The final whistle has blown on the Minnesota Vikings’ 2023 season with a 30-20 loss to the Detroit Lions, causing the team to fall to 7-10 in a disappointing year. At this point, the Vikings’ front office and coaching staff, led by Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell, are taking stock of what they did this year and coming up with a plan to improve and hopefully get back into playoff contention next season.
Given that the Vikings will be evaluating themselves, let’s have a little fun and evaluate them from the outside.
Here is my report card for the 2023 Minnesota Vikings:
talent acquisition – A-
Adofo-Mensah made a tremendous free-agent signing in Byron Murphy and added a pair of impact starters in rookies Jordan Addison and Ivan Pace Jr., with some promising players throughout the rest of the draft class. There were some misses in players like Marcus Davenport…and the overall RB room.
However, adding Brian Flores as defensive coordinator pushes this grade into the “A” range. Flores proved coaching matters on the defensive side of the ball.
Game Management – D+
The Vikings melted down in late-game situations all year, and O’Connell deserves a large portion of the blame for that. Whether it was conservative play calling or questionable fourth-down decisions, games like the ones against the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals stick out as ones Minnesota could have managed better.
Minnesota’s quarterback situation didn’t help O’Connell. But he struggled to make anything good out of a challenging situation, and the team went 1-6 in their final seven games.
Offensive Playcalling – B+
This category is separate from game management because O’Connell did a great job as a play designer and sequencer. Minnesota’s offense averaged 5.5 yards/play — ninth in the NFL — despite having to start a variety of backup QBs. The passing game was incredibly explosive and used its weapons well. O’Connell coaching Josh Dobbs through the Atlanta game was one of the best coaching performances of the year for any team.
There were downsides, particularly in the run game. But I put that more on the personnel than play calling. Turnovers were also a consistent issue and prevented this grade from going higher.
Defensive playcalling – A-
Four weeks ago, this would have been an A+. Brian Flores basically invented a new defensive scheme. He brought a bunch of unheralded players like Josh Metellus, Cam Bynum, and Ivan Pace Jr. together to create a unit that was 11th in Defensive DVOA after a lifeless 24th-place showing in 2022.
The most exciting part of Flores’ season is that he asked young players to perform in unique roles they had no experience with. Year 2 of the defense should naturally improve with familiarity. Assuming Flores sticks around, the Vikings have a pair of excellent playcallers moving forward.
Quarterback – C-
Despite the poor record, Kirk Cousins was probably having his best season in Minnesota before getting injured. The Vikings saw some excellent performances from each of their backups in Dobbs, Jaren Hall, and Nick Mullens. But ultimately, those three were unable to sustain their success. Turnover issues from the QBs were the biggest reason for the team’s downfall.
Running back – D-
Alexander Mattison earned the dubious distinction of rushing for zero TDs despite 180 carries on the season. Ty Chandler showed more explosive traits on the ground, but he ended the year with nearly the same success rate (45% for Mattison, 45.1% for Chandler) and showed some truly abysmal pass protection, allowing four sacks this season.
RB may not be a position you want to invest heavily in, but the Vikings need to improve this offseason.
wide receiver – A
Justin Jefferson is absolutely amazing and reached 1,000 receiving yards despite playing in just 10 games. Rookie first-round pick Jordan Addison put up an impressive 70 receptions for 911 yards and 10 TDs.
Beyond that, K.J. Osborn may have disappointed compared to some people’s expectations, but 540 receiving yards is still solid for the fourth option in the passing game. Brandon Powell also impressed in limited action.
tight end – A-
In some ways, T.J. Hockenson was the player around whom the Vikings designed their offense. He stepped up in Jefferson’s absence and would have crossed 1,000 yards without a late injury. Some early-season miscues, especially in the Los Angeles Chargers game, drop the overall grade.
Hockenson’s blocking is excellent, but Josh Oliver was sometimes dominant as a blocker. He doesn’t quite block like an OT but comes close to it. Johnny Mundt also provided some value after Hockenson went down with injury.
offensive line – B
The Vikings probably got the best performance out of an offensive line they’ve had since at least 2017, and maybe since the dominant 2012 line. The team graded out very well in analytical pass-protection measures and was middle of the pack in run blocking, a marked improvement after years of subpar play.
