As the Vikings prepare to open the season Monday, after what already feels like an interminable wait, a couple of things about their roster are obvious.
First, Justin Jefferson is their best player. He is arguably the best receiver in football and inarguably one of the top players in the entire league. Having such a talent is a good place to start when constructing a roster.
Second, J.J. McCarthy is their most important player long-term. That’s just the nature of the quarterback position in the NFL. How he performs in his first year as a starter will say a lot about whether the Vikings are a playoff team this season. How he develops over the next few years will say a lot about whether the Vikings can finally win a Super Bowl.
But Friday’s Daily Delivery podcast featuring Star Tribune columnist Chip Scoggins also revealed something else: It is much harder to pinpoint the Vikings’ most important player(s) on defense.
This is a testament to the overall talent on defense and also how you want to frame the question of “most important.”
On the podcast, Chip and I picked our three most indispensable defensive players. There was overlap on just one of them. Let’s take a look at the five players we referenced (and the deserving candidates left off the list) at the start of today’s 10 things to know: