Retool or Rebuild for 2022?

On that note, what's interesting to me is the trends in college football and how they sometimes trickle to the Pro Level. Perhaps about 5-10 yrs ago, the spread option/zone read offense was all the rage at the college level and it started to slowly make its way into the NFL. And currently, the "Air Raid" offense (and different variations of it) seem to be all the rage in college as many of next year's eligible QB's play in some blend of a spread-option/zone-read Air Raid style, so that will certainly trickle more into the NFL. 

But with all different offensive innovations that college coaches bring to the table, what's interesting to me this college season is how line-of-scrimmage play and solid defense has really set the tone. Alabama's defense certainly isn't what it used to be, but if you look at the other 3 teams in the College Football Playoff this year - Michigan, Georgia & Cincinnati - their identities as a team begin on the defensive side of the ball. Have college defensive coaches finally found some solutions to recent spread option/zone read/Air Raid attacks? Michigan uses a traditional 4-3 front I believe (mostly because they have two, Rd 1 DE prospects in the 2022 Draft), but I believe both Georgia and Cincinnati both use a 3-3-5 defensive formation with smaller/faster players to cover/defend a wider portion of the field (maybe Georgia still uses more of a 3-4, but it's a different variation of it I believe). 

I do think that the age 'ol rule of thumb in football still rings true - the game still lives in the "trenches" - but what's different are the type of players in those trenches and how they are deployed. Zimmer and company seem to be deploying strategies used long ago and what I'm looking for in the next regime is a GM and coaching staff who can recognize the strengths and weaknesses of their current team and play to them as much as they can, but also look ahead a bit to where the game is going and constantly innovate ways to attack/defend against them. Flexibility and being able to adapt is one of the major hurdles that the Zimmer regime could not grasp.

Kirk, Zim, Rick all gone its simple. They were all tied together in 2018 when Kirk came along. Regardless of who wanted in on the marriage they are all linked together. No reason to go back and forth and blame whose fault is who. Every single one of the had their chances to prove there worth and it was Super Bowl or bust when it began, and we only have one wild card win to show. Like some have stated how many GMs get this long before even a NFC ship win, let alone a Super Bowl win or appearance. If you want that swagger back that we felt in 2015 you have to start completely over with all 3 gone. Will the next QB be worse than Kirk? Its a possibility yes. Will the next GM be worse than Rick? Again yes its possible. But you have to take that chance at this point they have won nothing and nothing to show for. Dont need to even mention Zim as he should just resign himself, just a matter of time before hes gone.

Unfortunately its really not as we are still only a game out so doubt Rick or Wilfs are going to lay down lol There is likely a zero % chance of Mond playing this year. We are talking about the team that let Kirk play last year vs Detroit in a meaningless game over Browning or Stanley, and again the year before they trot Mannion out over Browning. I see all this Mond talk and itll never happen this year. 

If they don't let Rick go the cycle will continue imo. A new coach will be up against the mess left from this year, Kirk's limitations, Rick's poor drafting, etc. He will have a few good weapons on offense and not much else to work with, especially on D.

If they clean house completely, the odds they hit the right g.m. and h.c. are probably no better than 15%, about a 1/6 chance, based on their past hiring moves, tendencies and results.

Still I'd rather take my chances with all of that than live through one more minute of the current situation.

Yes. Hell likely still be here since we are technically still very much in the playoff race. I think a loss Thursday will do the trick. Unless players are throwing him under the bus I doubt theyll make the change today. Hoping im wrong though

There's no doubt the grass isn't always greener on the other side...and it's completely possible that if the Wilfs clean the entire house out (meaning Rick and Zimmer), we could be entering another era of ineptitude like the Tice/Childress/Frazier years. 

Like you though, I'm willing to roll the dice on the Wilfs doing their due diligence on the GM search, who in turn will due their due diligence in the HC search, who in turn will hire a very good coaching staff. 

I don't know how "attractive" the Viking GM/HC jobs are to candidates knowing that some uncertainty around the QB situation and the 2022 cap already being an issue any new GM will have to deal with....but I'd like to think the Viking jobs are somewhat attractive with ownership who's willing to spend, top-notch facilities and a roster with arguably one of the best WR in the league and "some" younger talent ("some" being a relative word there). 

I just feel that we'll need a fresh set of eyes on the entire roster, not just from a new HC and a new coaching staff, but from the GM/scouting Dept, too. Again, it's been hard to pinpoint whether some of the team's "depth" struggles have been more related to GM/scouting going after some bad prospects (either bad all-around or just not the right fit for current coaching staff), or if it's been more poor development from the coaching staff. I think we'll have plenty of time to really dive real deep into that analysis this offseason...but off the top of my head I'm sure it's a mixed-bag of both, and that's one of the reasons I think we'll need a new perspective on roster-building and player-development both in the Front Office and in the Coaching Staff. 

The offense has too much talent for a tear it all down rebuild. That's pretty much the story of the Vikings, they always seem to be very good to great on one side of the ball, and retooling the other. At best they come together for a couple years before the original strength becomes the weakness.

The problem from my perspective is they're not going to have the cap to retool the defense, it'll be more of a band-aid job and that isn't going to cut it. The defense is largely (completely?) devoid of young talent with top level abilities, so they're a good two to three drafts before the D is back among the top 10. The O has enough good young talent to still be good by then, assuming they find a QB, so maybe by 2024 they'll challenge again. But then by 2026 or so the wheels will start falling off the offense and they'll be back to square one.