After the Carson Wentz impending surgery and move to IR, the Vikings will need to add another QB to the team. The current raging topic is about how the team and, specifically, KOC handled Wentz in the Chargers game. There are plenty of fans who feel it was inexcusable to leave him in the game when he was clearly in a lot of pain at times. There are others (like myself) that feel Wentz wanted to be out there and KOC did OK since he did ask him throughout the game if he was alright. I am sure this
will be beaten down for a little while longer. It is as it should be.
Looking forward, I think the team is going to look much better. The Lions are tough especially at home. But the Vikings should have Darrisaw and O’Neill back in action and might get back Josh Oliver. That could really help against the pass rush and in the run game. I also think that JJ McCarthy is going to surprise us with more efficient play.
If the offense is able to sustain longer drives then the defense wont be out on the field for 39 minutes like they were against the Chargers. Ain’t nobody gonna tell me that does not affect them. Still, they did not perform well enough and they know it. I think the team is going to be “hot” under the collar and they are going to get after it against the Lions.
The Lions are good though and will score. I am hoping the team is competitive and has a chance to win at the end. I have to hope otherwise I would be a miserable fan. Cant go out like that.
I wonder if the Vikings will try to snag a QB off a practice squad. I like Bailey Zappe, Jake Haener, and Trevor Siemian.
I am still looking for a cornerback addition and maybe a linebacker.
Keep hope alive or get your pitchforks out!
Minnesota Vikings News and Links
‘A bleep show with the training staff’: Vikings under fire after Wentz injury fallout
Multiple insiders say Wentz played through a dislocated left shoulder that included a torn labrum and fractured socket. He suffered the original injury in Minnesota’s Week 4 game in London, though it’s unclear if the injury worsened in games that followed against the Browns, Eagles and Chargers. But last Thursday, while the Vikings were being blown out and Wentz was battling through extreme pain, O’Connell and the medical staff allowed Wentz to keep playing.
Was it the right thing to do? Why did the Vikings play him in the first place? If he didn’t have two young players behind him — undrafted rookie Max Brosmer and 22-year-old J.J. McCarthy, who was cleared but only as the emergency quarterback — would he have been allowed to play?
Wentz is a grown man who said he was “physically able to go whether it hurts or not.”
Either way, the spotlight of scrutiny is shining directly on the Vikings, specifically O’Connell and the medical staff. In fact, Vikings beat reporter Matthew Coller says he’s talked to multiple league sources who are shocked Wentz was allowed to keep playing.
“I spent the last couple of hours just talking to a few people that I know, and I’ll just say… your reactions are a lot like their reactions,” Coller said on his Purple Insider YouTube channel. “I’ll tell you one note that I got from a person with, I’ll just say with knowledge of the situation, said to me, quote, ‘This is more evidence of a bleep show with the training staff this year. So many mismanaged injuries: Van Ginkel, O’Neill, Darrisaw, Wentz, and McCarthy.’ And another person that I talked to in the league said, ‘This is how you lose a locker room. Everyone is going to be in the cold tub saying, ‘What the heck are we doing?'”
Darrisaw admitted on Monday that he came back from his torn ACL way before anyone thought he would. He certainly hasn’t been the same as he works his way back. Was it the right decision to play him in Week 2?
O’Neill suffered a sprained MCL and missed only one game before returning in Week 7 against the Eagles. He wound up missing last week’s game against the Chargers on short rest. Did the Vikings rush him back onto the field too soon?
Van Ginkel missed a ton of time during training camp and the preseason, only to suit up for the season opener and then suffer a concussion. He missed Week 2, played eight snaps in Week 3 and hasn’t played since due to a neck injury. Has his situation been mishandled?
3 quarterbacks the Vikings could add with Carson Wentz out for the year
With Wentz landing on season-ending IR, the Vikings will need to add a third quarterback. Right now, McCarthy — who returns to the starting role this week — and rookie Max Brosmer are the only QBs on the roster. They don’t have one on the practice squad.
Desmond Ridder
Brett Rypien
C.J. Beathard
If the Vikings become deadline sellers, who might they consider trading?
At the moment, FTN’s DVOA metric gives Minnesota a mere 2.6 percent chance to make the playoffs. The Athletic’s playoff simulator is only slightly higher, at 5 percent.
If the Vikings lose to the Lions on Sunday (they opened as 8.5-point road underdogs), those odds will drop further. And with the NFL’s trade deadline coming up on Nov. 4, just two days after that game, the Vikings might be thinking about the possibility of being sellers.
If GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah starts to look toward the future, which players could potentially be on the trade block? Here are four names who might make sense as trade candidates.
TE T.J. Hockenson
DT Javon Hargrave
RB Aaron Jones
RB Aaron Jones
Vikings’ Monday practice provides hints on various injured players
McCarthy is fully expected to make his return on Sunday against the Lions. If Wentz doesn’t progress throughout the week, rookie Max Brosmer would be the Vikings’ backup quarterback, and they’d potentially need to think about signing someone to be an emergency No. 3 option. With that said, it’s only Monday, so there’s time for Wentz — and others who missed practice — to ramp up their activity over the course of the week.
Update: Wentz is having shoulder surgery and is out for the year.
On that note, the other notable players who weren’t on the practice field on Monday were outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard and tight end Josh Oliver. Greenard picked up an ankle injury against the Chargers, but he was able to walk off the field under his own power and seemingly could’ve returned to the game if the score had been closer. The Vikings very much need him to be available to have a chance to slow down the Lions’ high-powered offense. Oliver suffered a foot/ankle injury in the first quarter of that game and did not return.
The good news is that Christian Darrisaw, Brian O’Neill, and Andrew Van Ginkel were all spotted at Monday’s practice. Darrisaw and O’Neill are both dealing with knee injuries and were unable to play on Thursday after playing extensive snaps four days earlier. Whether they’re available this week will depend on how their knees respond throughout the week. Van Ginkel has been dealing with a neck injury but appears to be getting close to a return to action. Kevin O’Connell provided some encouraging updates about those three players on Friday.
Christian Darrisaw Delivers New Injury Wrinkle
Vegas Expects Lions to Easily Beat Vikings in Week 9
The Detroit Lions enter Week 9 as clear betting favorites over the Minnesota Vikings, opening as 8.5-point favorites, according to DraftKings.
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The Lions have looked like one of the NFC’s most complete teams, and oddsmakers clearly expect that to continue when they host their division rivals Sunday at Ford Field.
Meanwhile, the Vikings arrive in Detroit struggling to stay afloat. After dropping two straight games, Minnesota now sits at 3-4 and in last place in the division.
Their most recent outing – a 37-10 loss to Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers – exposed serious issues on both sides of the ball.
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Facing Aidan Hutchinson and a rested Lions defensive front under Kelvin Sheppard, McCarthy could be under constant duress from the opening drive.
Detroit’s balanced roster, combined with Minnesota’s question marks offensively, explains why oddsmakers are leaning heavily toward the Lions in this Week 9 affair.
With quarterback Jared Goff efficiently leading the offense and Detroit’s defense among the league’s best at generating pressure, the Lions appear well-positioned to extend their strong start.
Why are Vikings off to such a disappointing start in 2025? What we’re seeing
The goal: To decipher why this 2025 Vikings roster that entered with high expectations has produced such a dud.
Jumbo personnel defense
The Chargers stole the formula. Before last Thursday night’s game, they had used 22 personnel (two fullbacks and two tight ends) on 20 total snaps. They used that personnel grouping on 27 snaps in the Vikings game alone. This isn’t an outlier. No NFL team has been tasked with defending more runs against heavy looks than the Vikings.
Quarterback inaccuracy
Pro Football Reference charts “bad throws,” classified as passes that couldn’t be caught with normal effort. Among the 40 quarterbacks who have started two games this season, young quarterback J.J. McCarthy ranked 39th in bad throw rate, and Wentz ranked 37th.
J.J. McCarthy’s Return Isn’t Enough To Save the Vikings
One of the big issues that fans have with the NFL Draft is that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s track record isn’t the greatest when it comes to the annual selection meeting. However, it’s not exactly as poor as the fanbase would like you to believe.
There is a stigma with Adofo-Mensah’s NFL Draft aptitude due to the lack of success in his first class in 2022. He’s been very open about how his process has changed.
“I thought a lot about those days and competing, trying to compete on multiple timelines and different things like that. I had a conversation with Kevin [O’Connell] . This is probably a year ago or something, around then,” said Adofo-Mensah after final cuts in 2024. “I asked him one time, what was it like when we were down 33-0? You know, when you feel like you’re down. When I entered the building, trying to compete, aging roster, salary cap stuff, I think there were times where I felt down 33-0. As we all know, that game starts with one play, one drive, and you build. I think at times I might have been guilty of trying to maybe have a 33-point play all at once. I think once I identified that, I kind of really just, and I think if you’ve seen since then, it’s been really foundationally just taking good steps, building to a certain critical point where I think we compete over the long term.”
