put in a situation like the Vikings have been over the past few offseasons where you have to essentially put Flex Seal on the roster because of how bad the misses were within the NFL draft. And within the 2022 NFL draft specifically, the Vikings had the 12th overall pick and needed a safety. None other than Notre Dame’s Kyle Hamilton was available when they were on the clock. So first year GM Quazia Dafamemensa did the logical thing and traded back 20 spots with the division rival Lions so that they could come up and draft Jameson Williams. And given that you are trading back, especially with a division rival, you would think there would be quite the tax to trade up, but nope. The Vikings also lost value on the trade as if they were doing the Lions a favor. And then they drafted safety Lewis Cena at number 32 overall, who would go on to play 10 total defensive snaps for the Vikings during his time in Minnesota. And no, that is not an exaggeration. That is actually how many snaps he played. I’m not going to go over every pick within the 2022 draft to this degree for time purposes. But if I were on the clock at pick 12 in 2022, well, you guys know that I am a believer in drafting good football players and to not over complicate the process if you don’t have to. And I would have drafted any of Kyle Hamilton, Jordan Davis, Trent McDuffy, or Tyler Linderbomb. All of those players filled needs for the Vikings at the time. And all would have been a fine selection. And you get the point of how the draft would play out for Minnesota. And their best player from this class was sixthround receiver Jaylen Naylor, who I like for what he is as a player, but that obviously doesn’t make up for missing as bad as you did throughout the entire draft. And one of the benefits of the NFL draft is having day two or day three selections fill out your roster with room to grow as players and also provide cheap depth on top of it. But because this class was so bad, they quite literally couldn’t do this really outside of Jaylen Naylor and an occasional spot start from running back Ty Chandler. And this draft still hurts this team to this day. And during the 2022 regular season, the Vikings traded a 2023 2 and a 2043 for TJ Hawinson, which was a good trade at the time. and credit crazy where it’s due, but because of how historically bad the 2022 draft class was, not having a second round pick the following year in some ways hurt the Vikings because they were not receiving any rookie contribution the way you’d expect from a team that again had four selections in the top 66 picks. And in fairness to TJ Hawinson, this was a beneficial trade for both sides, as Hawinson was on pace for over a thousand yards in 2023 before tearing his ACL and MCL in a game, ironically, against his former team, the Detroit Lions. And unfortunately, that was a careering injury because Hawinson has been nowhere close to the same player since the injury. And you can tell he does not have the same explosiveness as he once did. And he almost never breaks a tackle. And there is also a reason he’s averaging just 8.1 yards per catch in 2025. And I’ll leave it at that. Now, each and every draft cycle, the word generational is thrown around far too often. And if you are a longtime supporter or viewer of the channel, then you know that I refer to generational as the G-word, as there’s a reason that prospects should be viewed as generational when those said prospects come around, like a Jamar Chase or a Penny Soul. And you get the point. Those are not yearly players. They are again once in a generation type players. And that’s no disrespect to players that are going to be taken in the first round this year, but I don’t think there’s a true once in a decade type player or a generational type player. So, where we are going with this is I really do think the 2022 Vikings draft class was generationally bad. And that’s the type of draft that sets you back a couple of years. And with the complete lack of depth the Vikings have on their roster at this point, unfortunately, you are now seeing that. Now, for general manager Quazia Adafa specifically, there’s a lot of criticism to be had, which we will certainly get to with the 2024 and 2025 Vikings draft glasses, but trading a 2023 2 and a 2043 for tight end T.J. Hawinson is a fine trade. I don’t think that there’s any criticism that should be had from making that said trade. In TJ’s first full season with the team in 2023, he was on pace for 1,000 yards, and he still had over 950 yards in over 15 games played that season. So, I don’t think there should be any criticism for trading a two and a three for a 10,000 yard tight end and a Pro Bowl tight end at that that you probably wouldn’t have drafted in the second round if we were being honest. Quazy’s draft history is again obviously bad. So, if you are trading a two and a three for a Pro Bowl caliber player, I mean, yes, you have to pay him, but I’m fine with that. all