The Modern NFL: The Vikings’ Need for More Weapons

Courtesy of Vikings.com

In recent years, the NFL has found itself transforming into an offensive league- a league driven by depth at every offensive position. Depth is something that the top-heavy Minnesota Vikings roster lacks, the very something necessary to get far in January and into February.

To keep up with the ever-evolving offenses, NFL defenses are getting smarter too. Due to the nature of the league, even two elite receiving options are not enough when the opposing defense is employing six defensive backs on the field. 

This showed up plenty just in the 2020 NFL playoffs: Davante Adams, the best WR in the NFL, was enough for the Green Bay Packers to make the NFC Championship but against a stifling Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense, composed of multiple high draft picks, he mustered just 67 yards on 14 targets. 

An example similar to the Vikings is the Seattle Seahawks, with an elite receiving duo in DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett but not much behind the two. While they were enough to win the NFC West, the Seahawks were outclassed by the NFL’s best secondary in the LA Rams.

Three of the four championship teams were top three passing offenses: the Bills, Chiefs and Buccaneers. These three teams employ some of the deepest WR cores in the NFL which helped them make deep playoff runs. Recently, PFF’s Eric Eager created this chart:

From: PFF.com

The important takeaway from this chart is that “second and third” receivers are more important than “first receivers” in Expected Points Added (EPA) and this gap only increases in the postseason. “Third receivers” are just as important as “second receivers.” 

While the Vikings have two elite receivers in Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, they must invest either in a high draft pick or a good chunk of their available salary cap in order to find a third consistently reliable receiving threat.

Although the Vikings ran the most two receiver sets in the NFL the last two seasons, it is plausible to wonder if that’s not by choice. In 2019, they had just four receivers on their 53-man roster, although they eventually expanded due to an injury to Adam Thielen. The lack of rosterable receivers beyond the top two has been an issue for Minnesota for quite some time.  

In the modern day NFL, Bisi Johnson will simply not cut it at that position. Lucky for Minnesota, both the free agent receiver class and the 2021 NFL draft class contain endless depth at that position. 

Whether it be through Jaylen Waddle in the first round of the NFL draft or a deal to bring Curtis Samuel to Minnesota, the Vikings must keep investing in skill positions if they want to make it far in January. After all, every player that scored a touchdown for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their Super Bowl win was acquired last offseason. 

In this day and era, a team can never have too many weapons. 

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