Vikings pass rushers highlights questions team still has after preseason finale vs. Eagles

The Minnesota Vikings have finished the 2024 preseason at Lincoln Financial Field agianst the Philadelphia Eagles with a 26-3 win. It was impressive across the board for the Vikings, as the offense was firing on all cylinders and the defense was forcing turnovers.

The regular season won't be this easy for the Vikings but it's a great sign that things went well during the preseason. The offense averaged 25.66 points per game while their opponents averaged just 12.0.

We saw the Vikings answer a lot of questions over the last few weeks but there are still plenty left for them to figure out.

How do the Vikings structure the front 7?

Last season, the Vikings ended up keeping five edge rushers and five defensive linemen in their initial 53-man roster . It ended up working out well as Flores prioritized three edge rusher sets and attacked the quarterback in varying ways. Will that be the same this year?

My final prediction has five of each making the roster:

• Jonathan Greenard
• Dallas Turner
• Andrew Van Ginkel
• Pat Jones II
  
• Jihad Ward
  
  
• Harrison Phillips
• Jerry Tillery
• Jonathan Bullard
• Jaquelin Roy
• Levi Drake Rodriguez

If they go this direction, they have the flexibility to slide Greenard and Ward inside and feel comfortable with them in those positions.The real question here is how they will value the defensive linemen versus edge rushers.

Do the Vikings make a trade?

General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah loves to trade. He comes from the world of Wall Street where trading happens every second during the work week. When he got the Vikings general manager job, Adofo-Mensah didn't wait long to make trades. He moved up and down the board multiple times.

He also has tried to find players who haven't lived up to their potential and sends a pick for them in a buy-low scenario. Will he find a way to make that happen again this year? What about making one of those trades himself to get some draft capital back? Don't be surprised if he makes one of those happen.

Risk Jaren Hall on waivers?

This is a big topic of discussion. Head coach Kevin O'Connell was asked about it during his postgame press conference and was brutally honest.

“You know, everybody’s going to be aware of the good things Jaren did, and you want to, but you also want to have a real evaluation of a guy that’s really been in our system now, going on his second season, you could see just the comfort he had early on in the game, the growth from last year to now, where he’s at just running our system and playing quarterback and moving the team and five straight scoring drives, I think, to start the day for him, getting points. And that’s what playing quarterback in this league is all about. It’s not necessarily trying to force and make a play, as much as [it’s] just make the right play and just keep stacking good decisions, throwing good, you know, throwing with timing and anticipation, rhythm, and you move the team. And that’s what he did. And so I’m sure, you know, maybe it’s the former quarterback in me that wants to make sure guys always feel like they get real opportunities in our offense. But, that’s part of it, though, is knowing that you know other people are going to see your good players doing some good things. And [Vikings QB] Jaren [Hall] certainly had a good day.”

If the Vikings end up keeping Hall on the active roster, it will have been earned due to the new rule when it comes to third quarterbacks. You don't need to be on the active roster to be the third quarterback and the 46th-dressed player. It does make it easier for the team to have the third quarterback on the active roster, as you can't lose the player to another team. Will the Vikings keep Hall? Time will tell.

Related: Minnesota Vikings final 53-man roster prediction: Who gets to keep their playbook?