EAGAN — The Minnesota Vikings took their next step toward the 2024-25 season after opening up training camp July 24 at TCO Performance Center in Eagan.
The organization enters year three under the reigns of Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo Mensah and Head Coach Kevin O’Connell who have kept high expectations for the team despite uncertainty at quarterback for the first time in six years now that Kirk Cousins has departed for the Atlanta Falcons.
The Vikings will follow up spring OTAs with a faster, more physical camp leading into preseason where coaches implement the playbook and teams develop their playing-style while fringe players battle for roster spots.
Here’s a quick look at what to expect:
Key losses
QB Kirk Cousins, DE Danielle Hunter, K Greg Joseph, CB Mekhi Blackmon (season/injury) CB Khryee Jackson (fatality)
Key additions
QB Sam Darnold, RB Aaron Jones, OLB Jonathan Greenard, CB Shaq Griffin, LB Blake Cashman, OLB Andrew Van Ginkel, DE Dallas Turner, QB J.J. McCarthy
Last season
7-10, 3rd in NFC North. On the heels of a 13-4 season in head coach Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo Mensah’s first year with the team, the Vikings went on a rollercoaster ride in 2023-24, finishing an underwhelming 7-10 while ending the year on a four-game losing streak and missing the postseason.
This season
The NFC North has only gotten better year after year and the Vikings will be competing with potentially all three teams in the division for a chance at the postseason this year.
Gone is Kirk Cousins who cemented himself in Vikings record books after six years as the team’s franchise quarterback, but was unable to generate more than a single playoff win in that time. The team enters a transition at the game’s most important position, but confidence is high and the signs are there that this is not a rebuilding team
Quarterback
In comes Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy - veteran and rookie. Placeholder and future? That’s yet to be determined. Darnold finds his way to Minnesota after a disappointing six years in the league for the former third overall pick. McCarthy enters as the drafts’ 10th overall pick still fresh from a national championship. But the team is not ready to hand him the keys to the offense without some time and experience under his belt. Darnold will enter camp as the starter and likely the season unless he were to completely fumble the opportunity.
Darnold has very tempered expectations given his history, but situation and circumstances were always more of a factor than talent and ability. Don’t be surprised If Darnold finds success in O’Connell’s offense and clicks well with Justin Jefferson. If he does, we might not see McCarthy at all this year. However if Darnold falters, we likely know what comes next.
Offense
The Vikings had the tenth best offense in the NFL last year in terms of yards per game, at 347.5, no thanks to the running game. They finished fifth overall in passing yards per game, despite a quarterback-carousel and injured star wide receiver Justin Jefferson missing seven games last season.
Darnold and McCarthy don’t need to own O’Connell’s sports car for an offense, just drive it well enough without crashing. The team already has the infrastructure and weapons around their new quarterbacks to be successful.
Jefferson is now the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history, and returns healthy with a clear mind following his extension. WR Jordan Addison has reported to camp amid another on-road controversy, and TE T.J. Hockenson is without a timetable after a knee injury last season but is reported close to making his on-field return shortly after the season begins.
RB Aaron Jones crossed state lines from Packer-territory to join the team after seven years with the Packers and instantly becomes the team’s number one running back.
In addition to locking up Justin Jefferson this offseason, the team just completed a long-term deal with LT Christian Darrisaw, who paired with RT Brian O’Neill, are among the best pairings in the league.
Defense
Popular defensive coordinator and former head coach Brian Flores returns to Minnesota for year two. It was speculated Flores may be a head-coaching candidate after last season, but nothing came to fruition for the blitz-happy D.C. and selfishly, the Vikings are happy to have him back.
Despite allowing an average of 24.4 points per game in the team’s 1-4 start last season, the defense improved as the year progressed and ended the season in the middle of the pack of NFL defenses, averaging 21.3 when it was all said and done, according to ESPN.
As long as Flores is in charge, the team is going to blitz. He brings an aggressive defense to match the intensity of O’Connell’s pass-happy offense. Last season they led the NFL by a wide-margin by blitzing 51.5% of the time according to Pro Football Focus.
The team will miss Danielle Hunter, who exits for the Texans as the team’s third-all-time sack leader, with 87.5, but the team moved up in the draft to take Hunter’s replacement in DE Dallas Turner, a younger and more affordable version of Hunter.
Along with Turner comes an experienced platoon of linebackers with Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Black Cashman joining Ivan Pace Jr. and Josh Metellus on a defense that if healthy, will be one of the fastest and most aggressive defenses in the league.
The team does find itself with depth issues at cornerback unexpectedly after the tragic death of Khyree Jackson in the offseason and Mekhi Blackmon suffering a season ending injury on Day 1 of camp, but Shaq Griffin joins the team as an experienced cornerback alongside Byron Murphy Jr., who will be leaned heavily upon with Akayleb Evans and Andrew Booth Jr. serving as the team’s secondary depth.
The team opens preseason play on Aug. 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders, at U.S. Bank Stadium.
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