Minnesota Vikings Week 10 player rankings: Heading into the bye

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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – NOVEMBER 4: Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings drops back to hand the ball off in the third quarter of the game against the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium on November 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

7. Xavier Rhodes (Up 1 spot)

Getting Rhodes back against a strong Lions receiving group was important. Minnesota doesn’t match up well against big pass catching target Kenny Golladay, yet Rhodes always seems to have a knack for being able to keep those bigger bodied receivers in check.

While he didn’t have any pass defenses in the game, his tight coverage made him a solid asset in buying the defensive line time to get to the quarterback. Plus, all four of his tackles on the day were solo efforts, keeping extra yardage to a minimum for the Lions.

6. Kirk Cousins (No change)

This is a tough one. Cousins did make some huge mistakes in this game that cost Minnesota dearly. He forced a ball into coverage when under pressure, resulting in an interception and threw a backward pass which ended up being recovered by Detroit.

Despite the two turnovers, Cousins did complete 18 of this 22 pass attempts on the day, which showcases his usual accuracy and good decision making, so you have to take the good with the bad on the Vikings quarterback this week.

5. Stefon Diggs (Down 1 spot)

I always hate moving players down in the rankings when they miss a game because of injury, but one spot doesn’t seem too bad for Diggs to go down since he missed Week 9 with a rib ailment that forced Minnesota to elevate Chad Beebe to the active roster.

The Vikings offense didn’t look or feel the same without Diggs to take some of the pressure off Adam Thielen and Kirk Cousins, but since he was a game-time decision against Detroit the hope is he will be ready to roll in two weeks when the Vikings take on the division-leading Bears.

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