Minnesota Vikings all over the place in pre-Week 1 Power Rankings

Expert Power Rankings for the Minnesota Vikings

When drawing Power Rankings from around the internet, one thing is very clear: experts have absolutely no consensus on whether the Minnesota Vikings will be among the best teams in the league or if they will be an average NFL squad.

Of course, those questions will start to be answered as the season goes on and this team’s performances can be adequately observed. Until then, expect experts to have Minnesota with a wide range of placements on their Power Rankings.

Here are some of the most prominent rankings from around the internet:

• 7 – Bleacher Report‘s NFL Staff: ‘Minnesota has the ingredients for a deep playoff run. But a secondary that lost its top three cornerbacks in the offseason could derail that postseason trip.’
• 8 – Washington Post‘s Mark Maske: ‘Is (Cousins) reliable enough when it matters to be the centerpiece of a legitimate Super Bowl contender?’
• 9 – Sporting News‘ Vinnie Iyer: ‘They lost some familiar defensive pieces for Mike Zimmer up front and in the secondary, but Yannick Ngakoue was a great late pickup…’
• 10 – NFL.com‘s Dan Hanzus: ‘Ngakoue — who has had at least eight sacks in each of his first four seasons — effectively replaces Everson Griffen and eliminates the most glaring flaw on the defense.’
• 12- Pro Football Talk‘s Mike Florio: ‘The question ultimately becomes whether the Vikings will be able to throw when they can’t run.’
• 13 – ESPN‘s Courtney Cronin: ‘Mike Zimmer’s unit is still backed by the likes of Harrison Smith, Anthony Harris, Eric Kendricks, Anthony Barr, and Danielle Hunter.’
• 13 – Sports Illustrated‘s MMQB Staff: ‘The Vikings were another polarizing team in our rankings, coming in anywhere between sixth and 19th.’
• 14- Pro Football Network‘s Matt Williamson: ‘Sack differential, a very telling stat to how good a team truly is, was one of the Vikings strengths last year.’
• 14 – USA Today Sports‘ Nate Davis: ‘Yannick Ngakoue could be just the guy Minnesota needs given its pass rush may have to compensate for defense’s young corners.’
• 18 – Yahoo Sports‘ Frank Schwab: ‘The trade for Yannick Ngakoue was a much-needed addition for the Vikings in an offseason that saw mostly departures.’
• 19 – CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco: ‘They will have a new-look defense, which might be a good thing. The challenge will be fitting it all together.’

Those rankings average out to about 12.5, meaning the thought of the experts is that Minnesota is an above-average NFL team. However, a range of 13 shows that some experts are much higher on the Vikings than others.