Vikings Will Depend On Ground Attack, Defense In 2025

The Minnesota Vikings are going to have a much different look in 2025 than they had in any of Kevin O’Connell’s three seasons at the helm of the team.

Obviously, there is a major change at the quarterback position once again. After saying goodbye to Sam Darnold after his brilliant season, the Vikings have turned over the QB1 spot to J.J. McCarthy. This looks like a major gamble since McCarthy basically lost his rookie season after tearing his meniscus in the first preseason game of the summer.

McCarthy was a brilliant college quarterback at Michigan and led his team to the national championship, but how does O’Connell know he will be healthy in 2025? That’s a question that the Vikings won’t be able to answer until well into the team’s offseason training activities and maybe not until training camp.

Since they won’t have a definitive answer, Vikings supporters may wonder exactly what the team is doing since the only other quarterback on the roster is Brett Rypien. He did not throw a single pass in 2024 and he has never played more than four games in any season, something he did with the Denver Broncos in 2022 when he completed 53 of 88 passes for 483 yards with 2 TD passes and 4 interceptions.

The Vikings are not done at this point and a significant quarterback move will be made. It will not involve 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers, but it could involve Joe Flacco or Ryan Tannehill. Other names could surface before the Vikings go to training camp in late July.

Finding that backup quarterback in March is not a priority. Instead, the team has been remade and the heavy-duty passing offense that has been featured since the drafting of wide receiver Justin Jefferson is in the process of changing dramatically.

The Vikings are going to depend on the running game and their defense more than they have in years. It was one thing to bring back Aaron Jones for his second year with the team. He signed a two-year, $20 million deal shortly before the start of free agency, and that move indicates that the Vikings are committed to the former Green Bay Packers because of his speed, ability to get through the hole and his pass-catching ability.

New look, new philosophy for Vikings

However, they acquired Jordan Mason from the San Francisco 49ers shortly thereafter, and that represents a Minnesota commitment to the ground game. Since they are going with an unproven McCarthy coming off a year-long injury at quarterback, it only makes sense that the team is going with two high-quality running backs this season. Mason ran for 789 yards last year and averaged 5.2 yards per carry.

They ensured a commitment to the ground game with the free-agent signings of guard Will Fries and center Ryan Kelly. The Vikings weakness on the interior of the offensive line the last few seasons has been addressed. The major beneficiaries will be Jones and Mason.

The other factor that goes hand in hand with a commitment to the running game is an improved defense. The Vikings have seen major improvement in each of the last two years under defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

The Vikings were among the worst in the league in 2022 when they ranked 31^st in yards allowed. That led to the firing of Ed Donatell and the hiring of Flores. The Vikings zoomed up the charts each of the last two seasons as they ranked 13^th in points allowed in 2023 and 5^th last season.

While Flores has put together much stronger defensive teams than the Vikings had before his arrival, the team struggled to pressure opposing quarterbacks with their interior pass rushers. That weakness has been addressed by the signing of defensive tackles Jonathan Allen from the Washington Commanders and Javon Hargrave from the San Francisco 49ers.

Allen suffered a torn biceps last season and was held to 8 games, but he played 16 games or more in the previous four seasons and he should be a solid addition. The same holds for Hargrave, who played just 3 games with a triceps injury. Hargrave is not injury prone, as the two-time Pro Bowler played 15 games or more in each of his previous eight seasons.

Combine Allen and Hargrave with 2024 signees Blake Cashman, Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, and the Vikings will have a defense that can dominate for 60 minutes.

They will not need to show off an offense that depends on its downfield passing. The running game and the defense will give the Vikings a strong base and allow them to become something they have not been in decades – a physically dominant team that can punish opponents for 60 minutes every week.