Are the Vikings a sleeper team

Why do you think he will do that?

It is hard to determine the strategies employed by this current front office.

Last year, they made the conscious decision to go with one oft-injured corner (Hughes) who had 5 starts, another UDFA corner (Hill) who had 1 start, and the rest with very little or no experience at all.

Instead of trading Harris and grabbing his replacement in a strong safety draft class (Winfield, Delpit, McKinney) they paid Harris 11M which they really could have used right now.

They had to know something was wrong with Hunter yet they still traded for Yannick Ngakoue (after Pierce opted out). That was a waste of 7M in cap space and a 2nd round pick. Granted they got back a 3rd but it still is a 45 slot drop. Why did they make that trade? Were they so delusional that they thought the defense would be able to be good with those young corners?

They witnessed the 49ers holding the offense to 21 yards on 10 carries, sacking Cousins 6 times, and hitting him another 9 times in the 2019 Divisional Playoff game. Their solution was to stick with Elflein and sign Dakota Dozier and Brett Jones (who they very rarely used for some reason). They did not draft a guard until pick #253 at the end of the 7th round (Kyle Hinton). Ezra Cleveland was thought by almost all of the draftniks to be a tackle because, you know, he only played tackle in college. They had to desperately move him to guard after Elflein got hurt and Samia flamed out.

I mean this was their plan last year. This is what they purposely executed.

This year, they invested their money in the defense. They spent 21.5M (6M cap hit) on Tomlinson who is a nose tackle but has played a little 3 technique so the hope is he can do it full time. They spent 8M on Patrick Peterson. They got Xavier Woods for 1.75M which is very good. They tried to get Carl Lawson and Trey Hendrickson after they brought back the washed Weatherly.

The only move they made for the offensive line was to cut Reiff, trade for Mason Cole (who became expendable when the Cards upgraded to Rodney Hudson), and brought back the terrible Dozier. They could not execute a trade for Orlando Brown Jr as well. They could have another signing they have been working on like Eric Fisher, Mitchell Schwartz, Alejandro Villanueva, Ricky Wagner, or Russell Okung.

Compare that to the Chiefs who saw their line destroyed in the Super Bowl and immediately set out to fix it. They signed Joe Thuney, Austin Blythe, Kyle Long, and traded for Brown Jr. They did not want to risk their QB to injury by putting him behind a subpar offensive line. They did not spend big on defensive free agents. They got Jarran Reed for 5.5M.

I will say that I do not think the Vikings are an attractive destination for offensive-free agents. They have changed coordinators the last 5 or 6 years in a row. The system has changed 4 or 5 times in that time span too. They do not want to run a modern offense either. Not too much at least. I have no proof but they consistently miss out on top offensive line free agents unless they overpay like they did for Reiff.

The Chiefs value offense. The Vikings have deluded themselves into believing the success on offense last year will automatically be repeated this year. It might. They likely are forced into grabbing an offensive tackle at 14 and many fans believe that player is going to be good right out the gate. He might. He can also be like Kolton Miller or Garrett Bolles who took about 3 years each to blossom. He could be like Garrett Bradbury who is firmly in the bust territory thus far but there is hope.

Are the Vikings a sleeper team? I think they are asleep at the helm.

He's a space eater not a penetrator. If he was the Ravens would have kept him vs going for guys that can anchor along with penetrate. He could easily be a 2 down player if he doesn't show the ability to push the pocket and that's what they need. If you have no push inside you're dead in the water. I've already explained some of the negatives of having 2 NT vs a DT and UT in a single gap system.

Just so you know the Ravens are an extremely blitz heavy D and they do it from multiple fronts. If you understand techniques you'll understand why 2 NT wont work. Pierce will have to show something he's never shown before.

There's no way to know how Hunter will perform both due to injury and lack of talent. Again having 2 NT and the fact not one DL LB has played a single down together. Then add a secondary that is let's just say atrocious and what they added hasn't helped. 2 below average DBs one with name recognition and nothing else and another a middle of the pack S that graded out worse then the guy let go. At LB 1 guy nothing else and NO Barr isn't anything special. Addition by subtraction isn't a winning formula unless you have actually gained in talent. I don't see the gain at any level DL LB or DB.

I'll respectfully disagree. If it where something that worked in a 43 single gap system it would be done by many if not all others. Our as in the Vikings would be incorporating a 34 front if they wanted the LBs to penetrate and be the pass rushers that's why there are 4 vs 3.

You don't have to block both consistently just seal and use combo blocks to the play side especially if the player isn't used to penetrate. Just because we have bad/weak C and G play doesn't mean all others do. We also don't have down Hill thumpers inside at LB. Barr is used more outside anyway. All teams have to do is run iso and outside zones and the inside will be ineffective.

Nah the secondary is atrocious.

If it wasn't that easy they would still be with their original team. Finding top tier talent is hard to find not roll players or situational players. Both original teams had cap space to keep them. What's not easy is to keep a good team together for long. Then you have to have a system and fit for players and identify them and keep the same type.

You think Zimmer at this stage is going to change and adapt to the new school NFL? Me either.

Yeah I don't think you understood what I wrote. Pierce isn't one nor has he ever been one to create upfield pressure. You have to understand the 34 vs 43 front and the difference in the front 7.

I don't think a few weeks will tell much of anything. Half a year might. New system 3/4 new DL 1/3 new LB and 1/2 new DBs at minimum. New can have an advantage or disadvantage short term. Long term will tell much much more.

Hahaha....I respectively agree with this coach. He might know a little more then anyone on here.

www.google.com/amp/s/vikingswire.usatoday.com/2021/04/23/vikings-assistant-head-coach-andre-patterson-explains-minnesotas-defensive-tackle-philosophy/amp/