J. Kapp 11 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:26 am
I want to add something.
Many Vikings fans are tired of Kirk Cousins. Many are fed up with Mike Zimmer. Others have had enough of Rick Spielman. I get it. Our team has been inconsistent over the past 7 seasons under Zimmer.
But let me add this. While I don't know if we truly have a championship roster, I do know that our roster is improved over last year. Of that, there can be no doubt. Zero.
We signed Dalvin Tomlinson, one of the top 3-techs in the league, especially against the run, where we were terrible last year.
We signed Patrick Peterson, an 8-time Pro Bowler, 3-time All Pro, and certain HOFer. Yes, he's older. But he can still play. His 3 interceptions last year would have been second on the Vikings behind Hit Man Harry.
We signed Bashaud Breeland, a starting corner on two Super Bowl teams in Kansas City.
We signed Xavier Woods, who had a down year but played safety for a defense that was as bad as ours, and who has been very good in the past.
We re-signed Mack Alexander, who played well for us before leaving for Cincinnati.
We re-signed Sheldon Richardson, still one of the better pass rushing tackles in the league.
We regain Danielle Hunter and his 14.5 sacks in each of 2018 and 2019.
We regain Eric Kendricks, the best MLB in the NFL.
We regain Anthony Barr ... maybe not all we'd hoped he would be, but certainly better than the journeymen we trotted out there last year.
We gain Michael Pierce, one of the top run-stuffing nose tackles in the NFL.
All our skill players return to an offense that scored 27 ppg (minus Kyle Rudolph, who might be addition by subtraction at this point in his career).
We drafted a couple of promising O-linemen in Christian Darrisaw and Wyatt Davis.
We signed Dede Westbrook, who had back-to-back 66 catch seasons in 2018 and 2019 as the WR3 in Jacksonville.
We hired Keenan McCardell, one of the best WR coaches in the league. I, for one, am excited to see what he does with guys like Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen.
We drafted Kene Nwangwu and Imir Smith-Marsette to improve our awful return teams (wait until you see these guys run ... they're flat-out FAST).
ALL THIS – AND MAJOR MEDIA OUTLETS HAVE US AS THE 20th-BEST TEAM (OR WORSE) IN THE NFL. The Vegas over-under for our win total is 8.5, and most major media outlets are taking the under.
Don't get me wrong. After last year's debacle, I don't blame people of little knowledge, of which I consider most media, for underestimating the Vikings.
But this team won 7 games with the awful roster they had last year. If they had beaten Chicago in Week 16, they would have made the freaking playoffs. Think about that. They went 7-9 with a 3-win roster. We were 1-5 going into Green Bay. How easy would it have been to simply throw in the towel? Instead, they won 5 straight.
Again, I don't know if this is a championship roster. They may simply be short in key areas, such as the O-line.
But if the Vikings can't win more than 8 games with THIS roster, then Zimmer, Spielman and the entire lot of them need to be fired.
I believe it's going to be 11+ wins. I may simply be a senile old man who's drunk too much purple Koolaid, but that's what I'm going with.
SKOL!
