Despite finishing with an incredible 14-3 record last season, week to week, it always felt like the Minnesota Vikings were one bad break away from everything going up in smoke. The roster, while very talented, was top-heavy and lacked quality depth pieces at key positions. They were one or two rolled ankles away from chaos. However, after Saturday’s preseason game against the Houston Texans, Minnesota proved that this year’s team is built to weather some storms.
In 2024, when the Vikings lost tackle Christian Darrisaw to injury, they were forced to go out and bring in Cam Robinson from the Jacksonville Jaguars. When Daniel Jones became available midseason, they moved quickly to snatch him up for a Sam Darnold insurance policy. Had players like star running back Aaron Jones or defensive tackle Harrison Phillips missed time, Minnesota would’ve needed to scour the Earth for a replacement that was at least low-level starter quality.
Fortunately, the Vikings were one of the healthiest teams in 2024. However, the bottom line is that they entered the season without solid contingency plans at key positions and had to look outside the organization for immediate help. It’s not the worst thing in the world to do, and sometimes it’s perhaps unavoidable. But bringing in reinforcements in the middle of the season and using draft capital to do it is a waste of time and resources.
However, the Vikings look to have much more depth across the board this season. While one preseason game doesn’t answer every question, Saturday’s game against the Texans certainly provided some glimmering hope for Minnesota’s depth in 2025. Throughout the win, the Vikings’ reserves looked strong. Key positions like quarterback, running back, and edge all proved that Minnesota has some starting-level talent coming off the bench for this year’s squad.
Backup quarterback Sam Howell had struggled throughout camp. Brought over in a draft-day trade, Howell looked primed for the No. 2 QB role. However, his disappointing practice reps raised questions about whether or not he might even make the 53-man roster.
Ultimately, to quote Allen Iverson, “We were talking about practice, man!”
When it came time to perform, Howell was ready and went for an impressive 11-for-13 with 105 yards and a rushing score this past weekend. For the past three seasons, the Vikings ran with Nick Mullens, who went 0-3 as a starter with a negative touchdown-to-interception ratio. While Howell may not have J.J. McCarthy‘s ceiling, he showed he could come in and win a few games if needed.
Last season, Aaron Jones carried a huge workload at running back, earning a career-high 255 carries, because frankly, he had to. Ty Chandler and Cam Akers were just not anywhere good enough to handle more touches.
Enter Jordan Mason, the big, bruising back from the San Francisco 49ers with an impressive career 5.3 yards per carry. His 2.5 rush yards after contact since entering the league is also tops among all other rushers. On Saturday, Mason got his first start with the Vikings and played well, averaging five yards per clip on limited touches.
While he won’t be much of a factor in the pass game, once again, fans can feel extremely confident that he can handle starting duties if called upon at some point.
In case there was any doubt, Minnesota likes to get after the quarterback on defense.
Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel headline the edge rushers, but it was another name that stole the show on Saturday. Gabriel Murphy, an undrafted free agent who missed nearly all of last season due to injury, racked up 1.5 sacks and five pressures on just 19 pass-rush snaps. He looked like a first-team guy beating up on Houston’s reserves. The outside linebacker made a clear case for making the 53-man, and potentially even getting 300 or so snaps as the fourth man in the edge rotation.
It’s not just those few positions that the Vikings have excellent depth this year, though. Blake Brandel, a decent starter last season, will now head back to being a top-end backup along Minnesota’s revamped offensive line. Theo Jackson, who just got paid starter-type money this offseason, will still have to fight starters Josh Metellus and Harrison Smith for playing time. The list goes on and on. Injuries happen, but it feels like the Vikings are one of the best-equipped teams to deal with them in 2025.
So even though options like mid-season trades and free-agent signings are out there, it appears the Vikings won’t need to break any glass in case of emergency. The talent required to win is already on the roster. This year’s depth was on display in the first preseason game, and while ideally it won’t be needed in the regular season, fans won’t need to panic if the injury bug bites some of Minnesota’s stars.