things considered. Now, pertaining to the 2023 Vikings draft class, it started with USC wide receiver Jordan Addison. I think there’s a conversation to be had about Jordan and the problems that he’s had off the field, the distractions to the team. But with the player he is on the field, again, I think you have to credit Quazy. This was a good draft pick. And Jordan Addison, believe it or not, leads the 2023 draft class in receiving touchdowns to this day. And obviously with the conversation about Justin Jefferson and the quarterback play he’s had over the past couple of years also applies to Jordan Addison. And for him to lead that draft class in receiving touchdowns with guys like Jackson Smith Ajiga and Puka Nua and Sam Laaporta and Tucker Craft. I’m going to consider that a hit of a draft pick. And like we said the Hawinson second round selection I am completely fine with. And again you have to at least be fair to Quasy within criticisms. He did not know that TJ was going to tear his ACL and MCL and not be anywhere close to the same player after the set injury. The Vikings only had one top 100 pick in 2023 due in large part to the Hawinson trade and when they were on the clock in the third round initially they traded back. So their 102nd pick in the 23 draft was Vikings corner Mai Blackman. And I’m not going to give an in-depth breakdown for every player from 2023. But what you should know is outside of George Madison, the only other player on this roster from 2023 is still safety Jay Ward. And Jay Ward is a special teams player. He has played less than 100 total defensive snaps because he’s again more of a special teams player. And they also signed undrafted free agent Ivan Pace as a UDFA. But when you look at this class and specifically the decision to trade Mai Blackman away prior to the 25 season, the corner depth on this team is horrible due in large part to the ineffectiveness of Quasy’s drafts over the past couple of years. And there should be some criticism with the Mai Blackman trade. There was no reason to trade Mai Blackman, especially for the net of a sixth round pick, a player that you drafted at the end of the third round. And that’s one decision that you cannot ration with me that hey, this is a good trade for the Vikings. The Vikings corners right now at the time of this video release outside of Isaiah Rogers and Byron Murphy are Fabian Maro and Javier Thomas. So if Byron Murphy or Isaiah Rogers get hurt, well that would have been a nice place for Mai Blackman to step up, but he was traded away for a measly sixthround pick. But with the trading in NFL drafts, where it gets really bad is the 2024 class. Full transparency, I’m not going to criticize the trade to go up and get JJ. They traded one pick from pick 11 to pick 10 with the Jets. The reason I’m not going to criticize that pick, not because I can’t criticize my team’s general manager. It’s because if you are going to get who you believe is your quarterback of the future, that’s that’s fine. You you know what? You went up, you paid a price to go up and get who you thought was your quarterback of the future, by all means, get your guy. But the Vikings made a big trade a month prior to the draft. They traded a 24-2 and a 252 to go back into the first round and technically also a sixth with the Texans so that they could get the 23rd pick in the draft. The thought at the time was that, hey, they’re going to trade 11,23 and a 251 to go get Drake May. Obviously, that didn’t work out. New England kept the pick. And the Vikings actually offered three to go get Drake May. But New England was keeping the pick the entire time. If a team is going to keep a pick, there’s not really a lot or really in this case, anything you can do. But on draft night specifically, where I do have some criticism is the trade up again from 23 to 17 to go get Dallas Turner. And when they traded to go get Dallas Turner, they traded, of course, pick 23, a fifth round pick, and a 2025 third and 2025 four to move up six spots. That I’m sorry. Look, Dallas Turner has played really well over the past couple of weeks. And I hope that Dallas Turner continues to trend in the right direction at the pace that he has. But that is horrendous asset allocation in terms of being a general manager of what you need to do which is build through the NFL draft because there is no middle round capacity for the Vikings because of not just one but two tradeups to go get JJ McCarthy and Dallas Turner. whether J.J. McCarthy became the next Patrick Mahomes or whatever or Tay, then you obviously could say, well, look, we have our quarterback of the future. It worked out and, you know, we can really build on this roster in free agency, but or or wherever. But to do this to begin with was very bad asset allocation. Now, the Vikings did draft a corner in the fourth round in Kyrie Jackson, who is unfortunately no longer with us. Obviously, that’s a very tragic situation. That