Vikings given something new to shove in Sean Payton's face

Over the last two decades, the Minnesota Vikings and current Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton have developed a bitter rivalry that continues to evolve as each season passes by.

Earlier this year, Payton alluded to forcing the Vikings to trade up one spot in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft to pick J.J. McCarthy by helping the Broncos pretend that they wanted to potentially move up in the opening round to select a new signal-caller. Payton seemed to get a good chuckle out of that while it just increased the amount of disdain that Minnesota fans have for the Denver head coach.

In the past, many of Payton's attempts to troll the Vikings have come back to bite him (see doing the SKOL chant right before the Minneapolis Miracle). But thanks to PFF's Trevor Sikkema, Minnesota now has something else they can use to potentially ruin the day of the former New Orleans Saints head coach.

PFF ranks Minnesota Vikings QBs higher than Denver Broncos QBs heading into 2024 season

On Tuesday, Sikkema released a ranking of all 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL heading into the 2024 season. For the Vikings, he used a combination of Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy, and unsurprisingly, this duo resulted in Minnesota ending up with the No. 31 spot on the list.

However, the Vikings didn't rank last, as that honor was given to the current combo of starting quarterbacks on Payton's roster in Denver: Jarrett Stidham and Bo Nix.

Sikkema shared the following about why Stidham and Nix wound up in the very last spot on his list.

"Stidham just hasn't been good to this point in his NFL career. He has one season where he earned a passing grade above 56.0, and his NFL resume includes just two big-time throws to eight turnover-worthy plays.

Nix’s experience and efficiency at Oregon could help him break through quickly, though his adjustment from the Ducks' offense to NFL situations could be a challenge."

So, it's a good thing that Payton baited Minnesota into trading up to draft McCarthy back in April. That resulted in the Vikings ending up with a quarterback who is regarded by many as a better prospect than Nix, who the Broncos selected a few picks after Minnesota made their top selection in this year's draft.

Payton has never had success during his coaching career in the NFL when it comes to developing a young quarterback, so hopefully Denver fans are ready to watch a potential disaster take place whenever Nix gets an opportunity to play next season.

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