Vikings Roster Reset: Offense

How do things look after the first week of free agency

We are officially a week into the 2024 NFL league year and the Minnesota Vikings look drastically different. With that in mind, we’re going to do a quick look at how the roster looks now that moves are being made and players are moving around the league. This one’s for the offense only, and we’ll do a separate look at the defense tomorrow.

Quarterback

• Starter: Sam Darnold
• Backups: Nick Mullens, Jaren Hall

There’s no more Kirk Cousins in Minnesota, as he’s made his way to the Atlanta Falcons for several armored trucks full of cash. The Vikings signed Darnold to a one-year deal to be their starter for this season, but he’s almost certainly the bridge to whichever quarterback the Vikings draft next month.

With the Vikings pretty much destined to draft a quarterback, I don’t see a scenario where they have both Darnold and Mullens on the roster going into the 2024 season. Maybe they flip Mullens on draft weekend for a late-round pick or bring him into Training Camp and try to do it then if another team loses a quarterback during the preseason. Then again, maybe they saw enough from Hall in his limited time next season to know that he’s not the guy and they ditch him at some point instead. I don’t know if they’d get a significant return for him or anything, but there aren’t many ways that this can shake out.

Running Back

• Starter: Aaron Jones
• Backups: Ty Chandler, Kene Nwangwu, DeWayne McBride, Myles Gaskin, C.J. Ham (FB)

Jones, who has been a Viking killer when he’s been healthy, left the dark side to come to Minnesota on a one-year deal. He’s certainly an upgrade from what the Vikings had at the position last year with Alexander Mattison, and hopefully he can stay healthy enough to make a big difference for the offense.

Chandler came on pretty strong toward the end of last season and will likely be part of a rotation with Jones in order to maximize his effectiveness. With the NFL seemingly doing everything they can to completely devalue the kickoff, I’m not sure what Nwangwu’s spot on this team is, to be honest. I had high hopes for McBride last year and he wound up not doing anything, and Gaskin has been back and forth from the practice squad to free agency.

As far as C.J. Ham, I know everyone loves him. . .I mean, who doesn’t love ham. . .but I have to wonder if his time on the roster isn’t getting short given how little the Vikings used a fullback last year. He’s still very good, but there just aren’t a lot of opportunities for him.

Wide Receiver

• Starters: Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Brandon Powell (#3 WR)
• Backups: Daylen Baldwin, N’Keal Harry, Lucky Jackson, Trishton Jackson, Malik Knowles, Jalen Nailor, Trent Sherfield, Thayer Thomas

If you’re on Twitter/X, do yourself a favor and mute the words “Jefferson” and “trade.” Trust me, you’ll be happier. The world’s best wide receiver is going to continue doing what he does, and Addison had a great rookie season that he’ll be looking to build off of in 2024. They’re as good a pair of receivers as you’ll find. Powell has done enough to at least earn the opportunity to be the #3 guy now that K.J. Osborn has taken off for New England.

The rest of the depth chart is. . .I believe the kids say “mid.” Nailor is having the same issue that he had at Michigan State: He’s productive when he’s on the field but the guy just can’t stay healthy. Trishton Jackson had a couple of nice moments in 2023 and Sherfield was decent in Miami but didn’t do much in Buffalo. Honestly, outside of the top two guys, and maybe the top three depending on how strongly you feel about Powell, there’s not a lot to get excited about here. With as deep as the wide receiver class is in this year’s draft, the Vikings will almost certainly address the position there at some point.

Tight End

• Starters: T.J. Hockenson*, Josh Oliver
• Backups: Johnny Mundt, Nick Muse

We know the story with Hockenson. . .the likelihood is that he isn’t going to be ready for the start of the season after he had to put off surgery for a while. He might even start the regular season on the Physically Unable to Perform List, which would cost him at least the first four games of the year. That means it’s time for Oliver to step up and show why the Vikings signed him to a deal worth $7 million/year last offseason. He was solid last year, but you generally don’t pay $7 million for “solid.”

Kevin O’Connell has called Mundt the best #3 tight end in the NFL. I’m not sure how much that’s worth, but it’s apparently worth enough for him to re-sign with the Vikings this offseason. Muse is kind of interesting. . .he’s been on the practice squad for most of the last two years and got his first NFL catch in last year’s season finale. If Hockenson is out for any length of time at the start of the season, he’s probably going to be called upon early to fill that third tight end spot, provided the Vikings don’t bring in any other options. This is a spot that could be addressed with a draft pick as well.

Offensive Line

• Starters: Christian Darrisaw, Blake Brandel (I guess), Garrett Bradbury, Ed Ingram, Brian O’Neill
• Backups: Dan Feeney, Henry Byrd, Coy Cronk, Tyrese Robinson, David Quessenberry

Four of the five starters on the offensive line are basically set. I’m not sure who starts at left guard but given the state of things at the present time Brandel is as good a guess as any. The Vikings lost a lot of their depth pieces and potential depth pieces to free agency (Austin Schlottmann, Oli Udoh, Hakeem Adeniji) and should really be looking to shore that up at this point.

Of course, the wild card here is the possibility that the Vikings will eventually bring back Dalton Risner to man the left guard spot he took last season after Ezra Cleveland was dealt to Jacksonville. Risner was pretty good, for the most part, and the Vikings bringing him back would allow Brandel to be the backup for the guard spots while Quessenberry serves as the primary backup tackle. I’m not sure who the backup center is in the event that Bradbury’s back issues flare up again. . .it could be Feeney, I guess, but I’m not sure that’s ideal. Given the lack of options at the position and Bradbury’s injury history, the Vikings need to address that at some point.

That’s a look at how the offensive side of the ball sets up now that the first wave of free agency is basically over with. We’ll take a look at the defensive side of things tomorrow.