Anonymous NFL executive says Vikings are ‘starting to go backwards’
By Adam Carlson
One anonymous NFL executive feels like the Minnesota Vikings are regressing following their 2017 offseason moves instead of getting closer to a Super Bowl.
Anonymity can be a powerful thing. On one hand, it can allow someone to make blunt and honest assessments of whatever they are criticizing or even say things that might be a touch outside the truth. For the Minnesota Vikings, let’s hope it is the latter.
A recent article on ESPN behind the INsider paywall by Mike Sando allowed an ‘anonymous NFL executive’ to make comments on the offseason of each squad in the NFL, and the things said about the Vikings weren’t the kind of things fans want to hear.
In fact, the most heavily criticized area for every NFL team was the offensive line. This is interesting because the offensive tackles were the focus of the offseason for the Vikings, as they spent nearly $89 million over the next 5 years by picking up Riley Reiff and Mike Remmers in free agency.
However, the anonymous executive still focused on the offensive line, specifically the tackles, as being a key to success:
"“For a lot of these teams, the question is, ‘Will their tackles hold up?’ A lot of these teams have one decent offensive tackle, one who they are hoping is a low- to mid-level starter and then they have no idea who the third guy is going to be. Tackle depth is going to determine the fates of a lot of these teams.”"
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Other major concerns listed in the article are the limited mobility of quarterback Sam Bradford and how running back Dalvin Cook will be used during his rookie year in order to maximize his effectiveness.
As a whole, the Vikings were given a grade of C- in the article. At first, that doesn’t sound too bad until realizing only 4 teams received worse grades than Minnesota. But it is the final comment about the team “starting to go backwards just a little bit” which raises some eyebrows.
It would be surprising to see Reiff and Remmers be a less effective starting group of offensive tackles than Matt Kalil and T.J. Clemmings were last year, making the offensive line an improvement. However, the losses of Adrian Peterson, Captain Munnerlyn, and Cordarrelle Patterson on offense, defense, and special teams respectively could be big blows.
Next: Vikings 2017 schedule breakdown
What do you think? Is the anonymous NFL executive right in saying that the Minnesota Vikings are moving backwards as a franchise just a little bit or did the team make solid moves to keep moving forward? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.