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Heading into Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s first NFL Draft, The Daily Norseman’s Warren Ludford did a 20 year study looking at NFL Draft picks and how many were deemed successful on an overall level. He broke it down into seven categories
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This essentially boils down to 20.2% of draft picks being considered good selections. With around 260 NFL Draft picks per season, that leaves 53 draft picks being good selections. On average, that is less than two per team. The best teams find a way to maximize that output. It’s not just on the general manager and scouting department when it comes to draft pick success; circumstances and coaching also matter.
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Going into this years NFL Draft, I took a look at each of Adofo-Mensah’s NFL Draft picks and classified them as a successful pick, a failed pick, or to be determined. This is how they shaped out prior to the season:
Successful Picks: 5.5
Failed Picks: 8.5
To Be Determined: 8
Tragedy: 1
T.J. Hockenson: 1
Since that piece came out, three of the picks in the “to be determined” category can be moved to successful picks in Will Reichard, Michael Jurgens and Levi Drake Rodriguez, and one more to the failed category after the Vikings traded cornerback Mekhi Blackmon to the Indianapolis Colts.
When it comes to this NFL Draft class, we can already place linebacker Kobe King into the failed picks category due to being waived and then claimed by the New York Jets. You also need to include Hockenson in this discussion, because you traded significant draft capital to get him, as well as the tragic passing of Khyree Jackson, being placed in its own category. He unfortunately never got to see the field after his tragic passing before his first training camp, which makes it impossible to truly judge the selection.
As things currently stand, here is how those picks factor in.
Successful Picks: 8.5
Failed Picks: 10.5
To Be Determined: 7
Tragedy: 1
T.J. Hockenson: 1
Of the 27 NFL Draft picks Adofo-Mensah has made, his track record isn’t nearly as bad as it might seem. Sure, it absolutely needs to be better, and the best pick from his first draft class being Jalen Nailor really stings right now, as those players should be making a major impact on the team right now, especially with all four of the top 66 picks from that class being off the team.
Even so, you have a bona fide superstar in Jordan Addison that was selected at 23rd overall, and three projected talented players in J.J. McCarthy, Dallas Turner, and Donovan Jackson having shown big time flashes across the board. If they all end up being hits, the conversation around Adofo-Mensah’s drafting shifts significantly.
It also can’t be overlooked that Adofo-Mensah has done a masterful job of navigating the UDFA market, with 16 players making the roster during his tenure. He’s found real contributors in that area in linebacker Ivan Pace Jr., edge rusher Bo Richter, and edge rusher Gabe Murphy. That group doesn’t include UFL defensive tackle Jalen Redmond. That matters in this conversation.
It’s fair to be frustrated with the lack of real NFL Draft success with Adofo-Mensah, but nearly all of that comes from the 2022 NFL Draft class, and you can tell that his process has been significantly different, and it’s resulted in real contributors for this team.
Kevin O’Connell: On Vikings Run Game Struggles Vs. Chargers & Outlook for Christian Darrisaw
Minnesota dearly missed its run game on Thursday Night Football in Los Angeles.
The Vikings were missing four of their top road graders in Week 8, losing them either during the contest at the Chargers (tight end Josh Oliver and left tackle Christian Darrisaw) or planning to hold the fort down with them inactive (fullback C.J. Ham and right tackle Brian O’Neill). It’s no excuse, but Head Coach Kevin O’Connell recognized it played a role in the team’s inability to effectively run the ball versus an L.A. defense that previously was susceptible to it.
O’Connell spoke Friday with Twin Cities reporters about trying to establish the run without those players.
“When you’re in a game where you’re down some linemen that make those known passing downs a little bit more difficult, the lack of ability to get some of those plays going [is problematic],” O’Connell offered. “We found ourselves behind the chains too many times in the game, and we were able to overcome, minimally, with some playmaking by either Justin [Jefferson] or some of our other skill players in the pass game. But it’s just not the formula for success when you are trying to mitigate some other areas that are concerning based upon the matchups and some of the things you’re trying to work through as a group.”
It was a balancing act, too, O’Connell continued, knowing that involving players like Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson “can do wonders for your offensive rhythm” if they’re rolling in the early going. “But we just were never really able to put it all together and consistently look like the offense we want to look like. And there’s a lot of reasons for that, and we’ve identified some of those on the tape. But I do think the fundamentals and technique of guys in the run game, making sure we, both schematically have the best angles we can have, and the identity of plays matching with then the technique and fundamentals of being able to go cover guys up and get things started for our runners.”
