Championship Roster

[VikingsVictorious]

I truly believe we have all the parts we need to win it all this year. This is assuming Hunter is once again Hunter and the Young OL's don't suck. Everywhere else if filled with pretty proven players. On offense
Cousins, Cook, Thielen, Jefferson, Irv Smith.
On Defense Hunter, Pierce, Tomlinson, ? Wonnum?
Kendricks, Barr, Smith, Peterson, Breeland, Dantzler.
Looks like a championship roster to me.
I'm predicting a Vikings Championship this year. What you all think?

[Maelstrom88]

The defense is pretty deep but I still see the Bucs and to a lesser extent the Packers as the teams to beat in the NFC. I think the Vikings have a better team than the Packers but Rodgers > Cousins and that is the great equalizer. The Bucs are just unfair and woul d take a monumental effort and luck to defeat but anything can happen when it's one and done.

[VikingsVictorious]

The defense is pretty deep but I still see the Bucs and to a lesser extent the Packers as the teams to beat in the NFC. I think the Vikings have a better team than the Packers but Rodgers > Cousins and that is the great equalizer. The Bucs are just unfair and woul d take a monumental effort and luck to defeat but anything can happen when it's one and done.

The Bucs got hot in the playoffs last year. The regular season they were an afterthought. I'm not saying we're better, but we're every bit as good IMO.

[VikingPaul73]

I still think we’re an 8-8 or 9-7 team with Ceiling of a WC round win

OL is still a HUGE question market . O’Neill is only proven above average player. Bradbury has been poor. Ezra was ok at best. And we’re relying on 2 rookies including LT the most important position.

Cousins is Cousins

Defense there are SOOOOO many new faces. Who knows how they will gel? Harry and PP aren’t getting any younger and Hunter is coming off injury so who knows how he will recover

If I were in Vegas I would definitely go Under 10

[Maelstrom88]

The defense is pretty deep but I still see the Bucs and to a lesser extent the Packers as the teams to beat in the NFC. I think the Vikings have a better team than the Packers but Rodgers > Cousins and that is the great equalizer. The Bucs are just unfair and woul d take a monumental effort and luck to defeat but anything can happen when it's one and done.

The Bucs got hot in the playoffs last year. The regular season they were an afterthought. I'm not saying we're better, but we're every bit as good IMO.

Nah. Brady took awhile to get on the same page with his weapons without training camp and he was learning a new scheme. He's gonna light it up this year. Cousins folds in big moments. Also the Bucs offensive line is top 3 in the league and ours is unproven. Antonio Brown in the slot is just not fair and Godwin is better than Thielen. Their 3rd TE is better than Irv Smith. Their defense is young and loaded. JPP and Barrett are great and Suh and Vea clog and push the middle. White and David are way better than Barr. Kendricks is close to as good as them. Their corners are young, fast and tall and Winfield is looking like every bit the player his dad was. I'd take Cook over any of their backs but their stable of backs is better. If Joe Tryon can provide pass rush depth that's another thing to worry about.

[CharVike]

I still think we’re an 8-8 or 9-7 team with Ceiling of a WC round win

OL is still a HUGE question market . O’Neill is only proven above average player. Bradbury has been poor. Ezra was ok at best. And we’re relying on 2 rookies including LT the most important position.

Cousins is Cousins

Defense there are SOOOOO many new faces. Who knows how they will gel? Harry and PP aren’t getting any younger and Hunter is coming off injury so who knows how he will recover

If I were in Vegas I would definitely go Under 10

People including Speilman are ignoring our OL. I agree with your assessment across the board. We have one avg player. I think your overestimating Ezra. He's poor also. He's still working on his strength which is a joke at this point. A rookie at LT. Come on. It would make some sense if it was the top guy in the draft. I would have picked Kendrick Green in round 3 to challenge that stiff Bradbury and provide depth at G. He could have pushed rookie Davis also and might beat him out. All about setting up legitimate competition for an area that needs improvement.

[VikingsVictorious]

I still think we’re an 8-8 or 9-7 team with Ceiling of a WC round win

OL is still a HUGE question market . O’Neill is only proven above average player. Bradbury has been poor. Ezra was ok at best. And we’re relying on 2 rookies including LT the most important position.

