The NFL regular season is now less than nine weeks away, and when the Minnesota Vikings get there, they’re supposed to finish 8-9 or 9-8, according to sportsbooks. It’s the same forecast that followed the franchise in the summer of 2024 before Minnesota chipped off 14 wins. With such a mediocre projection, the club must have some red flags, right?
Indeed, and we are here to lift up the main ones. The red flags are ranked in ascending order (No. 1=biggest red flag).
VikingsTerritory mentions the rushing offense — and has done so for four years — so much that it always feels like the sun rising.
Minnesota ranked 19th in 2025 per rushing playcall percentage. The best teams — ones that win Super Bowls — run the football at a more balanced clip. Then, every summer, the Vikings coaches outwardly profess that they’re going to run the rock more and only effectuate that mission a teensy bit.
The underlying problem? The team doesn’t have a young, game-changing running back. That was Dalvin Cook nine years ago, and he’s long gone. Rookie Demond Claiborne could fill this role, but 6th-Round tailbacks usually end up as RB3s or out of the league.
Minnesota’s main running backs are Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason. The duo is not overly dynamic. These are the Vikings’ interior offensive line starters: These are the Vikings’ interior offensive line main backups: Minnesota is one iOL injury away from serious heartburn.
Most coaches don’t enter Year No. 5 with franchises sans a playoff win. But Kevin O’Connell will.
The Vikings are in the middle of their third-longest playoff win drought in franchise history, and while no one is vociferously screaming about O’Connell on the hot seat, doesn’t he have to, you know, win a postseason game sooner rather than later?
Meanwhile, Minnesota fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in January and hired new general manager Nolan Teasley about five weeks ago. Teasley probably doesn’t think, “Oh, dear God, this team must win now.” He’s likely — hopefully — preparing the franchise for the long term. If O’Connell needs a player via trade before the deadline in November, for example, will Teasley be willing to pull the trigger on a draft pick? There’s some self-imposed friction here — a head coach who must win versus a general manager who just walked through security.
As recently as three years ago, the NFC North always had a team to beat up. They just did. It was usually the Detroit Lions, sometimes intermixed with a mediocre-to-poor Chicago Bears team. The Vikings have also been mediocre every other year since 2012.
The days of one pushover team in the NFC North are gone. Oddsmakers project every team to win at least eight games. Every NFC North matchup features, at least, a Wildcard playoff level of difficulty.
Even if Minnesota is good, 10-7 or so may be the ceiling inside a vicious division.
The Eagles acquired Jonathan Greenard via trade in April, and the Vikings went from showcasing the OLB room as its deepest unit to a roster question mark. Instead of Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Dallas Turner — “too much of a good thing” — it’s Van Ginkel, Turner, and possibly Bo Richter, Jake Golday, and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins. There is genuine uncertainty at OLB3, something Vikings fans have not experienced in years.
Of course, this problem is easily fixable: Teasley could sign Von Miller, Jadeveon Clowney, or Leonard Floyd after breakfast today. He has $13 million in cap space.
But until he does that, Vikings football is one injury away from displaying Dallas Turner and Bo Richter as the main OLBs on the field on any given Sunday. It is terrific to have quarterback depth like Kyler Murray, J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz, and Max Brosmer. Sure. If one quarterback gets hurt, Minnesota has options, unlike 2023 and 2025 when it had to scramble and hope for the best.
Here’s the one problem with having no declared QB1 by July: no other NFC North team is in that position. The Bears have Caleb Williams. The Lions had Jared Goff. The Packers have Jordan Love. Minnesota is the only NFC North squad with a huge quarterback mystery.
Generally speaking, it’s better to be in the other boat.
Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … More about Dustin Baker
Vikings’ Biggest Concern Still Starts at QB
Bonus: No Game-Changing RB
5. iOL Depth
Donovan Jackson (LG), Blake Brandel (C), and Will Fries (RG).
Joe Huber (LG), Michael Jurgens (C), and Henry Byrd (RG).
4. Win-Now Head Coach v. Brand New GM
3. Ruthless NFC Competition
2. OLB Depth
1. QB Uncertainty
