A Vikings Pattern Suggests Minnesota Could Be Chasing its Tail
Last year, a Vikings pattern emerged even if there wasn’t an awareness of that being the case.
The Minnesota Vikings did well in 2024 before running out of gas. After the playoff meltdown, Minnesota’s leadership professed the need to reinforce the offensive line while then moving on from Sam Darnold, an easy scapegoat since he struggled so mightily.
Fast forward into the 2025 season where the car never had a ton of gas to begin with. After the regular season, there were public proclamations of needing to enhance the quarterback competition before then scapegoating Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Are the Vikings chasing their tail? After each failure, there has been a single, prominent person being shown the door alongside public declarations about fixing a specific issue.
A Vikings Pattern: A Single Scapegoat and Problem Area
The Rams had eviscerated the Vikings. Afterwards, Kevin O’Connell stepped in front of the microphone to diagnose what hindered Minnesota.
Essentially, Coach O’Connell brought things down to needing to reinforce the front five. In particular, the interior of the o-line needed enhancement, foreshadowing the beefy investment made up front. All of Blake Brandel (demoted to being a backup), Garrett Bradbury (cut before becoming a Patriot), Ed Ingram (traded to Houston), and Dalton Risner (languished in free agency before becoming a Bengal) were told to exit stage left.
Replacing these large lads were Donovan Jackson (1st-Round selection in 2025 NFL Draft), Ryan Kelly (free agency add from the Colts), and Will Fries (free agency add from the Colts). Widespread applause followed these additions as Coach O’Connell’s prophecy reached fulfillment.
The great issue? Simply that the solution addressed what ailed Minnesota the year before without addressing what would hinder the Vikings in 2025. In particular, the terrible play at quarterback.
Of course, there’s a general reality that needs to be considered. Every single football team at all levels of football benefits from getting great play along the o-line. That’s a law as sturdy as gravity. But then there’s nevertheless a takeaway: shoring up a shortcoming from last season without adequately addressing what would become an issue in 2025 is an issue. The foibles at quarterback weren’t proactively addressed.
Fast forward into the 2025 season and the disappointment that followed.
The Vikings failed to adequately build up the quarterback room for last offseason, missing on essentially all of its passers (J.J. McCarthy, Max Brosmer, Sam Howell, and Brett Rypien all left meat on the bone; Carson Wentz got signed late). So, the pivot was to publicly declare a need for enhanced QB competition. Feeling the need to ratchet up the heat among the purple passers largely overflows from what took place last year. Is the adjusted approach what’s needed for next year?
Again, a basic takeaway: every single football team at every level benefits from robust quarterback talent. Likewise, internal competition is always to be coveted within football. The importance of the QB position and the importance of competition are the closest thing that the sport has for immutable laws.
Again, a basic takeaway: football isn’t played in the past. Football is played in the future.
In March of 2025, the Vikings would have been far better off eschewing the iOL enhancements in favor of re-signing Sam Darnold. That conclusion comes with the benefit of hindsight, giving external onlookers an unfair advantage. There is, nevertheless, a broad idea that should be a guide: all that matters is the future. Scapegoating Adofo-Mensah before fixing last year’s problem doesn’t help the upcoming regular season.
Minnesota’s task involves addressing the past only insofar as the past reveals what will be problems in the future. A tricky task, no doubt, and yet one that remains in front of the team as it looks to bounce back.
Folks, there’s no merit in a team repeating its mistakes. Properly understanding problems before then finding a solution is wise. But then the reality is that there needs to be fixes for past shortcomings while still anticipating and then undercutting the problems that have yet to arrive. Both of these things need to walk hand-in-hand in order to achieve success.
NFL free agency gets rolling on Monday, March 9th.
