As the Minnesota Vikings approach the 2024 season, this is clearly a year of the change for a team that continues to search for its first Super Bowl championship.
After allowing both Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter to leave via free agency in the offseason, the team has clearly altered its personality and leadership. Those decisions were largely influenced by general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O'Connell. The pressure for a positive outcome this season is clearly on both men.
But as far as the players are concerned, there are a number of candidates who will bear the most responsibility for the team's results this season. After letting Cousins walk away and sign with the Atlanta Falcons, the Vikings have brought in Sam Darnold to serve as their starting quarterback — at least until rookie J.J. McCarthy is ready to take over as QB1.
Darnold appears to be a decent place holder, but there is nothing in his past performances to indicate that he can lead this team consistently in the first month or two of the season. The Vikings are up against it in the first part of the season, as they follow a reasonable season opener against the New York Giants with tough games against the San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers before going to London to play the New York Jets.
A start of 1-3 seems quite likely before the Vikings go overseas. Once they return, they will host the defending NFC North champion Detroit Lions before going on the road against the Rams for a Thursday night game.
The belief here is that Darnold will start all of those games and it seems almost certain that the team will be below .500 at that point.
McCarthy to take over in November for Vikings
The rookie from Michigan may be pushing Darnold well before this point, but O'Connell will not want to put him into the starting lineup until the team has a much better chance of competing and winning. The second half of the season will not be easy, but it should provide far more opportunities for wins than the first seven games.
McCarthy should be a fast learner and he is extremely competitive. He also proved to be a sharp passer who could make big plays against top opponents during his career with the Wolverines. Performing well against elite teams was Cousins' undoing with the Vikings and it appears to be McCarthy's top asset as he begins his professional career.
However, the NFC North is not the Big Ten, and he may need some time before he is performing consistently. He is likely to flash his skills and put a few memorable plays together, but he is not likely to bear the full responsibility for the outcome of the season during his rookie season. That is not what Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell want, and they should be able to control the environment enough to protect their long-term investment in McCarthy.
Justin Jefferson is the best receiver in the NFL, and he will have to prove it every week
Justin Jefferson has demonstrated through his first four seasons in the NFL that he is the best receiver in the league. That is the opinion of multiple coaches and executives throughout professional football, and the Vikings decided to reward him in the offseason with a 4-year, $140 million contract.
That kind of financial remuneration brings quite a bit of responsibility and pressure. The key to team performance is usually based on quarterback play, but the Vikings are going with a placeholder and a rookie at that position, so the pressure in this case falls to Jefferson.
Not only must he produce at a very high level, he must make his biggest plays when the game is on the line against Minnesota's best opponents.
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He has been up to this in the past, with his signature game coming in the 2022 season on the road against the Buffalo Bills. He made an incredible fourth-down catch late in the game that gave the Vikings a chance to win, and they were able to come through with the victory. He must make huge catches all year if the team is going to surprise observers and play winning football.
Jefferson was limited last year by a hamstring injury that forced him to miss seven games, but he still caught 68 passes for 1,074 yards and 5 touchdowns. More than 36 percent of his receptions went for 20 yards or more, and that indicates how dangerous he is.
Since his rookie season in 2020, Jefferson has 29 100-yard games, and that leads all NFL receivers.
The pressure is clearly on Jefferson to carry the team on his shoulders. He is being paid like a game breaking leader and he must live up to it.
