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I think the Vikings are going to take a step back this upcoming season. Cap issues, underwhelming defense that will most likely get worse, many FAs that will most likely leave. It just has that look to it. Not anyone's fault really, I think Minnesota thought they'd have done better the first 2 years of Cousins contract (although last season making it to the final four in the NFC cannot be looked at as disappointing if we're putting it into perspective}.
That's a snap judgement from the cheap seats this morning....
The short to the point answer is yes. I am not very optimistic about this season.
I fear with so much player movement we could struggle to a slow start. For all of Zimmer's qualities I have yet to really see him coach us out of an average season. We won't have a bad year because Mike is to good to allow that. I'm thinking we are headed for our every other season 8 win result. It is the other season coming up again.
With so much unknown, hard to know what to feel. But, the default setting as a Vikings fan is to expect the worst. Brez is going to have to pull off a miracle.
I'm more in BN's camp...Too early to tell
Could actually end-up with positives by subtraction. Kubiak is a big reason for hope imo.
I'll put $ on GB taking a step back if anyone wants to bet???
I think the defense will almost certainly take a step back, but I'm hoping that with a couple of high draft picks spent on the secondary, the emergence of key players like Hughes, Watts, etc it can remain top half.
Where I'm really hopeful is the offense. Has a chance to be spectacular.
I actually think we will take a step forward. We may be losing some key players, but none of them are really irreplaceable. Guys like Harris and Waynes are good, but it's not like losing Kendricks or Hunter on defense. Think about all of the key contributors we had from last years draft class and if we end up having anywhere close to a draft like that, we will fill a number of those holes and may even upgrade.
Our season really depends on Cousins. Is he going to continue to improve like he did last year and perform in the big games like he did against New Orleans or is going to be the Kirk from the Packers and 49ers games.
I’m feeling pretty good about this season. I think we’re real close to a top 5 offense
and I think a Zimmer defense, even one devoid of talent would be top 20.
Furthermore on defense, I think our talent level was pretty
poor at many positions, or at the very least our talent for the scheme we were
playing was poor. Our DT play was pretty
horrible. Rhodes was horrible. CBs generally not good. I just don’t think we’re going to drop very
far from where we were last year and there’s a reasonable chance we rebound if we
see an upgrade here or there. I think
the biggest loss would be Griffen if he doesn’t resign.
I think we could see an increase in talent, if we improved
our line play and just got average veteran guys at CB. A stud 3T, a quality LG, one league average
CB, Mike Hughes looks better another offseason past his ACL injury, Bradbury
has a year of NFL strength training, etc.
No. Fact: Xavier Rhodes was bottom 5% at his position. Maybe bottom 3%. That's Remmers/Compton/Elflien bad. Waynes was barely better than average. Alexander was good enough despite playing out of position.
Fact: Shamar Stephen had virtually no QB hurries despite playing a lot of snaps. Fact: Griff wore down yet again during the 2nd half of the season.
Here's two more facts: Minnesota was 5th in Scoring Defense and Top 10 in Turnovers. With a barely average CB, a complete garbage CB, an utterly useless 3T and an RDE that vanished for half the year.
Honestly, I think many here see things work one way and believe that's the only way. The Vikings will not be the same stingy Defensive team of old that forced 3 & Outs and is lethal on 3rd Down. But do they need to be if the Offense takes another step forward?
We just saw a Defense in the Superbowl that had just as much or more capital in it lose while the opposing Defense was less dominant with far less invested in it but capable of doing just enough to win.
Zimmer tried to build an Elite Defense to counter not having a Franchise QB. He failed. But the team has one now. And Mike showed last season he's savvy enough to get production from a declining Unit.
Get him a high pick on CB and a typical Zimmer Special reclamation project veteran plus Hughes and Hill, who can't get busted for dope if/when the new deal gets done. Get him a 3T in the 2nd Round. The youth infusion will get burnt from time to time, that's part of being young. But they will also provide some splash plays, which Rhodes, Waynes, Stephen et al couldn't do.
And then there's the Offense. Terrible LG that killed at least 1 drive per game via blown assignments and penalties. Rookie Center that improved throughout the season that really needs a full offseason in an NFL weight room. Good enough RG and RT. Missed their best WR for half the year. Rookie OC who stuck with the original gameplan too long many times. And yet still a Top 10 Offense.
Top 10 Offense, folks. Getting a healthy Thielen for a full year. 1,000% certain to upgrade at LG and possibly even LT given how great this Draft Class is. 2nd year in the ideal system for the QB. And a SIGNIFICANT upgrade at Offensive Coordinator. Gary Kubiak has called plays for the better part of what, 2 decades? Stefanski, bless his heart, had less than a season and a half. Gary won a Superbowl with a QB that had no arm strength left while coaxing 1,000 yard seasons out of 2 WRs. How is that not a massive upgrade?
Losing Harris will hurt. Losing the Kicking Game will hurt. If one or the other is retained that only strengthens the team. Replacing over the hill and overrated players on Defense will not cause it to fall off a cliff. Fixing the glaring holes on Offense (LG & OC) with a 2nd year in the same system and growth from Irv means it will likely ascend to Top 5.
It's the way Minnesota projects to be good that is making you all so nervous. Top 3 Defense and Completely Average Offense is giving way to Top 5 Offense and still better than average and maybe even Top 10 Defense.
Change is scary. But that was a lot of facts I laid out about why there's legitimate reasons to project this team being as good if not better than last year.
Quote: @FSUVike said:
Change is scary. But that was a lot of facts I laid out about why there's legitimate reasons to project this team being as good if not better than last year.
Its not the change I'm worried about, but saying what you laid out as 'facts' is pretty strong. Its a good, well thought out opinion. Another opinion is that the defense will be worse and tell me how Kubiak is really going to be that big a difference maker? That's a leap of faith. And that's really what you are basing your opinion mostly on as far as improvement. I don't see that personally.
Quote: @JR44 said:
I actually think we will take a step forward. We may be losing some key players, but none of them are really irreplaceable. Guys like Harris and Waynes are good, but it's not like losing Kendricks or Hunter on defense. Think about all of the key contributors we had from last years draft class and if we end up having anywhere close to a draft like that, we will fill a number of those holes and may even upgrade.
Our season really depends on Cousins. Is he going to continue to improve like he did last year and perform in the big games like he did against New Orleans or is going to be the Kirk from the Packers and 49ers games.
While it might seem a tall order to see improvement from Cousins, who was a top 5 to 8 QB last year, I think we will. Most of that improvement will come from continuity. 3rd year in same system, same weapons. Remember, when Shanny took over in SF, their offense was average his first season. It improved greatly his second season and was hard to stop by his third. And that's with a lesser QB, lesser backs and lesser wides.
Also remember that through most of the season (not sure if he finished this way) Cousins was the top rated QB in the NFL from a clean pocket. Improve the protection and I think we'll see a season on offense that rivals '98.
Playing better on defense will have to come from Zimmer adjusting his scheme to suit a handful of new, perhaps younger, players. Can we mitigate the loss of Harris by replacing him with, say, AWJ? Yeah, we'll feel that loss. But can we get improvement by replacing an ineffective Stephen with Watts? A declining Joseph with Jaleel? A terrible Rhodes with Hughes? A league average Waynes with a 1st round pick? Maybe. I don't think the answers to those questions are definite no's.
Bottom line is there is hope that the defense can stay above water, and the offense could be one for the ages.
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