The sweetest thing about this 3-0 start?

[Montana Tom]

The Minnesota Vikings have started the 2024 campaign with a 3-0 record, a win-loss standing nobody anywhere saw possible, with an exception for the team’s players and coaching staff.

The Sweetest Part of the Vikings’ 3-0 Start
And several factors have contributed to the unblemished start, but one reigns supreme through three games.

That’s the team’s roster depth, which seemed to suddenly appear, and it is evident to all onlookers.

These notable players have missed games for the 2024 Vikings:

• Jordan Addison
  
• T.J. Hockenson
  
• Dallas Turner
  
• Ivan Pace Jr.
  
• J.J. McCarthy
  
• Mekhi Blackmon
  
• Dalton Risner
  

A list that long “should” catch up to Minnesota, so much so that blowout wins over Super Bowl contenders like the Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers are not attainable. Instead, the opposite occurs — the “next man up” arrives, and the Vikings’ offense, defense, and special teams don’t miss a beat.

Few teams can survive a barrage of injuries like Minnesota’s current situation, and in fact, sometimes NFL seasons are about attrition — the healthiest teams remain standing in January and February.

For now — somehow — Kevin O’Connell’s team is injury-proof.

When Jordan Addison missed Weeks 1 and 2, Jalen Nailor stepped up to score touchdowns, extend drives on 3rd Down, and spring key blocks on 97-yard touchdowns. Versus the Texans, linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill intercepted a C.J. Stroud pass on the game’s first drive, and it didn’t feel like Ivan Pace Jr. was needed.

Dallas Turner missed Week 3, and without him, Patrick Jones II and Jihad Ward continued their 2024 quarterback terrorism. Without T.J. Hockenson, Johnny Mundt and Josh Oliver had caught crucial passes, albeit on a diminished scale from Hockenson’s typical eight targets per game.

One after another, a reservist player has answered the calling, and at least for now, Vikings fans can look at a weekly injury report and say, “Dah well.”

A Testament to Kwesi Adofo-Mensah

Carefully, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has deconstructed Minnesota’s roster since arriving in 2022, offloading bloated contracts possessed by aging players and onboarding youthful alternatives, sometimes affordable ones.

Some fans have been so damn focused on his first two draft picks — Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth — that they’ve been too jaded to realize he’s built a tremendous roster. He told everyone that he would competitively rebuild the Vikings, and he did precisely that.

Roster depth doesn’t happen by accident. NFL heads have wondered for years how the 49ers could “get away with” so many bad 1st-Round draft picks and still contend for Super Bowls. Well, in Minnesota, Adofo-Mensah is proving in real-time how that can work, even if men like Cine and Booth now play elsewhere.

Adofo-Mensah should receive his flowers for producing a deep-deep roster. Cine and Booth do not matter.

[badgervike]

Don't forget that Ingram was also a second round draft pick in that same 2022 draft. He also made some questionable value trades. Here's the entirety of the TEN draft picks in 2022

Rd 1 Pick 32 Lewis Cine
Rd 2 Pick 42 Andrew Booth Jr.
Rd 2 Pick 59 Ed Ingram
Rd 3 Pick 66 Brian Asamoah
Rd 4 Pick 118 Akayleb Evans
Rd 5 Pick 165 Esezi Otomewo
Rd 5 Pick 169 Ty Chandler
Rd 6 Pick 184 Vederian Lowe
Rd 6 Pick 191 Jalen Nailor
Rd 7 Pick 227 Nick Muse

He struggled with that first draft. That's why the jury is still out with me.

[StickierBuns]

Don't forget that Ingram was also a second round draft pick in that same 2022 draft.  He also made some questionable value trades.  Here's the entirety of the TEN draft picks in 2022

Rd 1 Pick 32 Lewis Cine
Rd 2 Pick 42 Andrew Booth Jr.
Rd 2 Pick 59 Ed Ingram
Rd 3 Pick 66 Brian Asamoah
Rd 4 Pick 118 Akayleb Evans
Rd 5 Pick 165 Esezi Otomewo
Rd 5 Pick 169 Ty Chandler
Rd 6 Pick 184 Vederian Lowe
Rd 6 Pick 191 Jalen Nailor
Rd 7 Pick 227 Nick Muse

He struggled with that first draft.  That's why the jury is still out with me.

Yep, definitely warrants and wait and see on KAM. My take on him was to not judge YET and see how this year's class is going. So far, so good. One thing he does is to get less value for the Vikings in his trades and I think other teams know this. What matters is if he hits on guys or not.

[MaroonBells]

No GM bats a thousand. Marcus Davenport and Dean Lowry come to mind, along with the 2022 draft, which was bad. But I've heard it called our worst draft ever, which isn't close to reality. We got our starting RG in that draft. Since Ingram was a 2nd round pick and hasn't played like one, I won't call that a hit, but we did also pull two pretty good looking players in Nailor and Chandler from that draft. To compare, 2016 gave us not a single player. Bradbury was the only hit from 2019. We had 11 picks in 2017 and only Dalvin turned out. 2012 had one hit (Harry), same with 2011 (Rudy) and 2010 (Everson). And before you think this is a slam on Rick, it's not. It's par for the course. Compared to the rest of the NFL, Rick drafted well (Jefferson, Hunter, Diggs, Darrisaw, Brandel)

But KAM is also responsible for hiring Kevin O'Connell and Brian Flores. He also traded for Hockenson, signed Harrison Phillips, Ivan Pace Jr, Gink, Greenard, Cashman, Gilmore, Griffin, and Aaron Jones among others. He resigned Jefferson and Darrisaw and paid Blake Brandel starter money, which raised a few eyebrows around here. He also moved on from Cousins and Hunter, which was unpopular but looks pretty wise right now, especially given the amount of cap space we'll be adding to this already very good roster in 2025. And to top it all off, between March and May of this year, he acquired TWO QBs who were drafted in the top 10 and, so far anyway, both appear to be worthy of what we paid for them. Did I mention Jordan Addison and Dallas Turner?

There's a reason this team was universally recognized as the best landing spot for a rookie QB. There's a reason we're currently 3-0. So yeah, while the jury might still be out (I guess?), there have been a lot more positive than negative in the decisions he's made.

[Bullazin]

Booth and Cine were both rated in the first round. Ingram was a reach but we’ve had no one better I guess.

The trade down was good in theory, but he did not get enough back for the lay downs. At this point I would call that draft a D+.

[medaille]

... Patrick Jones II and Jihad Ward continued their 2024 quarterback terrorism. ...

LOL.

Who names their kid Jihad?

[MaroonBells]

LOL.

Who names their kid Jihad?

Next to the turf patch at the Ballfields sit a trio of basketball courts, much like the ones where Ward spent most of his childhood. Kareema Ward is a single mother with five children. “Jihad” was the name of a childhood classmate, and it would become the name of her first child. There was no religious connection at the time—Kareema didn’t convert to Islam until 11 years ago, long after Jihad was born—but her education as a Muslim has brought new meaning to his name. In her purse, she carries a piece of lined notebook paper with 17 highlighted Islamic phrases, a constant resource for lessons she’s still learning. She knows what most will think. They hear “Jihad,” all they imagine is decrees of holy war and violence. But jihad can also mean to strain, to strive, to persevere. Now, when Kareema hears her son’s name, she thinks of all he’s done in his own struggle.