Minnesota Vikings: 5 players who have disappointed so far

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Nov 23, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Charles Johnson (12) celebrates a two-point conversion during the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers at TCF Bank Stadium. The Packers defeated the Vikings 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

5. Charles Johnson

Here’s another case of a player who may have been over-hyped coming into the season.

Coming off a solid 2014, a lot of people had Johnson pegged as a potential break-out player. Needless to say, Johnson has fallen far short of those expectations.

If expectations did get a little high for Johnson, you can partly blame Norv Turner, who at one point hyped Johnson as the Vikings’ best receiver.

I wonder though, was Norv playing a little mind game with Johnson when he hyped him publicly? Was Norv deliberately putting that on Johnson just to see how he would react?

Whatever Norv was trying to do by pumping Johnson up to the press, it had the effect on the fanbase of raising expectations even higher on the young receiver.

And Johnson has not lived up to those possibly unrealistic expectations.

The issue for Johnson is, now that Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen have both emerged as weapons for Teddy Bridgewater, will Johnson ever get a chance to turn his fortunes around?

There aren’t going to be as many balls coming Johnson’s way if Diggs and Thielen both remain big parts of the offense. If Mr. Inkredible wants to prove the growing number of doubters wrong, he will need to make it happen in a diminished role.

Next: Cordarrelle Patterson trade rumors

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