Grades at the Bye

It’s hard to know exactly what to make of this season’s Minnesota Vikings. They started the season with back-to-back losses, then won three of four. Some of their best performances were in losses, like at Arizona, and some of their worst performances were wins, like at home against Detroit.

So as we reflect on where the Vikings stand during their bye week, we thought it would be a useful exercise to assign grades to each position group plus the coaching staff. Let’s dive in.

Quarterbacks

As is always the case with Kirk Cousins, there’s no consensus about how he’s played. Pro Football Focus has him ranked as the No. 3 quarterback in the league. Advanced stats have him lower, like the metric of expected points added plus completion percentage above expected, which ranks Cousins No. 14. Perhaps that’s fitting since it’s never easy to get a unanimous opinion on Cousins.

But I think it’s fair to say that he’s off to his best start since joining the Vikings. The stats are one thing, and we’ll get to them. But Cousins has been relied on several times this season to orchestrate game-winning drives and has continually put the Vikings in a position to win, an area at which he used to struggle. He gets major points for that.

Cousins ranks seventh in passing yards (1,769), ninth in touchdowns (13), third in interception percentage (0.8), and 17th in yards per attempt (7.4). Those aren’t stats that are going to have him in the top-five quarterback debate, but it has been a very solid start for the well-paid signal caller.

Grade: A-minus

Running backs

When Dalvin Cook is healthy, you can pretty much pencil in this group for an “A.” But Cook has missed two games, and Alexander Mattison, while a fine backup, was a noticeable step down from Cook. Mattison missed multiple holes, according to Mike Zimmer, and fumbled deep in Minnesota’s territory against Detroit, which led to the Lions’ go-ahead touchdown. Plus, this group gets dinged for Cook’s overtime fumble against the Bengals in the opener. Zimmer said he has plans for some new drills to focus on taking care of the football after the bye.

All of that said, Cook is still one of the NFL’s best running backs, and when he’s healthy, it’s hard to imagine anyone better for the Vikings offense. He sits third in yards per game (91.5) and ranks as the most explosive back in the league. Despite missing two games, he still ranks eighth in first downs (23). Plus, he’s added 73 receiving yards.

Grade: B

Tight ends

One of the biggest what-ifs of the Vikings’ 2021 season will center around what could’ve happened if Irv Smith Jr. hadn’t suffered a season-ending injury just before the opener. He was great in training camp and it was clear that the Vikings were going to rely on him a ton on third down, hoping to find mismatches with him lined up against a linebacker in the slot. Without him this season, the Vikings rank 16th in third-down offense. Not terrible, but not as high as I suspect they would have been with Smith Jr.

Without him, Tyler Conklin has played well, but the depth after that is lacking. The trade for Chris Herndon hasn’t really paid off, and Ben Ellefson is just OK.

Grade: C

Wide receivers

There’s not much to nitpick here. Adam Thielen remains an incredible red zone threat and is still capable of huge games. Justin Jefferson is outstanding and should probably get more targets. He ranks sixth in the league in yards, and there’s no reason that can’t improve. And K.J. Osborn has quickly become the Vikings’ best No. 3 wide receiver in five years. Is the depth great behind them? Probably not.

But that doesn’t matter since the Vikings finally have three good options and an offense that uses three wide receivers at the same time.

Grade: A

Offensive line

This is where I waffled a bit in the grading process. I could hear an argument based on expectations and past results from this group that they deserve a higher mark. They’ve opened holes in the running game and kept Cousins clean against a very good Panthers defensive line. Plus, the addition of Christian Darrisaw helps.

On the other hand, they’ve benefited from a quick passing attack in multiple games and still have issues on the interior, specifically in pass protection at center and right guard. Expectations weren’t high for this group, but it still hasn’t been a great performance to start the season.

Grade: C

Defensive line

It’s amazing watching Vikings games now and thinking back to last year when they may have had the worst front four in the league. Now, Danielle Hunter is back to ravaging offensive lines, Everson Griffen looks like his former self, Dalvin Tomlinson has been just what the Vikings hoped and both Michael Pierce and Armon Watts have performed well.

There’s not much depth at defensive end since D.J. Wonnum and Stephen Weatherly have been underwhelming, which is why Griffen continues to get a heavy workload even though the Vikings say they want to rest him. But if this unit can stay healthy, it can be the strength of the defense.

The Vikings’ numbers against the run aren’t great, but to me, that’s more of a reflection on the next group.

Grade: A-minus

Linebackers

This isn’t a knock on Eric Kendricks. He has been his usual outstanding self. Instead, this grade is more of a reflection on everyone else at the position. Nick Vigil was serviceable while filling in for Anthony Barr, but while he’s adept at pass coverage, he struggles mightily against the run. Then when Barr did return, he admitted to being pretty rusty and missed a few tackles.

I’m not worried about this group and think their grade will improve now that Barr is back, but if we’re evaluating strictly on the first six games (in which the Vikings have allowed 100 rushing yards each time), it’s hard for me to bump this grade up too much.

Grade: C-plus

Secondary

I certainly wouldn’t have foreseen a grade this high after Week 2 when the Vikings were 0-2 and Kyler Murray had just hung 34 points on them. But the Vikings pass defense has taken huge strides in the last month, and even Bashaud Breeland is playing much better. Harrison Smith and Xavier Woods have been very good on the back end and Cam Dantzler has had some nice moments off the bench.

This group will be tested for at least the next three games without No. 1 cornerback Patrick Peterson while they go up against some of the league’s best receivers, so this grade could drop quite a bit, but for now, they get high marks.

Grade: B-plus

Specialists

Greg Joseph’s game-winner against Detroit was a nice moment, but it’s hard to forget his miss against Arizona and his two misses that could’ve beaten the Panthers. Punter Jordan Berry has had some bombs, but he’s inconsistent. The special teams on the whole might be a tad better than last year (that’s a low bar), but the kicking game is still an issue.

Grade: D

Coaching

Optimists may look at the revamped defense — which has played four straight very good games and is becoming one of the best units in the league — as well as an offense that ranks fifth in yards per game and wonder why this grade is so low.

But they lose points for ultraconservative moments that have led to multiple contests coming down to the final few minutes when they didn’t need to. And while the offense puts up yards, it ranks No. 14 in points per game and too often goes three and out. For that reason, the grade gets dinged.

Grade: C-minus

Overall

The Vikings aren’t out of it at 3-3. But this was supposed to be the easy part of the schedule with some daunting games coming up after the bye. You could argue they should have won their first two games. But they also could have lost to both the Lions and Panthers.

There’s some reason for hope. Cousins is playing well, Cook is back on the field, the wide receivers are really good and the defense seems to have figured out its early issues. But the reasons for concern, including the offensive line, special teams and conservative coaching leave questions that will linger heading into the second half of the season.

Grade: C-plus