Cousins is Cousins

Defense there are SOOOOO many new faces. Who knows how they will gel? Harry and PP aren’t getting any younger and Hunter is coming off injury so who knows how he will recover

If I were in Vegas I would definitely go Under 10

Cousins is Cousins. That's a very good thing. I acknowledged the young OL had to play well, but I think with the Offensive players we have and the defense we have they will be able to play well enough to get us to 13-4. Then just like the Bucs we have to get hot for the playoffs. You can sell it short if you want. We will be division champs whether Rodgers plays or not.

[VikingsVictorious]

The Bucs got hot in the playoffs last year. The regular season they were an afterthought. I'm not saying we're better, but we're every bit as good IMO.

Nah. Brady took awhile to get on the same page with his weapons without training camp and he was learning a new scheme. He's gonna light it up this year. Cousins folds in big moments. Also the Bucs offensive line is top 3 in the league and ours is unproven. Antonio Brown in the slot is just not fair and Godwin is better than Thielen. Their 3rd TE is better than Irv Smith. Their defense is young and loaded. JPP and Barrett are great and Suh and Vea clog and push the middle. White and David are way better than Barr. Kendricks is close to as good as them. Their corners are young, fast and tall and Winfield is looking like every bit the player his dad was. I'd take Cook over any of their backs but their stable of backs is better. If Joe Tryon can provide pass rush depth that's another thing to worry about.

You're IMO way underestimating us. I'll keep some places on the bandwagon open for you for when you're ready to jump on.

[RandyMoss84]

I truly believe we have all the parts we need to win it all this year. This is assuming Hunter is once again Hunter and the Young OL's don't suck. Everywhere else if filled with pretty proven players. On offense
Cousins, Cook, Thielen, Jefferson, Irv Smith.
On Defense Hunter, Pierce, Tomlinson, ? Wonnum?
Kendricks, Barr, Smith, Peterson, Breeland, Dantzler.
Looks like a championship roster to me.
I'm predicting a Vikings Championship this year. What you all think?

We said that about 1969, 1998, and 2009 and it never happened and I do not see it happening this year either

[Pondering Her Percy]

The defense is pretty deep but I still see the Bucs and to a lesser extent the Packers as the teams to beat in the NFC. I think the Vikings have a better team than the Packers but Rodgers > Cousins and that is the great equalizer. The Bucs are just unfair and woul d take a monumental effort and luck to defeat but anything can happen when it's one and done.

I dont think the Bucs are some unbeatable team. The Vikings had a legit shot to beat them last year if it wasnt for Bailey missing 3 FGs. That changed the game drastically and constantly gave Tampa good field position.

As for the Rodgers/Cousins argument. I'm not saying Cousins is better by any means but he's also 2-3-1 vs. Rodgers since being in Minnesota. Last year in week 1 Cousins pretty much had 0 chance given our defense was shredded from the start. But either way, Cousins can beat Rodgers, he's showed it in the past. So I dont think it's much of an equalizer at all. And let's not forget that Aaron Rodgers is far from a hero when it comes to beating winning teams, especially when trailing.

[Pondering Her Percy]

The Bucs got hot in the playoffs last year. The regular season they were an afterthought. I'm not saying we're better, but we're every bit as good IMO.

Nah. Brady took awhile to get on the same page with his weapons without training camp and he was learning a new scheme. He's gonna light it up this year. Cousins folds in big moments. Also the Bucs offensive line is top 3 in the league and ours is unproven. Antonio Brown in the slot is just not fair and Godwin is better than Thielen. Their 3rd TE is better than Irv Smith. Their defense is young and loaded. JPP and Barrett are great and Suh and Vea clog and push the middle. White and David are way better than Barr. Kendricks is close to as good as them. Their corners are young, fast and tall and Winfield is looking like every bit the player his dad was. I'd take Cook over any of their backs but their stable of backs is better. If Joe Tryon can provide pass rush depth that's another thing to worry about.

Lol sorry but Chris Godwin is not better than Adam Thielen. Their 3rd TE is better than Irv Smith? What? Kendricks is arguably the best MLB in the NFL FYI. Not sure where you're getting some of this from but I can tell you you are quite a bit off in some of these areas.