is a situation that I just wish, you know, my thoughts and condolences are still with Kyrie and his family and his loved ones who still deal with this every day. And I’ll just leave it at that. And um with the moving on from the Kyrie Jackson selection from, you know, from a football standpoint, they didn’t pick again until pick 177. And when you’re at that point in the draft, there’s not much that should be expected past that point. And past that point, the Vikings, one selection they did have that was really good. And a player who’s actually one of the best at his position in the NFL, that’s kicker Will Riker. Now, when you trade all of these day two picks over a course of a couple of years, you’re going to work with a lot of one-man draft classes, which is what the Vikings did in 2025. They had one selection inside the top 100, which was guard Donovan Jackson. And I like Donovan Jackson. He’s a player that can play for this team for several years, and I think there’s a chance he might make a Pro Bowl down the line. But outside of that, this was not a good draft class for Minnesota. And I liked the idea of Ty Felton being on the Vikings. I did not like the idea of Ty Felton being selected at the end of the third round above Elio Manor and Tory Horton. Both receivers that I thought were significantly better prospects than Ty Felton. And we’ll see how that plays out. But right now, at the time of this video release, he has one catch in his entire rookie season. And that’s kind of what we’ve come to expect with Quasi Dafamemensa and his draft picks over the past couple of years. That was a pick that I thought was a significant reach. I didn’t have Ty Felton in my top 150. They took him at 102 and I didn’t think it was a good pick then. I didn’t think it was a good pick now. And again, there were clearly better receiving prospects on the board when Ty Felton was selected. And now that we’ve discussed the Minnesota Vikings draft over the past couple of years, that brings us to the big decision they had this off season of whether or not to bring back Sam Darnold or to roll with 2024 firstround quarterback JJ McCarthy. And there’s a lot that goes into this because it’s not just one or the other. And whenever people talk about this on the internet, conveniently these points are well never brought up. It’s usually, “Haha, the Vikings stink. JJ McCarthy’s play terrible. Nine is a joke.” And you get the point. But what is not brought up because this doesn’t fit the narrative people want to discuss is the Vikings actually offered Sam Darnold a contract similar to what he received with the Seahawks in terms of AAV. Now Sam Darnold was offered a three-year deal of up to $100 million by the Seahawks. And again, what is also not brought up is Sam Darnold is a West Coast guy. Darnold has said in press conferences and media clips throughout the season that he loves it in Seattle because it brought him back out to the West Coast and that his parents go to more games than they did in places he previously played. Not only that, but Darnold was unquestionably the quarterback won in Seattle where obviously if he made a mistake in Minnesota, fans and media would be breathing down Kevin Okonnell and Sam Darnold’s neck about when will JJ McCarthy play. Again, these things are never brought up. Not only that, but if Sam was brought back to Minnesota, the Vikings also would not have been able to address the trenches the way they did this off season and the way they have wanted to for some time. Another part that gets conveniently glossed over, is Sam Darnold was sacked nine times in the wildard round game against the Rams. Obviously, it would be ignorant to say all of those sacks were on Sam Darnold, although a few definitely were. But the point is, the Vikings offensive line was not good in 2024. And if they brought Darnold back, sure, they could have still drafted Donovan Jackson in the first round, but it’s not like Donovan Jackson is a 2018 version of Quinton Nelson where he’s completely changed the offensive line and the culture within the locker room. And even with a healthy Christian Darasol, there still would have been two spots to fill along the offensive line. And another part that is either conveniently forgotten or purposefully not brought up because again, it doesn’t fit the narrative is the Vikings finished 26th in average yards per carry last year. Not only that, but this was a very flawed team that because they won so much last year, the flaws of this team simply were not discussed. It’s not a coincidence the Rams with their dominant defensive line and ability to get after the quarterback were able to dominate the Vikings the way they did in the wildard round. Now, if you ask the question, if Sam Darnold is on this team in 2025, are they in a better situation now than they currently are, even despite how much they spent in free agency to address the trenches the way they did? And the answer is undoubtedly