While there are still some notable names who have yet to sign contracts for next season, a lot of teams around the league are pretty much set with their rosters as they are heading into the 2026 NFL Draft. And that's just crept up on all of us, as Round 1 is unbelievably less than two weeks away, with the festivities set to kick off in Pittsburgh on Thursday night, April 23.
With the majority of players in place, our pal Lou Scataglia at NFL Spin Zone recently put together a new set of pre-draft power rankings, and it probably doesn't surprise anyone that the Minnesota Vikings failed to crack the top half.
However, they didn't miss out by much, as Kevin O'Connell & Co. ranked 17th overall, with Scataglia offering up this reasoning for the placement:
"Adding Kyler Murray after quietly winning nine games is going to give the Vikings a chance to hit the 10-win mark in 2026, but the defense did see a lot of departures due to cap issues."
The Vikings didn't exactly see "a lot of departures" in terms of actual numbers. But I think I understand what he's trying to say, as they did release a couple of notable names in Jonathan Allen, who ended up in the AFC with the Cincinnati Bengals, and Javon Hargrave, who didn't go far at all, as he inked a two-year deal with the rival Green Bay Packers.
Minnesota Vikings slotted ninth among NFC teams in recent NFL power rankings
Since we just brought up the Packers, we figured you might like to see where the Vikings ranked among the 16 NFC teams.
- Seattle Seahawks (No. 1)
- Los Angeles Rams (No. 3)
- Chicago Bears (No. 8)
- San Francisco 49ers (No. 9)
- Detroit Lions (No. 10)
- Green Bay Packers (No. 12)
- Philadelphia Eagles (No. 13)
- Dallas Cowboys (No. 15)
- Minnesota Vikings (No. 17)
- Carolina Panthers (No. 19)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 20)
- Atlanta Falcons (No. 22)
- New Orleans Saints (No. 23)
- Washington Commanders (No. 24)
- New York Giants (No. 27)
- Arizona Cardinals (No. 32)
As you can see, the Vikes wound up in ninth in the conference as a whole and dead last in the NFC North. And honestly, that's probably about right where they should be at this point.
Getting defensive coordinator Brian Flores back for at least one more year was undoubtedly huge for Minnesota. And while Allen and Hargrave are gone, as is Harrison Smith (we don't yet know what he's going to do), the defense is still solid, and adding some cornerback depth in James Pierre was a good move.
But we all know the focus is going to be on the offense. Scataglia mentioned Kyler Murray, of course, and if he's at his best, he does offer an upgrade over J.J. McCarthy. But like McCarthy, Murray has struggled to stay healthy at times.
Truth be told, bringing Carson Wentz back may have been the smartest thing the organization has done this offseason, but we'll just have to wait and see how the saga under center plays out as the year progresses.
For now, the Vikings are simply a middle-of-the-pack kind of team, but perhaps that will change if they can nail the draft.
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