O’Connell reflected it really hurt execution not having Oliver’s presence at that “Y” tight end position. Oliver exited the action with a foot injury following Minnesota’s seventh offensive snap and his fourth.
Adjusting to injuries on the fly is common for every team, though: “We were missing some pieces, but at the same time the film does clearly show that we can be better, and we need to be better,” O’Connell said.
Here are two other takeaways from O’Connell’s virtual media session leading into the mini-bye weekend:
No 1. Scheduling could help Christian Darrisaw
You might be wondering, where exactly does Darrisaw stand in his rehab from a torn ACL one year ago today? Clearly, he’s healthy enough to play, but he’s handled 63 percent of the snaps or less in three of five games. O’Connell said it’s important to take into account “unique factors of the early season slate.”
Ahem, back-to-back international games in separate countries, not to mention a game on short rest at the very stadium Darrisaw sustained his catastrophic knee injury this time last season against the Rams.
“I think it’s something that now we should be in a pretty consistent Sunday-to-Sunday type approach with some limited factors there for the foreseeable future,” O’Connell noted. “It’s something where hopefully we can get back into a consistent rhythm of what Christian’s work week looks like; a rhythm of what his recovery looks like coming off a Sunday game, and then try to consistently get him turned over because it’s no secret how critical he’s been to our success, how critical he’s been to our consistency.
“And I would go along the same route with what Brian O’Neill has meant to our offense as well, as those two pillars on the outside that allow so much to go for our offense, and I would sign up for having those guys out there every single play for the rest of the season,” the coach continued. “But at the same time, we’ve got to find ways to continue to build in a way with our depth, with our scheme (and) with our management of some of those unique circumstances where those guys might not be in the game.”
O’Connell relayed there hasn’t been any kind of preset number of snaps for Darrisaw going into any of his five games so far, in which he’s logged 38, 76, 41, 69 and 9 reps. O’Connell shared “It’s really kind of an unknown in many ways, and that leads to Christian’s dialogue with the medical staff and kind of where he thinks he’s at. And his ability to go out and do his job, ultimately, is the most important thing.”
From O’Connell’s perspective, the goal is to maintain Darrisaw’s “arrow pointing up and progressing.”
No 2. Urgently working toward solutions
Addressing the problems seen on tape Thursday and attempting to right the ship will be a group effort.
Blake Cashman, Joshua Metellus, Aaron Jones, Sr., and Justin Jefferson each emphasized postgame the value of having a closeknit locker room while under duress. Rather than pointing fingers, players have each other’s backs and are ready to take accountability for individual mistakes while also staying united as a team.
O’Connell reiterated the same Friday afternoon, noting, “I love our guys.”
“I love the makeup of our guys,” he said. “We clearly didn’t have the performance or the result, and that’s all of us last night and everybody … in that locker room and our coaching staff, we have to acknowledge that; we can’t run from it. And at the same time, I think all of the things that those players have built in their locker room, and the principles that we’ve built [into our foundation] is for these moments where we’ve got to be even more connected, even more of a group that can work through this together.
“I know that’s the type of leadership we have, that’s the type of team that our guys have formed, and we’re going to need to lean in on that,” O’Connell added.
He emphasized the long season and “certain aspects of the schedule that can be more challenging than others,” including back-to-back international contests, a second straight season of Week 8 Thursday Night Football games or another forthcoming short week in December, when Minnesota will play the Giants on Dec. 21 before hosting the Lions Christmas Day.
But regardless of challenges beyond their control, the Vikings continue to believe in their team’s construction and talent at-hand.
“But at the same time, what are we doing on the practice field? What are we doing in the meeting rooms? What are we doing to ensure that, you know, every stone is being uncovered and we’re making sure that we’re on top of every detail, every fundamental technique, scheme,” O’Connell said. “What is the identity of our team, and how do we continue to press forward to finding that and then seeing that?”
He stressed that whether navigating injuries or shoring up on-field fundamentals, “there’s got to be an urgency” in not only identifying solutions but then executing those solutions accordingly.
“I know our guys will commit, and they will understand that there’s a ton of football left in front of us,” O’Connell said. “And although 10 games give us an opportunity to dig ourselves out of this temporary hole we’re in, it’s going to be only done by rolling up our sleeves and going to work on this.”
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