One More Bonus from this Season:

[Zanary]

No talk, no babble, no pissing and moaning about wins harming our draft position!

Basically, we've decimated everyone's expectations so completely this season that even our inevitable negative nellies haven't polluted the boards with hand-wringing over how another win will take us out of the running for college boi X...for the first time in AGES!

I genuinely can't remember the last time this was true, because we rarely had our fans as focused on the present as they are this season. Under the radar, just stacking wins, now locked into January with a chance for the #1 seed...it's been an amazing ride with the Sam Darnold Redemption Tour and the Mike Flores "you're fools not to hire me" defense supporting the KOC for Coach of the Year run!

As a fan...you gotta love it...!

[StickierBuns]

Some fans aren't the brightest.....and fans that partake in the comments section on Twitter and YouTube are some of the biggest morons on Earth. But that's not going to change.

[JimmyinSD]

I think its more a sign of the fanbase believing that the QB situation is for once somewhat settled and with the early success of our squad and the dismal start by so many others, the ability to preserve a blue chip slot was gone so early it was never really in consideration.

[MaroonBells]

It wasn't even 8 months ago you could find several posts on this board and elsewhere mocking the "competitive rebuild" and bemoaning the fact that we didn't "tear it down" like this guy...

[JimmyinSD]

It wasn't even 8 months ago you could find several posts on this board and elsewhere mocking the "competitive rebuild" and bemoaning the fact that we didn't "tear it down" like this guy...

Would they look different if they had hit on their QB when the did the tear down instead of struggling through and then trying again?  I dont think we should consider our record without also looking at our roster... a shit ton of pending free agents,  a defense that is aging out,  and still have a question mark at QB.   I think things look a lot brighter now than 12 months ago... but hardly a settled situation and its not to say that we wouldnt possibly have been better now if we had parted with Cousins earlier and gotten things headed in this direction a year or so sooner.  Even as bright as things look now,  it could go to shit just as quick and a year from now find our record reversed.

[MaroonBells]

Would they look different if they had hit on their QB when the did the tear down instead of struggling through and then trying again?  I dont think we should consider our record without also looking at our roster... a shit ton of pending free agents,  a defense that is aging out,  and still have a question mark at QB.   I think things look a lot brighter now than 12 months ago... but hardly a settled situation and its not to say that we wouldnt possibly have been better now if we had parted with Cousins earlier and gotten things headed in this direction a year or so sooner.  Even as bright as things look now,  it could go to shit just as quick and a year from now find our record reversed.

Bottom line was then and it is now, you don't tear down a team with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Christian Darrisaw, Brian O'Neill, TJ Hockenson, Ivan Pace, etc...ya got one or two of those guys? Sure, start over, rebuild. Vikings made the right decision based on the talent on the roster, their ages and the cap outlook.

[purplefaithful]

It does beg the question; is 2024 a year we can build off of in 25 or not?

Too early to be able to say for sure.

Depends on the QB of course and then you have a # of aging players on D and BIG FA's too (i.e. Darnold, Jones.)

I think the roster turn over could be more than we might expect in December. You start Dimes or JJM in 25? Vegas line would probably be in that 8 win range.

[MaroonBells]

It does beg the question; is 2024 a year we can build off in 25 or not?

Too early to be able to say for sure.

Depends on the QB of course and then you have a # of aging players on D and BIG FA's too (i.e. Darnold, Jones.)

I think the roster turn over could be more than we might expect in December.

Absolutely. We aren't losing anyone we're not going to be able to replace or even upgrade. I don't have us keeping Gilmore or Griffin, for example. Or Tillery or Aaron Jones or Bullard or Pat Jones. 

The Vikings are going to use their $75M in cap space to upgrade those players and get a lot younger....here are some presents for around the tree. 

FA1 - DJ Reed, CB
FA2 - Milton Williams, DT
FA3 - Kevin Zeitler, RG
FA4 - Jordan Mason, RB
FA5 - Byron Murphy, CB
FA6 - Cam Bynum, S
FA7 - Jalen Redmon, DT

D1 - Jahdae Barron, CB, Texas
D3 - Dylan Sampson, RB, Tennessee

[hogjowlsjohnny]

After JJM was injured, it was common to find posters who had given up on this season and didn't believe the team would be competitive until next season. I saw a very talented, well coached team, and the most complete team top to bottom they had in years. If Sam Darnold could just be a game manager, I felt they had a chance to be competitive. I recall Maroon a few others seeing that potential as well.
Sam exceeded the game manager role but it's not all about Darnold! It's a complete team effort. A team where players who aren't stars play well. That is what I always see in championship teams. Much of that is due to exceptional coaching. However, the acquisition of players was masterful. Yet Kwesi catches a lot of grief from fans because his drafts haven't been stellar.
Who knows how far they go this year and one can question the sustainability with all the free agents. But I am impressed with what Kwesi has accomplished so far.
This team is the best they have had for a long time. Odds are against them and they need to 1-0 several more times. But they are capable.
Happy holidays everyone.

[Knucklehead]

Well, it's projected to be a weaker draft so that helps.