Admins off-season score out of 10

 

It’s back! The days of spending your Sundays making small talk with your friends and family whilst wishing there was some football to look forward to are over. 

January 15 was the last time we saw a competitive snap from the boys in purple and we will all have gone through various different emotions since then. There’s been some changes this offseason both on and off the field and everyone has their own thoughts on how that will translate into performances this season. Is this another playoff team? Can we go one step further? 

The jury is out! So let’s delve into the minds of the club admins, understand what they think and get their offseason scores out of 10.

 

Claire 6/10

So before I start you need to know that although I adore sport in general whenever I make a prediction about it I am never right! Therefore I’ve erred on the side of caution with my score…

My main concern with this year is our schedule. I think we have some really tough games which I think means we will need to dig deep to get enough wins. I’m hoping we can keep up the energy levels and avoid injuries! 

Having watched Quarterback on Netflix I believe Kirk can do it for us – he needs to put something on that empty shelf! I am hoping Alexander Mattison (which I have to say in the same rhythm as Alexander Hamilton in the musical) comes good as I’ve drafted him in my fantasy team with the family and JJ can do no wrong in my eyes! I also have some faith that the defense can pull it together and improve this season too. 

I’m excited for the season to start but I’ve double checked my life insurance covers heart attacks just in case – haha! 

 

Rich 7/10

I remember coming away from the Giants game with such a feeling of frustration. Kirk was having a career season, we had so many weapons on offense, but our defense was abysmal. I saw so many people blaming Kirk for us crashing out in that game, all based on the last play, but really, if our defense was just slightly better, we would have walked into the next round. 

To me it was obvious what we needed this offseason. Fix the defense, keep the offense. And that’s pretty much what we have achieved. 

On the offense I think Cook will be a miss. Despite the injuries he has put up consistent numbers but it was the right move for the team and it will be great to see if Mattison can fill his cleats. 

On the defense, I’m looking forward to seeing what Flores can do with the personnel he has. I don’t think we need to be a top 10 defense to progress, but we do need to improve, and let’s face it, we couldn’t be much worse on the defensive side of the ball than last season.

The schedule looks tough and the preseason games have once again proven we lack depth away from our starters. I would have liked to see more depth added and an improvement on the O-line but still a solid offseason and with JJ, anything can happen. 

 

Touchdown Tommy 7/10

Welcome to the 2023/2024 season! Here we go! I think we are all trying to get over some tragic Vikings events over the past six months. Including our horrendous loss to the New York Giants in the playoffs, the loss of Adam Thielen (hometown hero) to Carolina, Dalvin Cook’s transition to the Jets, and the ongoing reminder from pundits alike that our 2022/2023 defense was dismal (bye bye Ed Donatell). 

However, there is hope and here are the positives. Picking up Brian Flores as our new defensive coordinator. What a great defensive mind he has, we definitely needed him following last year’s lacklustre defense. Exercising the fifth-year option for Justin Jefferson, we believe he is going to have a monstrous season with the new addition of Jordan Addison. Re-signing C.J. Ham and tying TE T.J Hockenson to a massive deal. Acquiring a sixth round pick from the Patriots. And finally, it’s great to see Brian O’Neill healthy and ready to go. 

There are many other things I could mention but I am happy to see the Vikings’ players and staff keeping their heads held high for this season, despite a hard schedule and many primetime games. I believe our defense will improve this year but will be middle of the pack. We have a great chance of taking the North again this season despite all of the critics selecting the Lions and some taking the Packers (yuck). The talent is there. The coaching is ready and set. Let’s go!  

 

Ella 8/10

A pretty high score for no wins you might think! You’re not wrong. I don’t have the same head for statistics or remembering plays/players as many sports fans do, but I enjoy the thrill of watching the game and being immersed in all the emotion that comes with it. 

I found the pre-season games pretty fascinating looking at the makeup of the team, seeing how existing and new players interact and perform was pretty intriguing. What I would love most this season though, is to see more decisive wins, and less where we have to rely on the kicker in the dying seconds for the outcome of the game!  

Like many fans for this season, I feel we need to see a more reliable showing from the defense and improved pass protection to give Kirk time to do the good work he can. As someone who has focussed on watching the Vikings for the last 5 years, seeing Hall and others in the pre-season gave me an appreciation for varying styles of play. Hopefully, our coaching team and GM will be able to build on last year for even better outcomes! 

 

Jacqui 8.5/10

Yep a high score and you may scoff but hear me out. We did a great job last season under a new head coach and with a worse than poor defense. While the off season saw a huge number of changes with the loss of some big names (still not recovered from AT19 going!) there were some interesting additions, probably the most important being Brian Flores.

As far as I’m concerned Kirk did an amazing job last season (yep, I know he is marmite and many won’t agree) and I have every faith he will be even better this season now he is used to the KO’ system. JJ will be his superstar self and The Hock – a genius signing last season – will far exceed expectations. There are plenty of other players both experienced and new to be hopeful about and the defense overall can only be way better than last season if Flores has done what he was brought in to do.

So ultimately, I’m backing our boys to be the best ever and, call it naïve (I prefer optimistic), despite the number of tricky games, taking everything into consideration, I can see no reason why we can’t go way beyond where we did last season.

 

Authors: UK & Ireland Minnesota Vikings Fan Club

Editors: Tommy Beauchene, Richard Dawson