Summer series: Minnesota Vikings

By: Josh Frey-Sam

It didn’t take much to sell me on the 2025 Minnesota Vikings.

Sure, there is an element of unknown at the most important position with quarterback JJ McCarthy now in the saddle, but this is a team that is otherwise poised to compete in the NFC this season.

Welcome to the Back Bacon Brief summer series, where I talk to a local media member from all 32 NFL teams to get an all-encompassing preview about each club heading into the 2025-26 season.

Today, we look at the Minnesota Vikings, and I spoke with writer Matthew Coller (@MatthewColler on X) to find out everything going on in Minneapolis.

You can listen to the full interview here.

My biggest takeaway from my conversation with Coller is this: We talk about the Chicago Bears building a perfect nest for Caleb Williams to grow in, but it actually might be their divisional rival that has constructed the best supporting cast in the league for their second-year signal-caller.

The Vikings went 14-3 with Sam Darnold at the helm last year but were embarrassed by the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card round, especially on offence, as Darnold was under constant pressure and the unit mustered nine points.

The club’s moves this off-season were geared toward not letting it unfold like that again. Minnesota beefed up its offensive line by poaching center Ryan Kelly and guard Will Fries from the Colts, and drafting guard Donovan Jackson in the first round.

Their most notable skill position addition was running back Jordan Mason, whom Minnesota traded San Francisco for to serve as a dependable complement to Aaron Jones.

They also added to the defensive side of the trenches, bringing in Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen, two veteran interior presences who can help against some of the dynamic rushing attacks in the conference.

“They really were intentional about understanding what got them beat last year and putting everything in place to support the quarterback,” Coller said.

To get a sense of how impressive this roster looks, consider Coller’s answer when I tabled the hypothetical of McCarthy being an average quarterback this season:

“Let’s just use PFF, for example. If PFF has JJ McCarthy as their 15th best quarterback, you can win 11 or 12 games because you have the defence that you have, and you have the reicevers that you have, and you have the running game now that’s masssively improved, and the offensive line— I mean, it kind of reminds you of a Jimmy Garoppolo or Brock Purdy or Jalen Hurts,” he said.

Eleven or 12 games? Wow.

“If McCarthy is great, you’re going to run over a lot of teams,” he added. “And if he’s good, you are still going to be in the mix for the NFC North. And if he’s average, you’re still going to be in the playoffs. There are very few teams that are set up to the point where they can make an argument like that.”

Another sign of this team’s talent is the lack of training camp battles that are expected to take place. Coller said he’ll be watching the battle for the third tight end and the rotational linebackers, and he wasn’t joking.

This roster is laden with veterans, and their starting 22 is pretty well set in stone, barring injury.

The biggest point of debate with this team is: How good is McCarthy actually going to be? Coller happily jumped on his soapbox to talk about the 10th overall pick in last year’s draft.

“In the national discourse, it seems like JJ McCarthy is being treated like a rookie. He is not. He is not a rookie,” he said.

“He has had a lot of practice with this team. He has had a lot — a lot — of hours banked with Sam Darnold in an NFL quarterback room, with virtual reality… he, every single week, sat down with Kevin O’Connell and put together a game plan as if he was starting, just to teach him, ‘This is how it’s going to be when you actually take over this job.’

“They had all plans of going to JJ McCarthy this year, and they acted like it last year.”

Beyond McCarthy, if there is an area of concern for Minnesota this year, it is the defensive secondary.

The Vikings are making a lot of bets on the backend of their defence.

Mekhi Blackmon, a 2023 third-round pick who tore his ACL last summer, is expected to start at corner opposite Isaiah Rodgers, who was scooped up off the market after winning the Super Bowl in a depth role with the Eagles last year.

Then there is fourth-year pro Theo Jackson, who could start at the safety spot left behind by Cam Bynum, who signed with the Colts in free agency. Jackson served in a depth role behind Bynum last season, but the Vikings are high on him after he was one of the darlings in training camp last year.

Though there are plenty of positives to draw on with the secondary, it appears to be a fragile group that could quickly become the Achilles heel of this team.

“If you said, ‘Hey, there’s one thing that really got them this year,’ I think that would probably be it, because if someone gets hurt, they don’t have a lot of proven depth… and that is always concerning when they have the difficult schedule that they have,” Coller said.

“I think we have a really good idea of what the offence is going to be because it’s all the same people outside of the quarterback, but we really don’t know how this defence is going to play out.”

The one fantasy-related question I posed to Coller was about the backfield and whether Aaron Jones will be the clear bellcow once again.

Jones, who signed a new contract extension this offseason, set career highs in rushing attempts (255) and touches (306) last season but turns 31 in December.

He’s being viewed as a value in drafts right now, but perhaps we need to pump the brakes on him a bit. Coller said he believes Minnesota could try to recreate the timeshare that is similar to what Jones had in Green Bay with AJ Dillon, in order to preserve his body for the playoffs.

“I don’t think they want it to be the same. Last year, through the first eight weeks of the season, he was averaging five yards per carry, he was looking spry, he was playing great, and as the season wore on… you could see that the jump wasn’t there the same way week after week as it was at the beginning of the season,” he said.

“If you’re looking at it from a fantasy angle, I think you’re trying to stay away from someone like Aarron Jones, because it’s very possible that he gets 850 yards this year. Now, that might be better for the 2025 Minnesota Vikings for him to do that, but it’s not better for your fantasy team if you go out and draft him, expecting him to carry the ball 250 times this year.”

I ended with Coller as I always do, even though I already knew his answer: Over or under 8.5 wins?

“It’s too good of a roster. It’s too good of a coaching staff. I agree that it’s a hard schedule… but I think everyone in the gambling world just needs to see JJ McCarthy,” he said.

“Part of it for me is, I have. It’s only in practice, but I have, and I think that they should win more than that, and if they don’t, it would be a huge disappointment.”

For what it’s worth, the Vikings have the fifth-toughest schedule this year, according to Sharp Football Analysis.

Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Josh