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5 Minnesota Vikings Who Will Be Better Than Last Year
By Andrew Buller-Russ,
5 hours ago
We don’t need to revisit the 2023 Minnesota Vikings that finished 7-10 in third place of the NFC North. Now it’s time to look into the forecast for the 2024 Vikings. With the season opener bearing upon us, which Vikings are poised for a breakout season?
Jalen Nailor
Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
The summer of Jalen Nailor is over. Coaches have consistently highlighted how well Nailor has performed during training camp. But now it’s time to put all the hype behind him and deliver when the games actually count.
For Nailor, having a career year shouldn’t be too difficult. He’s entrenched as the WR3 behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. He’ll even have increased opportunities due to T.J. Hockenson’s injury absence , plus a possible Addison suspension later in the season.
Not only will Nailor have a new career-high in receiving yards, he should have no trouble doubling his career yardage total. But to do so, he’ll have to avoid the injured list, which has been his biggest flaw so far.
Aaron Jones is the unquestioned Vikings’ starting running back. But that doesn’t mean Ty Chandler won’t see increased opportunities. After averaging a respectable 4.5 YPC last season, Chandler has earned a longer leash in Kevin O’Connell’s offense. Plus, keeping Jones’ legs fresher in his age-29 season will be crucial too.
Chandler brings the type of explosiveness to the backfield that Alexander Mattison just didn’t possess. Get ready for Chandler to show off his 4.3 speed all season long. If he can get loose for big plays, the Vikings’ RB duo will be very productive, helping ease the burden from Sam Darnold’s shoulders.
Harrison Phillips has done a fine job since signing a three-year, $19.5 million contract with the Vikings in 2022. But now he’s headed into a contract year and his second season in Brian Flores’ defense. Not only will having the added pressure to perform and extra familiarity help, but he’ll also be boosted by all the new additions to the front seven and secondary.
Ideally, the Vikings will have a better pass rush with more versatile athletes available to be rotated in. Having players like Stephon Gilmore should force quarterbacks to hold onto the ball longer. Add it all up, and we could see the best version of ‘Horrible Harry’ yet.
Camryn Bynum
Cam Bynum may not be the human Swiss Army knife that the positionless Josh Metellus is, but he, too, can do it all. A former fourth-round pick, Bynum has continued to raise his ceiling in all three of his previous seasons. Now, we’re anticipating an even better result, with Bynum making a legitimate push to earn his first Pro Bowl nod. Yet, the 26-year-old was already pretty good last season.
We could see Bynum’s tackles go down with the addition of Blake Cashman, plus the continued emergence of Ivan Pace Jr . But Bynum can make an even bigger impact by creating more turnovers. If so, the Vikings’ defense could be a lot better than most expect.
Sam Darnold primed for career year with Minnesota Vikings
Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
This one’s a no-brainer. Now that J.J. McCarthy isn’t breathing down his neck, Sam Darnold has nothing to worry about. There won’t be any knee-jerk reactions from fans calling for the backup if he makes a bad throw. This is Darnold’s job to lose.
But we wouldn’t bet on that happening. In fact, a strong argument could be made that the former No. 3 overall pick is primed for a career year.
Sam Darnold’s stats in his best season ( 2019 ): 61.9% comp. rate, 3,024 passing yards, 19 TD, 13 INT
Kevin O’Connell sets his quarterbacks up to succeed with a scheme that gets pass-catchers wide-open. Plus, Justin Jefferson tends to make all his QBs look good. While we can all laugh at Darnold’s bloopers with the Jets and Panthers, for the first time in his career, he’s in a position where he can thrive. Seriously, look at one of the lineups he was dealing with in New York.
We all remember the Chris Herndon nightmare. Frank Gore was 37. No wonder that was his last NFL season. But seriously, Chris Hogan, Breshad Perriman? Maybe Perriman would be this team’s WR3, but Hogan likely wouldn’t even make the roster, at least not the 33-year-old version Darnold got stuck with. How can a QB succeed with that rag-tag group of ‘talent’? The answer is, they couldn’t.
But Darnold doesn’t have to worry about that in Minnesota, playing behind what should be a decent offensive line and a skill position group that some feel could be the best in the NFL . All we’re saying is, don’t sleep on Darnold yet.
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