2024 Minnesota Vikings

Don Wassall

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
31,575
Location
Pennsylvania
I decided to give Freethinker a break and do the Vikings, annually one of the league’s relatively White friendliest organizations for some time now. Last year’s team had 8 White starters and 17 on the 53. This year it’s 9 and 20 for a bit of an increase. TE T. J. Hockenson is currently on the PUP list so the Vikings begin the current season with 8.

2024 first round pick J. J. McCarthy suffered a torn right meniscus during the preseason and will miss the entire season. He looked really good before the injury and looks to have the accuracy, running ability and smarts to be the face of the franchise for a long time.

Taking McCarthy’s place this season will be Sam Darnold, the third overall pick of the 2018 draft by the Jets. Darnold has long been written off as a bust by the DWFs and the hive mind media, but he’s been one of those quarterbacks stuck on bad franchises. The Jets are notorious for not being able to develop quarterbacks, while Carolina, Darnold’s second team, is a sadsack franchise. Darnold moved on to San Francisco last year where he served as Brock Purdy’s backup, which is significant because Kyle Shanahan is a noted developer of QBs and he thought enough of Darnold to want him on his roster. This season should tell the tale of whether Darnold is a late bloomer who was previously held down by the factors mentioned above, or nothing more than backup material as Minnesota like San Francisco is a good landing spot for quarterbacks.

Nick Mullen, who passed for 303, 411, 113 and 396 yards in four starts to end the ’23 season, will back up Darnold. Brett Rypien is the third QB.

Hockenson had a career year in 2023 after coming over from Detroit, totaling 95 catches for 960 yards with 5 TDs. After he returns he’ll be backed up by Johnny Mundt and Nick Muse.

Since the departure of Adam Thielen there are no White receivers on the roster, though Thomas Thayer is on the practice squad.

The Vikings start four overachievers on defense, which is as good as it gets in the Caste NFL. Strong safety Harrison Smith is 35 now and has had an excellent career after being the rare White safety to be drafted in the first round. He’s consistently very productive, makes lots of big plays, and is very durable, having missed just seven games over the past decade.

Tackle Harrison Phillips was forced to endure a four-year racial apprenticeship while with Buffalo, but since coming to Minnesota for the ’22 season has been topnotch. Like virtually all White defensive starters in the league, Phillips gets disproportionately more tackles than many blacks. Last year he had a ridiculous 92 combined tackles, an amazing total for a tackle.

OLB/DE Andrew Van Ginkel joins Minnesota after five years with the Dolphins. Like Phillips when he was with the Bills, Van Ginkel also always found himself as a racial apprentice as despite displaying great talent time and again as a pass rusher, he was never more than a substitute who only started due to injuries to starters. In his first game with the Vikings, Van Ginkel had 4 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and a pick six. It’s troubling though that Minnesota drafted a defensive end in the first round this year, Dallas Turner, who of course is expected to effortlessly replace Van Ginkel so Andrew will need to continue to perform at the same high level he has throughout his career.

Blake Cashman came over from Houston and has the green dot as the quarterback of the defense. Originally drafted by the Jets, the first four years of his career were marred by frequent injuries. However he stayed healthy last year and responded with 106 combined tackles.

So the Vikings defense will be one to root for in 2024; unfortunately there are no White backups. Overall this remains one of the best teams from CF’s perspective.

QB: Sam Darnold, Nick Mullens, Brett Rypien
LG: Blake Brandel, Michael Jurgens
RG: (Dalton Risner is currently on IR but I’m counting him as part of the 53 as he may even start at this position when healthy)
C: Garrett Bradbury, Dan Feeney
RT: Brian O’Neill, David Quessenberry
TE: Johnny Mundt, Nick Muse, T. J. Hockenson (currently on PUP)

NT: Harrison Phillips
ROLB/DE: Andrew Van Ginkel
LILB: Blake Cashman
SS: Harrison Smith

P: Ryan Wright
PK: Will Reichard
LS: Andrew DePaola

Practice Squad: DE Jonah Williams, TE Robert Tonyan, WR Thomas Thayer, LB Bo Richter, G Henry Byrd, (colossal first round WR bust N’Keal Harry is on the practice squad as a tight end lol)

IR: QB J. J. McCarthy, TE T. J. Hockenson (PUP), G Dalton Risner, ILB Jordan Kunaszyk (mixed?)

