Weekly Vikings Player Power Rankings: Rising Linemen, Falling Hitman
It’s quite hard to rank the 15 best players on Minnesota’s stacked roster. Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has acquired a number of excellent reinforcements in the offseason, and both sides of the ball have the talent to form an elite unit.
Weekly Vikings Player Power Rankings: The 15 Best Players on the Roster
A few honorable mentions include Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones. The latter runner was listed 15th last week. It’ll be tough for one of the two to separate himself enough to enter the lineup due to the timeshare. Donovan Jackson had a strong NFL debut, but needs a bigger sample size. J.J. McCarthy’s fourth-quarter heroics deserve praise, but he also needs a couple more games under his belt.
This list will be updated weekly throughout the season. Here’s last week’s list.
15. Ryan Kelly
Last Week: not ranked
Center Kelly isn’t getting any younger, and his injury history is quite extensive, but he played a wonderful Week 1 game. It is a breath of fresh air that the center can hold his own against a bull rush and has the strength to provide a solid pocket for the passer, while moving defenders in the running game.
14. Harrison Smith
Last Week: 12th
Despite being 36 years old, the Hitman is still one of the vital players for Brian Flores, but his absence doesn’t help, and he gets dinged a couple of spots. He’s questionable entering game day two.
13. Jordan Addison
Last Week: 11th
Just like Smith, he didn’t play in the opener, and he will miss two more games. His ability to punish defenses that focus too much on Justin Jefferson has been missing. Addison is primarily on the list because of the rave reviews all summer as McCarthy’s favorite target. It isn’t hard to see him take another step from last season once he’s eligible to return from the three-game suspension. He’d be a superstar if the club didn’t employ the best receiver in the business.
12. Jonathan Allen
Last Week: 13th
Allen rises one spot. He showcased why the Vikings spent $51 million to lure the veteran to the Twin Cities by adding six QB pressures to the scorecard. A pocket-pushing defensive tackle is just as new as the powerful center. He’ll be tested by Bijan Robinson’s ground game this week.
11. Blake Cashman
Last Week: 9th
Unless the defense is falling apart, expect Mr. Cashman to drop in the next few weeks. He landed on IR with a hamstring injury and will be forced to sit out the next four games. Last year, the Vikings struggled without him, but in Monday’s game, they were fine with Eric Wilson taking over.
10. Javon Hargrave
Last Week: 14th
The biggest riser this week is defensive lineman Hargrave. He made Chicago’s fanbase question the revamped interior offensive line by pressuring Caleb Williams seven times, and he looked every bit as good as he was prior to his injury-riddled 2024 campaign.
9. Byron Murphy Jr.
Last Week: 7th
Corner Murphy is certainly not one of the flashy players at his position in the NFL, but he is coming off a Pro Bowl season. Yet, his season debut was not good, as he allowed five catches for 64 yards. There’s no reason to overreact, but it costs him a couple of spots.
8. T.J. Hockenson
Last Week: 8th
Tight end Hockenson will eventually be a huge part of the passing attack led by a young signal-caller, but in Week 1, he was limited to only three catches and 15 yards. Yet, it’s easy to blame the offense that was quite dysfunctional for nearly three quarters, and let’s not forget his marvelous block on the game-winning touchdown. It might be a good idea to feature the tight end in the middle of the field early in the upcoming game.
7. Will Fries
Last Week: 10th
Offensive guard Fries was fantastic in his Vikings debut. He signed a top-level guard contract, and the difference between him and everyone else the Vikings had over the last decade was easily visible.
6. Brian O’Neill
Last Week: 6th
You’ll never hear much noise about O’Neill. He’s just handling the right tackle duties, doing a darn good job on Sundays (and Mondays) and moving on to the next week. O’Neill kept McCarthy clean on Monday.
5. Joshua Metellus
Last Week: 5th
Swiss Army Knife Metellus is Flores’ key defender, as he can play wherever he’s needed. With Smith out, the coordinator deployed Metellus mostly as a traditional safety, and he did a solid job. He’s just a good football player.
4. Andrew Van Ginkel
Last Week: 4th
Van Ginkel will miss this week’s game due to a concussion. He nearly snatched another screen pass for six points, but at least he ruined the play by batting the ball down. His versatility will be missed on Sunday.
3. Christian Darrisaw
Last Week: 3rd
Left tackle Darrisaw is still working back from the torn ACL suffered last year. Unlike O’Neill, Darrisaw is getting buzz after games because he can make defenders look like toddlers with his superhuman strength. Why did other guys who didn’t play dip while he remained? Well, the man missed the game, and his backup was an evident problem. Folks were calling for him five minutes into the game, that’s why.
2. Jonathan Greenard
Last Week: 2nd
Williams slipped out of his grasp a few times, but he still managed to pressure him seven times. Greenard is every bit as good as almost every other defender in the NFL, and he deserves his props.
1. Justin Jefferson
Last Week: 1st
Despite the couple of (somewhat) drops, he’s Justin Jefferson, and Justin Jefferson needs to do a lot more than that to lose the crown. Another stinker, while Greenard is finishing his sacks, and we might have a conversation, though.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.