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Kevin O’Connell’s vision for the 2025 offseason began moments after the Los Angeles Rams thumped the Vikings with an NFL playoff record-tying nine sacks in a 27-9 wild-card rout, which came eight days after a 31-9 beatdown at Detroit cost Minnesota the NFC North title and the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
Still happy that his team won 14 games with Sam Darnold at quarterback — a feat that was unfathomable to nearly everyone but the NFL Coach of the Year winner — O’Connell was, however, more focused on the four losses, two each to the Lions and the Rams, that exposed the Vikings as soft pretenders, not Super Bowl contenders. Asked where he ranked improving the offensive line on the Vikings’ to-do list, O’Connell was firm and direct, saying, “We got to find a way to solidify the interior of the pocket, first and foremost.”
O’Connell had preached all season about wanting a different “play style” — one that was tougher, more powerful, more capable of beating Dan Campbell’s division bullies in Detroit. While the team made strides, ultimately the Vikings lacked the personnel in the trenches to really pull it off.
More NFL team previews
AFC East: Bills | Dolphins | Jets | Patriots
AFC North:Bengals | Browns | Ravens | Steelers
AFC South:Colts | Jaguars | Texans | Titans
AFC West: Broncos | Chargers | Chiefs | Raiders
NFC East:Commanders | Cowboys | Eagles | Giants
NFC North: Bears | Lions | Packers | Vikings
NFC South: Buccaneers | Falcons | Panthers | Saints
NFC West: 49ers | Cardinals | Rams | Seahawks
Freed from the burdens of a giant quarterback contract, the Vikings went on a $300 million free-agent spending spree that greatly increased quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s chances of succeeding in Year 1 as an NFL starter after missing all of last season with a knee injury. Among other things, the Vikings reshaped both lines of scrimmage with right guard Will Fries, the top guard available ($88 million), center Ryan Kelly and big-name defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. The Vikings then made Ohio State left guard Donovan Jackson the first guard Minnesota drafted in the first round since since Hall of Famer Randall McDaniel in 1988.
“To win four playoff games [including the Super Bowl], you’ll get into different types of fights,” says general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. “You want to have the type of roster to win any type of game.”
Offense
Better pass protection isn’t the only reason the Vikings changed all three interior line starters. O’Connell has had one of the NFL’s worst rushing attacks, ranking 24th or worse in yards per carry in each of the past three years. Kelly and Fries — a top-five guard in the league — helped make the Colts a top-eight rushing team last year. Jackson, meanwhile, has ready-made NFL strength and will be a Day 1 starter ahead of Blake Brandel, who becomes a versatile backup. Left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who’s expected back in Week 1 from ACL surgery, and right tackle Brian O’Neill are elite. “Great offensive lines are team lifters,” Adofo-Mensah says of the team’s offseason focus. “They establish a play style, a demeanor, that we want to be about.”
Justin Jefferson
McCarthy will have one of the NFL’s best targets in Justin Jefferson.
Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
O’Connell, the “quarterback whisperer,” hand-picked McCarthy 10th overall in the 2024 draft. A national champion at Michigan, McCarthy led the FBS in completion percentage (72.3%) his last year. Justin Jefferson is arguably the best receiver in football and on a Hall of Fame trajectory. Jordan Addison would be a No. 1 receiver on most teams, while veteran Jalen Nailor and third-round pick Tai Felton bring top-shelf speed at wideout. T.J. Hockenson is among the best tight ends in football and is further removed from the ACL surgery that cost him the first seven games a year ago.
Running back Aaron Jones Sr., an excellent dual threat with deceptive power, is 30, but he won’t be overloaded like he was when he started breaking down late last year. That’s because an outstanding trade brought 26-year-old Jordan Mason from the 49ers for a 2026 sixth-round pick. Mason is a bigger back (5-11, 223 vs. 5-10, 208 for Jones) with fresher legs (236 career carries in three years) to lighten the workload behind a line that should make everyone better.
