What if....?

[MaroonBells]

NFL history is littered with hundreds of "what ifs" that may have drastically changed the landscape of the NFL. 

For example, what if Warren Sapp doesn't fail the weed test and the Vikings had paired Sapp with John Randle instead of Derrick Alexander? What if the Vikings had taken Marcus Allen instead of Darren Nelson? What if the Chiefs were able to successfully trade up for Paxton Lynch, which they tried so hard to do? No Patrick Mahomes in KC. 

So what if Cousins doesn't get hurt? According to many, Cousins was one of the leading candidates for MVP at the time. He may or may not have won it, but I definitely think the Vikings would've walked into the playoffs where they probably would've been competitive but likely not Super Bowl winners. Either way, the Vikings would've picked late in the draft, probably not high enough for JJ McCarthy and possibly even no trade with Houston that helped them land Turner. 

Long way to go, but if JJ becomes our franchise QB, we can maybe look back on that horrible October night in Green Bay as an ironic turning point in the fortunes of this team.

[StickierBuns]

Its a valid point and one I thought of in the 'new turf' thread....what if Kirk didn't blow out his ACL? And the PFF boys below make a great point about McCarthy, check it out:

https://twitter.com/PFFNFLPod/status/182...7369163903

He just looked SO poised under pressure. Amazing touch on his throws. Its hard not to be excited. He's a legit playmaker.

[Greylock]

What if Gary Anderson makes that kick against the Falcons?

What if Brett Favre doesn't throw that pick against the Saints?

Hmmmm

[medaille]

The Vikings were always going to draft a QB. That was the plan, to get that rookie contract QB. The Vikings didn’t resign Cousins after 2022 because that was the plan and Cousins didn’t want to be the interim guy. The only way we didn’t draft if one was available was if Cousins took the Vikings to the NFC championship game and looked dominant and only needed a few more pieces on defense. Stats but no wins probably wouldn’t cut it.

I think if the Vikings were good but not great and drafting like 22nd, they would have spent as many draft picks as necessary to get a QB.

[purplefaithful]

I think in the @MB scenario, they would have been drafting late and we'll never know if they'd be able to move up for one of the top 6 QB's or get shut-out ala Raiders. 

I think there is a good chance they get shut-out sitting @22/23 - regardless of good intent.

If JJM/Turner both pan-out? That fateful day in GB may very well indeed be viewed as a start to a very favorable chain of events.

[Chuckf]

What if Bernie Kosar does NOT take himself out of the draft so the Vikings cannot take him and we draft him instead of Chris Doleman?  The Marcus Allen what if is by far the biggest miss in my opinion.   Think about that Minnesota Vikings roster in 1987-1989 with Marcus Allen on it.   Then there would NEVER have been the Herschel Walker trade robbing all those draft picks and actually pretty good players in David Howard, Jesse Solomon, and Issac Holt.   That Viking roster would have been LOADED for a LOT of years.   UGh.

[JimmyinSD]

what if the Vikings had taken Aaron Donald instead of Anthony Barr.

[badgervike]

what if the Vikings had taken Aaron Donald instead of Anthony Barr.

What if Culpepper's injury happened a year early?  We passed on Rodgers twice in the 2005 draft..and ended up with Erasmus James and Troy Williamson.

[JR44]

What if Gary Anderson makes that kick against the Falcons?

What if Brett Favre doesn't throw that pick against the Saints?

Hmmmm

Ugh, the Anderson miss is our biggest what if in Viking history, that was our Super Bowl winning team.  Now that history has played out, while I was bummed at the time, kind of glad Favre threw the pick as I know we will get there eventually and would rather have our 1st SB win with a high character guy like JJ than someone like Favre.

With as aggressive as we tried to move up to #3, I do think there would have been a good chance we would have been very aggressive in getting into the top 10 to take JJ regardless of where we drafted.  Glad it worked out the way it did and we got him without losing multiple #1 picks.

[1VikesFan]

Going way back, what if Drew Pearson would have been called for the push off against Nate Wright?