To my eye, the line seemed to fall off down the stretch in particular. Christian Darrisaw struggled more without the consistency of Kirk Cousins at QB. The line struggled to pick up stunts and protect on overload blitzes. While the team had a solid unit here, there is definitely room for improvement in 2024.
interior defensive line – C-
Harrison Phillips had a phenomenal year as a run defender, posting 92 tackles on the season, a ridiculous number for a defensive tackle. The run defense was great in general, with Jonathan Bullard and Khyiris Tonga contributing a significant amount to a team that allowed only 3.8 yards/carry, tied for fourth in the NFL.
However, the Vikings could not buy a pass-rush win from the interior, which dragged this grade down. In some sense, a great interior pass rush wasn’t required, given how the Vikings designed their blitzes. But adding one would have enabled them to blitz less and led to more success on three- and four-man rushes. Interior pass rush is a significant need for this team heading into next year.
edge rushers – B
Danielle Hunter had an incredible season, with 16.5 sacks and a league-leading 23 tackles for loss. He is a dominant force that I hope the Vikings can bring back next season. Outside of Hunter, D.J. Wonnum stepped up and showed some real pass-rush wins, with eight sacks before getting injured. But his overall play was fringe-starter level. Marcus Davenport was a disappointment because he missed most of the season due to injury, and Pat Jones II had some flashes but mostly belongs as a role player.
With just Jones and rookie Andre Carter II under contract for next year, the Vikings will need significant investment in this position.
linebacker – B-
Ivan Pace Jr. was incredibly impressive as a rookie, and Jordan Hicks had a bounce-back year after a poor one in 2022. However, part of that performance was due to Flores putting both players in positions that suited their skill sets, mostly coming forward and not being asked to cover difficult assignments.
Both had struggles in coverage, limiting the defense’s overall success. Growth in that area is needed in 2024.
cornerback – C-
Byron Murphy played excellently in a diverse role. Flores asked him to play against opponents’ best receivers, come forward against the run and screens, and even play deep coverage. However, the defense completely fell apart once he injured his MCL during the Bengals game. Rookie Mekhi Blackmon and second-year players Akayleb Evans and Andrew Booth Jr. showed flashes through inconsistent play. Still, they could not make a play over the last three weeks of the season. That drags a promising showing for most of the year down to a poor grade.
safety – B+
The Vikings used a unique defensive structure that led to three safeties — Camryn Bynum, Harrison Smith, and Josh Metellus, leading the defense in snaps. Bynum and Metellus, who ascended to a near-Pro Bowler from a special teams role in previous years, showed significant growth under Flores and Daronte Jones’ tutelage.
Smith has slowed down with age, but he still closed the door on the Carolina Panthers in one of Minnesota’s seven wins. The group was particularly effective at punching the ball out, forcing nine combined fumbles on the season. Hopefully, Metellus and Bynum, both just 25, can continue to grow moving forward.
special teams – D
Special teams hurt the Vikings all season, and they finished 30th in special teams DVOA. Kicking was a major problem. Greg Joseph ranked 28th in FG%, missing eight total kicks. Strangely, the Vikings won every game where he missed a kick.
On the punting side, Ryan Wright regressed a little from a strong rookie year. He finished 18th in net yards/punt and had a high ratio of touchbacks (seven, ranked eighth) to punts inside the 20 (17, 29th). NaJee Thompson was a bright spot as a gunner, with a fumble recovery against the Packers in Week 17.
In the return game, Brandon Powell returned the most punts of any player in the league but could not break one for a long gain. On kickoff returns, the Vikings finished dead last in average field position after kickoffs, starting at the 24.19-yard line on average.
Improvement is needed across the board on special teams in 2024.
overall grade – B-
Given positional importance, it’s probably incorrect to weight each category above equally, but an average of the grades comes out to a B-. QB is such a critical position that it’s hard to win with a backup, as the Vikings proved by going just 3-6 in games without Cousins. However, it makes sense to say that this team has a solid foundation that should be competitive with high-level QB play, which they lacked for the last nine games of the season.
Game management in tight games was also a key reason the Vikings ended up with just a 7-10 record. Through two years of the Kevin O’Connell era, the Vikings have been in an almost unbelievable 25 games decided by one score or less. After going 11-0 in 2022, they dropped to 6-8 in 2023. Historically, one-score game record has not been sticky from year-to-year in the NFL. Hopefully, positive regression there will be part of why the Vikings improve in 2024.
