Vikings' Offensive Weapons Ranked as Average for 2020
Every year, ESPN's Bill Barnwell ranks the offensive weapons (meaning QBs and offensive lines aren't involved) on every team in the NFL. In each of the last two years, the Vikings cracked the top five with a group headlined by Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, Dalvin Cook, and Kyle Rudolph.
That core finally saw some shakeup this offseason with Diggs being traded to the Bills, and the Vikings plummeted in the rankings as a result. In Barnwell's 2020 edition, the Diggs-less Vikings clock in at No. 17.
I understand the departure of Diggs causing a drop, but 17 feels slightly low to me. The Vikings still have Thielen, Cook, and Rudolph, but more importantly, there's a lot of young talent behind them. Irv Smith Jr. is a breakout candidate at tight end, Justin Jefferson should be one of the most productive rookie receivers in the league, and Alexander Mattison is a heck of a backup running back.
Here's what Barnwell had to say about Minnesota's skill-position group:
Minnesota broke up over the offseason what might have been the league's best one-two punch at wide receiver by trading Stefon Diggs to the Bills. LSU star Justin Jefferson, a first-round pick, will replace Diggs, but it's asking a lot of any rookie to step in for one of the most productive wideouts in football. The trade could also lead the Vikings to move toward more 22 personnel on offense, which would create playing time for second-year breakout candidate Irv Smith Jr. at tight end.
Adam Thielen is still around, of course, but a hamstring injury broke his streak of increasing his receiving yardage after five consecutive seasons. This offense would be in serious distress if Thielen struggled to stay healthy again in 2020, given that the starting wideouts would become Jefferson and Bisi Johnson. Kyle Rudolph's production also fell last season, with the longtime Vikings tight end averaging his fewest receiving yards per game (22.8) since 2011.
The breakout star of the offense in 2019 was unquestionably Dalvin Cook. I'm not concerned about Cook's threat to hold out, since it should be a nonstarter under the new collective bargaining agreement. If he holds out of camp, he would lose an accrued year toward free agency, which would cost him millions. I'm more concerned about his ability to stay healthy after missing 19 games over his first three seasons, with a mysterious shoulder injury costing him two games and limiting him in three others down the stretch in December. Cook averaged 5.3 yards per carry over the first half of the season and then failed to top 3.8 yards per carry in any one game from there on out. He looked great in the Gary Kubiak/Mike Shanahan running game, but I wonder if he can handle a 250-carry workload and stay healthy in the process.
That's very reasonable analysis. The Vikings would absolutely be in trouble if Thielen got hurt again, but I don't think there's any reason to be concerned with the soon-to-be 30 year-old's health. Prior to last season, he had never missed a game. Likewise, I also am optimistic that Cook and the Vikings will get something worked out before the season starts, but agree that there are reasons to be skeptical about his ability to stay healthy.
If Thielen and Cook play all 16 games and players like Jefferson and Smith emerge, I think the Vikings could easily have a top-ten group of offensive weapons. But given some of the uncertainty, I would have probably ranked them in the 13-15 range, so I'm not too upset by Barnwell putting them at No. 17.
Check out all of our Vikings 2020 season preview content right here.
Join the conversation at InsideTheVikings by clicking the follow button in the upper right-hand corner of this page (mobile users, tap the bell icon – you may have to click ‘News’ first), and follow @WillRagatz on Twitter.