Defense
Coordinator Brian Flores enters Year 3 with the Vikings as one of the NFL’s most creative defensive visionaries and aggressive play-callers with a league-high blitz percentage of 38.9% last year. A year after his personnel input led to edge rushers Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard combining for 23.5 sacks, the Vikings hit free agency again to upgrade the front of Flores’ 3-4 scheme with Allen and Hargrave. They’re over 30 and coming off injuries but are worth the risk as two of the best interior rushers of their generation with a combined 87.5 sacks and 197 QB hits in 239 games.
Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith (22) directs the defense against the Tennessee Titans
Vikings safety Harrison Smith
Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
The secondary has lost three of the top six defensive backs Flores used last year. Flores’ back-end cupboard isn’t entirely bare, though. Byron Murphy Jr., a 27-year-old All-Pro in waiting, is coming off a career year in every facet, from tackles (81) to interceptions (six). Safety Harrison Smith, 36, basically is a player-coach with ample gas left in Year 14. Theo Jackson, a reliable backup the past three years, will see more time alongside Smith and do-it-all weapon Joshua Metellus in Flores’ three-safety looks. Cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, a former Philadelphia Eagle, was an offseason priority signing for Flores. Rodgers will start opposite Murphy, while Mekhi Blackmon will be the leading candidate at the No. 3 corner after missing all of last season with a torn ACL. Other new faces to keep an eye on include cornerback Jeff Okudah, the third overall pick in the 2020 draft by Detroit, as a great risk-reward signing; Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, a fifth-round rookie tackle from Georgia, as a rotational standout behind the older vets; and fellow fifth-rounder Kobe King, an inside linebacker who can back up Ivan Pace Jr. and Blake Cashman while having some of the position-flexible skills that have served Metellus so well in Flores’ schemes.
Specialists
Second-year placekicker Will Reichard, an ice-cold 24, has stabilized the kicker position. Three of his six misses as a rookie came while he was dealing with an injury. He also has a big leg, making 8-of-11 from 50-plus yards. Punter Ryan Wright was outstanding as a rookie in 2022, almost lost his job in 2023 and rebounded in 2024 well enough to help the Vikings rank fourth in punt coverage. He’ll be on a short leash in camp.
The return units have been awful in recent years, ranking last on punts and 31st on kickoffs last season. There will be competition at both return spots. Free-agent acquisition Rondale Moore will headline a list of punt return challengers to replace former Viking Brandon Powell, who offered little the last two years. Felton will lead the kick returners competing to replace Ty Chandler, who had no juice in the role.
Final Analysis
McCarthy has all he needs to succeed, much like Jayden Daniels did in leading the Washington Commanders to the NFC title game a year ago. O’Connell is among the best in the league at handling quarterbacks and play-calling. The skill positions are elite. And an offseason dedicated to fostering physicality up front should help the team seize control of more games.
But each season is different. While McCarthy may prove to be a better quarterback than Darnold in the long run, he’ll also need a season of on-the-job training in what essentially is his rookie year. A tougher schedule also awaits as the Vikings go from playing the AFC South and the New York Jets at a neutral site a year ago (5-0) to facing the rugged AFC North and the 2024 playoff-qualifying Chargers in Los Angeles this year. Look for the Vikings to win nine, maybe 10 games and contend for a wild-card spot while needing another year to overtake Detroit in the division.
More NFL team previews
AFC East: Bills | Dolphins | Jets | Patriots
AFC North:Bengals | Browns | Ravens | Steelers
AFC South:Colts | Jaguars | Texans | Titans
AFC West: Broncos | Chargers | Chiefs | Raiders
NFC East:Commanders | Cowboys | Eagles | Giants
NFC North: Bears | Lions | Packers | Vikings
NFC South: Buccaneers | Falcons | Panthers | Saints
NFC West: 49ers | Cardinals | Rams | Seahawks