A season ago, the Minnesota Vikings were easily one of the biggest surprises in the NFL, going 14-3 during the regular season before taking an embarrassing loss in the Wild Card Round of the NFC Playoffs by the Los Angeles Rams.
A lot has changed since then, as the Vikings experienced some significant turnover during the offseason.
Several key contributors from the 2024 campaign are gone, most notably quarterback Sam Darnold, who used the best season of his career to get a three-year, $100.5 million deal with the Seattle Seahawks.
As such, young J.J. McCarthy, who was pegged to be the future of the franchise when he was taken with the 10th overall pick in the '24 draft but saw his first season end with a torn meniscus, will finally get his chance to shine.
Center Garrett Bradbury, safety Camryn Bynum, linebacker Patrick Jones, short-term left tackle Cam Robinson, cornerbacks Stephon Gilmore and Shaquill Griffin, and backup running back Cam Akers, were also among the list of players who were shown the door.
Minnesota did make many notable additions, however, as general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah acquired center Ryan Kelly, right guard Will Fries, defensive linemen Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, and cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, all of whom are seemingly set to start.
Running back Jordan Mason was also brought in to back up Aaron Jones, while Rondale Moore adds depth to the receiver room alongside Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor, and tight end T.J. Hockenson.
ESPN recently released its rankings for the projected starting lineups of all 32 teams, and despite all of the turnover, the Vikings just missed out on the top 10, coming in at a respectable 11th.
ESPN opines on the biggest strength, weakness, X-factor, and non-starter of the 2025 Minnesota Vikings
The trio of Mike Clay, Aaron Schatz, and Seth Walder was tasked with this assignment, with Clay taking the strongest and weakest positions, Walder naming an X-factor, and Schatz handling an important non-starter.
For Minnesota, Clay called the team's biggest strength its defensive front, saying that it's "tough to find a DT/edge rusher combo with more upside across the league."
He noted how Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel were two of just nine players in 2024 to record at least 11.5 sacks, while also mentioning the additions of Hargrave and Allen, each of whom has earned a pair of Pro Bowl selections. How Dallas Turner fares in his second season will also affect the overall success of this line.
Clay went the obvious route in naming the Vikings' biggest weakness, which is clearly the cornerback position. While Byron Murphy was re-signed to a lucrative deal, Gilmore and Griffin are gone, as we mentioned above, and it's now up to the likes of Isaiah Rodgers, Mekhi Blackmon, Jeff Okudah, Tavierre Thomas, and Ambry Thomas to pick up the slack.
Walder also went the easiest route in his portion of the assessment, naming McCarthy as the Vikings' biggest X-factor. There's always pressure that comes with being a first-round pick, but that pressure effectively doubles when you're a quarterback. Thankfully, the Michigan alum has a great group of pass-catchers at his disposal to make life in the NFL a little easier.
And it was one of those pass-catchers whom Schatz chose for Minnesota's most important non-starter, that being the aforementioned Rondale Moore, who racked up 135 catches for 1,201 yards and three touchdowns in three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, adding another 249 yards and a score on 52 rushing attempts.
Moore was set to play the 2024 campaign with the Atlanta Falcons, as he was part of the trade that sent quarterback Desmond Ridder to the desert, but suffered a season-ending knee injury during training camp.
Schatz believes Moore could challenge Nailor for snaps at WR3, but we'll obviously have to wait and see how that battle progresses during the preseason.