Vikings Fantasy Football Forecast: Can Minnesota Overcome Their Injuries?
Josh Frey
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Heading into Thursday night’s matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Vikings still have quite a list of injuries. After suffering a high ankle sprain against the Detroit Lions, Adam Thielen has been ruled out. Likewise, Christian Darrisaw will not play in his second consecutive game. On the bright side, Minnesota will have some key defensive pieces in the lineup, namely Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks. This game very likely could decide the future of the Vikings franchise, so which Vikings fantasy football players should be in your lineups?
Kirk Cousins- Sit
This does not seem like a positive fantasy football week for our man Kirk Cousins. The Steelers defense is getting healthy right as the Vikings offense has been trending in the opposite direction. When at full health, this Pittsburgh unit is one of the most talented groups in the entire NFL.
The Steelers have had a few rough games in recent weeks, but that has primarily been against the run. Opposing QBs have broken 250 passing yards just twice since Pittsburgh’s Week 7 bye. Taking that into account plus the fact that Adam Thielen will not be around to catch passes in the red zone, the Vikings fantasy football forecast says it’s probably best to find a Kirk Cousins replacement this week.
Dalvin Cook/Alexander Mattison- Start
As aforementioned, the Steelers haven’t exactly been the best run defense in 2021. They’ve allowed 130 or more rushing yards in six of their last nine game, and some of these games came against less than stellar rushing offenses. Dalvin Cook is currently listed as questionable as of the Vikings final injury report, so keep an eye on his status.
That said, if you have either one of Cook or Alexander Mattison as options, they have very positive outlooks in this week’s Vikings fantasy football forecast. Whoever gets the nod as the starter should be featured in fantasy lineups.
Justin Jefferson- Start
Last week, the combination of Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson proved me wrong in a big way. Jefferson had an incredible game against Detroit in which he caught 11 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown. Even though Pittsburgh has a strong pass defense, there doesn’t seem like anything that can stop the young star right now.
Jefferson is on pace to demolish his receiving marks from an already historic rookie campaign. In order to be a part of that history, it’s probably best to just start Jefferson no matter who the opponent is for the rest of the season. The Vikings fantasy football forecast won’t look negatively on him again.
Tyler Conklin- Start
Following Tyler Conklin’s two-TD performance in Los Angeles, the tight end had a few relatively quiet weeks as a pass catcher. That all changed with Adam Thielen’s injury. Against Detroit, Conklin was targeted a season-high nine times. He caught seven of them for 56 yards. Of course, you’d like to see more yardage with that type of target share, but even still, this performance is good enough to buy him a starting spot, especially in PPR leagues.