[Pondering Her Percy]

I still think we’re an 8-8 or 9-7 team with Ceiling of a WC round win

OL is still a HUGE question market . O’Neill is only proven above average player. Bradbury has been poor. Ezra was ok at best. And we’re relying on 2 rookies including LT the most important position.

Cousins is Cousins

Defense there are SOOOOO many new faces. Who knows how they will gel? Harry and PP aren’t getting any younger and Hunter is coming off injury so who knows how he will recover

If I were in Vegas I would definitely go Under 10

People including Speilman are ignoring our OL. I agree with your assessment across the board. We have one avg player. I think your overestimating Ezra. He's poor also. He's still working on his strength which is a joke at this point. A rookie at LT. Come on. It would make some sense if it was the top guy in the draft. I would have picked Kendrick Green in round 3 to challenge that stiff Bradbury and provide depth at G. He could have pushed rookie Davis also and might beat him out. All about setting up legitimate competition for an area that needs improvement.

I've said it before on here and will saying it again, yes the OL might be a "question mark". But you know just as well as I do that this is by far the most promising our OL has looked heading into a season in a long time. Five home-grown draft picks. And I dont know what your deal is with Darrisaw and not being the top tackle drafted. You do know that just because he wasnt the first tackle off the board doesnt mean he wont be the best of the bunch. We should know that first hand. Look at Matt Kalil. Was far and away the best tackle coming out of college. And Riley Reiff ended up being a much better tackle and he just happened to be drafted at the exact pick Darrisaw was (23) where Kalil was taken at 4. Mitchell Schwartz was also taken in that draft in the 2nd round.

I mean hell, Justin Jefferson was the 5th WR drafted last year behind Ruggs, Jeudy, Lamb and Reagor. And not a single one of those WRs could hold a candle to Jefferson.

So in the end, who cares where he was drafted. Christian Darrisaw was a highly touted LT, period. Many analysts still cant believe that we were able to still get him at 23. He checks all the boxes. So let's actually see the guy play before you continue to write him off just because he wasnt the first tackle off the board.

[RandyMoss84]

The Bucs got hot in the playoffs last year. The regular season they were an afterthought. I'm not saying we're better, but we're every bit as good IMO.

Nah. Brady took awhile to get on the same page with his weapons without training camp and he was learning a new scheme. He's gonna light it up this year. Cousins folds in big moments. Also the Bucs offensive line is top 3 in the league and ours is unproven. Antonio Brown in the slot is just not fair and Godwin is better than Thielen. Their 3rd TE is better than Irv Smith. Their defense is young and loaded. JPP and Barrett are great and Suh and Vea clog and push the middle. White and David are way better than Barr. Kendricks is close to as good as them. Their corners are young, fast and tall and Winfield is looking like every bit the player his dad was. I'd take Cook over any of their backs but their stable of backs is better. If Joe Tryon can provide pass rush depth that's another thing to worry about.

You sound like a Buccaneers fan if you think Godwin is better than Thielen

[StanM]

This defense went from train wreck to oncoming freight train within the span of a few months. If all these new players on both sides of the ball gel like we expect them to they’ll give OC’s fits. How does a team even attack a defense that looks this good on paper? I am excited about the coming season.

[StumpHunter]

Some stats of the last 15 SB winning teams:

https://purplepainforums.com/thread/475 ... ms-numbers


Summarizing, the average team has a HOF QB, a top 8 receiving group, top 9 scoring defense and offense, and an above average pass rush and run game. Surprisingly they also have a below average pass blocking Oline.

We definitely have the receivers, which looks to be the most important group to winning it all. Our top 2 are great, and I have a lot of faith in Conklin stepping up big this year.

We have the below average Oline down and our run game is top 10.

Defensively, the additions of Tomlinson and Hunter could make our pass rush at least average. If the secondary is very good, and it could be with Breeland, Peterson and Mack starting, that just makes their job even easier.

Top 8 scoring defense and HOF QB is where I think we fall short.

I believe this team is a lock for the playoffs with a much improved defense, but we don't have that championship roster quite yet.