Throughout the Minnesota Vikings’ transition from Kirk Cousins to the great unknown at quarterback, there was one big fear. The Vikings have always been super competitive and have displayed the uncanny ability to stay in the hunt, no matter what. The thought of an uncompetitive season is too much for many fans to bear, and it has many fearfully pondering the question.
What if we become the Detroit Lions?
That was a reasonable concern for most Vikings fans. The Lions have been the doormat of the NFC North for decades. They were one of the main reasons Cousins lasted in Minnesota for 6 years. They were as comforting as that big blanket in your closet, or a bowl of your mother’s macaroni and cheese. But they were also a laughing stock for roughly 30 of the NFL’s other franchises.
Fast forward to Sunday’s matchup with the Lions, and the tables have turned. Detroit appears to be a model organization. Meanwhile, the Vikings look rudderless as they turn to J.J. McCarthy at quarterback. Minnesota isn’t as down bad as the Lions were a few years ago, but they find themselves looking up to Detroit when they travel to Ford Field.
So what the hell happened that made being the Lions such a bad thing? And how do the Vikings get back to becoming that model franchise?
It starts with how the Lions have constructed their roster. The early years of the Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes regime were filled with pain, but also a stockpile of high draft picks. Detroit was right to rip off the Band-Aid and trade Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams. Even though he won a Super Bowl in 2022, the Lions benefited greatly from that deal.
Jared Goff came over as a “throw-in” in that trade and is one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. Detroit also traded up their first first-round draft pick in that deal to bring in Jameson Williams in 2022, and once again struck gold when they traded down for Jahmyr Gibbs in 2023. The latter deal also netted tight end Sam LaPorta, but it also helped that the Lions hit on these picks.
The Lions lost 24 games in 2020 and 2021, but they made their high draft picks count. Penei Sewell was the first pick of the Campbell/Holmes era, and then they took Aidan Hutchinson. Jack Campbell was another successful first-rounder the following year. And, while the jury is still out on Terrion Arnold and Tyleik Williams, the Lions haven’t needed them to contribute immediately because of what they’ve done in the later rounds.
The 2021 draft brought Alim McNeill (third round), Amon-Ra St. Brown (fourth round), and Derrick Barnes (fourth round) as a solid base. The 2022 draft added Kerby Joseph (third round) and Malcolm Rodriguez (sixth round). Brian Branch was another second-round pick who hit in 2023, and the Lions suddenly had a core that was worth investing in.
Having the players is one thing. Having the right coach is another. People mocked Campbell for talking about biting kneecaps in his opening press conference, which some believed was the biggest Detroit disaster since “The Homer” was revealed. But for all of Campbell’s antics, he specializes in keeping a group together and not letting things snowball when they go wrong.
This is how Detroit has gone 34-11 (including playoffs) over the past three seasons, and why they’re in position to make another run at a Super Bowl this season. There’s also a great chance that the Lions will have more shots at a championship throughout the rest of the decade and are set up for long-term success.
So, why haven’t the Vikings gotten there? And how can they use this model?
The first thing they can do is hit on their draft picks. While not every class needs to be as successful as the 2015 class, the Vikings haven’t hit on many of their picks during Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s tenure.
Remember that Williams trade? The Vikings traded down with the Lions and landed Lewis Cine, Andrew Booth, Ed Ingram, and Brian Asamoah. Most Vikings fans can recite the 2022 draft class from memory, but not because it’s a revered group.
The 2023 class didn’t fare much better. While Jordan Addison was a hit at the top of the draft, Jay Ward is the only other player still on the Vikings roster, making it two classes in a row that have flamed out.
Donovan Jackson and Will Reichard appear to be hits from the last two draft classes, but the rest of the group is still undecided, including 2024 first-round picks McCarthy and Dallas Turner.
Hitting on just some of these picks could have built a stronger infrastructure to surround McCarthy. But the Vikings had to shell out big free-agent dollars to fill the holes. Shopping through a car lot full of lemons rarely pays off, and it’s how Minnesota has gone from Super Bowl contender to having a 5% chance to make the playoffs in seven weeks.
This is also Kevin O’Connell’s responsibility. His money quote from the winter of 2024 was that organizations fail quarterbacks more than the other way around. But it’s hard to argue that the Vikings have set McCarthy and the rest of the roster up for success.
In his fifth season, O’Connell has become a coach who can keep the ball rolling when a team establishes momentum but rarely overcomes inertia. The 2023 season was an example of the Vikings starting 1-4 but rattling off five straight wins to stay in the hunt. But they couldn’t overcome the 0-3 start and missed the playoffs.
The 2022 and 2024 seasons went the other way, where the Vikings didn’t stop winning. The vibes were great until they suffered a soul-crushing playoff defeat.
The Vikings have some of the same things as the Lions when it comes to building a franchise, but Detroit has simply done it better in recent years. Perhaps it’s a lesson that can be learned when the Vikings try to pick up the pieces, but the first order of business is to stop the bleeding and become the Lions.