yes. But lost within the Darnold and McCarthy discussion is the fact the Vikings wanted a quarterback under a rookie contract from the minute they took over in 2022. Meaning Quasi Adafensa and Kevin Okonnell, but unexpectedly winning 13 games in 2022 delayed their plans. Now with Darnold and McCarthy, there’s two big things that aren’t discussed. One is the Viking safety room, which would still be one of the worst in football, which is an extreme liability for a team that would be competing for a Super Bowl, and two, just how bad JJ McCarthy would be. You have every right to think J.J. McCarthy was going to be a bust from the start, and I acknowledge that, and those people have been vocal about the fact that they thought J.J. McCarthy was going to be a bust, but I don’t think anybody would have thought he would be borderline Jammarcus Russell level bad through his first six starts. Now, I know some people may think that’s a bit hyperbolic or a bit dramatic, but True Media has a stat called EPA per dropback. And there’s been 852 quarterbacks to register or to be a part of this stat since the year 2000. J.J. McCarthy ranks 851st in EPA per dropback ahead of only well, Jammarcus Russell. And I mean, JJ McCarthy has Justin Jefferson, Jordan, Kevin O’Connell, the offensive line, all of which were better than Jamarcus Russell supporting cast. And it has been legitimately alltime bad for J.J. McCarthy through his first six starts. And this brings a question of, okay, what are the Vikings going to do in 2026 at the quarterback position? Because it’s not as simple as, ah, well, JJ figured out, he’ll be good, let’s just go from here. Now, in the unlikely scenario that JJ McCarthy plays at a really high level in the final couple of games of the year, I still would think that you have to bring in somebody, whether it’s a trade like somebody like M. Jones or bring back Daniel Jones. And Daniel Jones was never actually on the active roster. He just played on the practice squad, but that could be somebody that you bring in to be legitimate competition for J.J. McCarthy in 2026. Because based on what we’ve seen in the first six starts of his career, there is absolutely no way you can run back in 2026, what you did in 2025 and basically say, “Hey JJ, here’s the keys to the franchise. Figure it out and we’ll go from here.” Obviously, we have seen what’s happened in his first sixarts and obviously it hasn’t been very good. Now, there’s another conversation even within that about what should have been expected of him and how the Vikings should not have done that. And I myself 100% was wrong on that. Left hand up. But that is kind of a different conversation with where we are right now in terms of what the Vikings game plan at the quarterback position should be after the 25 season and heading into 2026. Now, why we titled today’s video the Minnesota Vikings are in a very bad situation, aside from the obvious, is their quarterback play has been bad this year. And everyone knows that. And that also hurts the Vikings in trade negotiations because the reality is is Kevin Oonnell’s seat is not cold. And I don’t think it’s scorching hot by any means the way I think Quazi Adafens’s seat is scorching hot at the moment. But the reality is everybody knows they need an upgrade at the position. And I think it would be a very bad process to give up on JJ McCarthy to go and try and draft a quarterback in the first round this year after JJ missed his first year due to injury and also the fact that Sam Darnold had a great year. And that part’s not brought up as even if JJ McCarthy was healthy, Sam Darnold was still going to play over him because of the year he was having. But anyways, I think it would be a bad process to draft a first round quarterback after JJ McCarthy did not work out in 2025. And I would rather go the veteran route. So if they are trading for Mac Jones, Kyler Murray, Anthony Richardson, none of those teams are going to say, “Hey, you know what? We feel really bad for what happened to you guys this year. Uh, we have Mac. Jones. I’m I’m John Lynch. Hey, Quaz. Look buddy, I’ll do you a favor. Uh, just send us a five. I’ll send you a six back and and and we’ll call it even. That is not how it works. Teams obviously can see with their eyes that the Vikings quarterback play this year has been horrendous. And you don’t accidentally have a team 13-19 TD to INT ratio through the first 12 games of the year, unless the quarterback play is again very, very bad. And in week 13 specifically, Max Bromer threw for 126 yards, zero touchdowns, and four interceptions. And it was the first time a quarterback had that exact statline since Tommy Thompson did it with the Eagles back in 1950. Uh Tommy Thompson was a World War II veteran, so we of course thank Tommy for his service. Uh but Tommy was also blind in one eye. And that’s kind of the level of play that the Vikings have had at the quarterback position this year. Now again, we do thank Tommy for his service in World War II. Very much thank him for that. But I can’t say it’s an ideal scenario to have your quarterback have a statline comparable to that in the year 2025. So, what do the Vikings actually do at the quarterback position this off seasonason? Well, I think if there is one thing that Quazi Adafensa and Kevin Okonnell regret, it’s the fact that they didn’t bring in legit competition behind JJ this off seasonason. I think that everybody would acknowledge how bad of a decision that was in hindsight. We did mention the possibility that Daniel Jones could come back to the Twin Cities. We brought up M. Jones and Kyler Murray being traded this off season. And there is also some substance to Anthony Richardson becoming a Viking. Uh there’s a dialogue or there was a miked up clip between AR and Kevin Okonnell after the Vikings Colts game in 2024 where Okonnell basically said, “Hey, I like your game. I know Shane Stiken likes your game. Put your head down, work hard, and you have a long future in the NFL.” I think there is something there. Uh but there’s also something there with another player who has all the physical tools to play at the NFL. He’s obviously just had some well very bad interceptions during his time as a player in the NFL and that’s Will Levvice who will be on an expiring contract with the Titans in 2026. So if there is a late round pick swap quarterback, I think Will Leves being in Minnesota next year is a very real reality. Now there is one other big possibility that I want to preface. I think there’s a less than 10% chance it happens. So for anybody saying this is a Vikings fan coping, I again I think there’s a less than 10% chance it happens. But there is a player that is paid an awful lot of money that plays for what in a lot of ways is a mom and pop organization. This player has missed six games in one season, seven games in another and nine games in another year. And that player is Joe Burrow. And if I am being completely honest, I don’t think the idea of him being traded this off season is as crazy as some people want to make it out to be. There’s going to be some people that initially hear that, ah man, there’s zero chance. You’re just a dumb Vikings fan coping. I prefaced at the beginning that I think there’s a less than 10% chance it happens, but I also think that there’s a part of the Bengals organization behind closed doors that probably says, “Man, we gave Joe Burrow $275 million. We changed the name of our stadium from Paul Brown to payor stadium specifically so we would have the money to be able to pay Joe Burrow and he can’t stay on the field.” Now, if we are talking sheer cost for Joe Burrow, there would be a lot that would be involved within this because the Vikings would presumably have to trade Jordan Madison. They would also have to trade Jonathan Grunard within this, at least in this scenario, and then trade probably three, if not four first round picks within this, or again, three firsts and probably three seconds as well, along with the Bengals getting Jonathan Gernard. That to me, I prefaced with a less than 10% chance of happening. But if the Vikings were to do that, that would be undoubtedly quasi Dafos Minces. My seat is absolutely on fire. I have to make something happen. And Joe Burrow, please save my job in the process. don’t think that’s going to happen, but I don’t think the idea of Joe Burrow being traded is as crazy as some people want to make it out to be. If I had to put money on what the Vikings do this offseason at the quarterback position, I think it would be M. Jones. And the reason that I also brought up Joe Burrow was because when you look around at the NFC North, the teams that the Vikings have to play six times per year, well, they play the Lions, the Packers, and the Bears, all of which at this point are better than where the Vikings currently are. And I know the Vikings did beat the Bears and Lions each once this year, but there’s a reason that each team has seven plus wins at this point and that through 13 weeks, the Bears were the number one seed in the conference. All of those teams are trending way up and the Vikings unfortunately are well at the bottom of the division. And if Quazi Adafa Mensah’s job is completely on the line, which if he is still there this off seasonason, then there’s no doubt his seat will be scorching hot, then that’s where the burrow trade would come in. Prefaced it with a less than 10% chance. And again, if I had to pick right now or if I had to guess right now, I do think the player that will be under center for the Vikings at the start of the 2026 season would probably be Mac. Jones. I hope you enjoyed and if you did, please like the video and subscribe as we are closing in on 225,000 subscribers and I cannot thank you enough for these support. Until next time, please be safe and have a great day. Love you guys.

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