Number of White starters: 9 when Hockenson returns, possibly 10 if Risner returns and starts at RG
Number of White Players on 53 Man Roster: 20
Grade: D+/C-
 

Freethinker

Hall of Famer
Joined
Oct 3, 2008
Messages
7,649
Location
Suffolk County, NY
Don, happy to pass the torch. Nice write up as always.

Not sure how much influence head coaches have on the roster composition, but it’s interesting that the offensive coordinators from the McVay coaching tree who went on to be head coaches, preside over some of the most White rosters. McVey himself. Zac Taylor with the Bengals and Kevin O’Connell with the Vikings. Matt LaFleur would be the exception lording over a stinker. This could be purely coincidence but then there’s current Lions GM Brad Homes, who also came over from the Rams. Holmes (black) is credited with drafting Goff and Kupp in LA and then immediately traded for Goff when he went to Detroit. Just food for thought…
 

Don Wassall

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
31,575
Location
Pennsylvania
The Vikings smartly sign Daniel Jones. A dumbass organization like the Raiders would have been ideal for him, but the Raiders are a dumbass organization. Jones may develop with Minnesota the way Sam Darnold has, but they have J. J. McCarthy waiting in the wings to start next season so it may not be a good move for Jones for the long-term.

Vikings signed QB Daniel Jones, formerly of the Giants
Jones will look to rehabilitate his NFL career with quarterback-centric head coach Kevin O’Connell, who has helped Sam Darnold get back on track in 2024 after floundering for years in Carolina and San Francisco. Jones, who last week asked for his release from the Giants after being benched for Tommy DeVito, will likely serve as Darnold’s backup for the remainder of the season.
 

Bucky

Hall of Famer
Joined
Jul 20, 2018
Messages
10,198
About as good as a spot you could hope for. Was thinking San Francisco as another possibility
 

Leonardfan

Hall of Famer
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Messages
24,588
The Vikings smartly sign Daniel Jones. A dumbass organization like the Raiders would have been ideal for him, but the Raiders are a dumbass organization. Jones may develop with Minnesota the way Sam Darnold has, but they have J. J. McCarthy waiting in the wings to start next season so it may not be a good move for Jones for the long-term.

Vikings signed QB Daniel Jones, formerly of the Giants
Jones will look to rehabilitate his NFL career with quarterback-centric head coach Kevin O’Connell, who has helped Sam Darnold get back on track in 2024 after floundering for years in Carolina and San Francisco. Jones, who last week asked for his release from the Giants after being benched for Tommy DeVito, will likely serve as Darnold’s backup for the remainder of the season.

Credit the Vikings on this one the more I think about it. It's certainly a move for the future as Darnold's season will make him a highly sought after free agent. McCarthy is still young - 21 years old and of course coming off the knee injury. O'Connell gets another talented White QB that has been written off to be insurance or a starter next year as McCarthy continues his development. I really wanted the 49ers to go after Jones but this might work out better for Jones in the long run. The McVay coaching tree seems to actually value developing QBs and O'Connell is part of that. Being optimistic Jones can rehab his career, work on his game as a potential starter in 2025 while McCarthy sits for one more year, learns the ins and outs of the offensive system and continues to develop as a pro QB.

I'd like to see the Rams take Ewers or Beck to let McVay develop either of them as Stafford's successor as well. In a perfect world of course.
 

Don Wassall

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
31,575
Location
Pennsylvania
Weenieworld will of course never apologize for mercilessly mocking Sam Darnold for years along with countless other White QBs and White players in general. When so many overcome whatever was holding them back, usually being employed by a garbage organization, Weenieworld simply carries on as if they always praised the player. Very Orwellian but that's how the disgraced corporate media works in sports and everything else:

ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reports the Vikings “have not ruled out offering [Sam Darnold] a contract for next season. According to Seifert, sources have told the team is “more open-minded about their 2025 plans than many realize” in regards to Darnold and the possibility of bringing him back. Darnold has experience a career resurgence with the Vikings, throwing for 3299-28-10 on the season while inserting himself in the MVP conversation. Darnold won’t win the MVP, but he has already set himself for a handsome pay day next offseason. The Vikings have rookie J.J. McCarthy waiting in the wings, which has led many to believe Darnold would be allowed to walk next offseason, but that may not entirely be the case. With three weeks left in the regular season and the playoffs ahead of them, the Vikings still have plenty of time left to assess their future with/without Darnold. Regardless of where he lands, it will be an interesting offseason for the former No. 3 overall pick.
 
Top