Okay so it's still early only a game over the quarter mark. Although it's still early I do believe our needs have changed, we've dealt with a lot of injuries from players who were supposed to play significant roles but that hasn't stopped this team from looking like an early favorite to be playing in the Super Bowl. I don't want to get ahead of myself though and I know Mike Zimmer will keep the players heads on the goal which should be take 1 week at a time. Anyways this is the way I see our top 5 needs playing out 5 weeks in.
#1 - OT - I've liked what I've seen from Clemmings who has had to fill in for the injury prone Matt Kalil, which is completely different from how I felt before the season. Kalil's move to IR basically means his time with the team is done. Getting back to Clemmings though it's still early enough were he could potentially lock down LT or on the other hand he could force the team to look for another option to protect QB - Sam Bradford and/or Teddy Bridgewater. Over at Right Tackle we had Andre Smith who was playing pretty poorly but he also went down with an injury and might find himself on IR as well however we've had Jeremiah Sirles who was the teams super sub Offensive Lineman, he filled in for Boone when he got hurt and has since taken over the RT spot when Smith got hurt and he's looked good so far although its a small sample size so far. Either way the team will need depth.
Early Favorite: Mike McGlinchey - Notre Dame
Available Latter on: Julie'n Davenport - Bucknell
#2 - HB - So Adrian Peterson got hurt again and needed surgery also resulting in him being put on IR however even before his injury he looked like father time had caught up with him, his burst was gone and he looked like he was dancing in the back field too much instead of just hitting the hole and going, maybe this had to do with Defenses still keying on him but either way he was very ineffective and I just can't believe he is back on this team next year at his current salary. Maybe he restructures his deal idk but I'm going in with the belief that another RB has to be added as I know I wasn't sure about McKinnon's ability to be a work horse back and although he's had a couple good outings in place of the injured Adrian Peterson I still feel that he isn't suited to be the feature back and I'm not all that confident in Matt Asiata. I'd rather see Asiata in that 3rd RB spot. Thankfully this is supposed to be a very deep Runningback class.
Early Favorites: Leonard Fournette - LSU & Dalvin Cook - FSU
Available Later On: James Connor - Pittsburgh
#3 - LB - This is Chad Greenway's last year and we'll need to find his replacement, LB could be a spot that the Vikings look to Free Agency to fill and although they did bring in Emmanuel Lamur I believe adding another stud LB could help take this defense to another level which is really saying something with the way this Defense has been playing this year, it's already being compared to some of the greatest Defenses to ever play the game.
Early Favorite ILB: Reuben Foster - Alabama
Early Favorite OLB: Zach Cunningham - Vanderbilt
Available Later On ILB: Hardy Nickerson - Illinois
Available Later On OLB: Davin Bellamy - Georgia
#4 - OG - So I'm not really sure how I feel about Fusco's play. Yes he has played much better on the Right side rather than his play last year on the Left side but I still believe we should add someone in the middle rounds that will be able to compete with him. Alex Boone has been a good addition but the OLine group as a whole needs more talent. Once again this could be a spot the team looks to address in FA depending upon how Fusco's play continues throughout the year.
Mid Round Favorite: Johnny Caspers - Stanford
Available Later On: Caleb Peterson - North Carolina
#5 - DT - This will likely come down to how the team feels about Sharrif Floyd, I like what I've seen but no one can deny he's had problems staying healthy. Well the team does have a lot of depth at the position and we do have Toby Johnson on the Practice Squad at this point all we should figure is that he's a future depth guy with potential. Tom Johnson is starting to get up there in Football Age and although he doesn't have many miles on his legs getting another stud DT in the middle of the defense could take a great defense to an elite level.
Favorites : None (A position I need to look into a little more)
Honorable Mentions: S, DE & WR. As for Safety it's obvious that the Vikings need someone next to Harrison Smith and I absolutely loved what I seen out of Jayron Kearse in the pre-season and lets not act like the potential isn't there for him to be good it will just depend upon how long his potential development could take and if he can be anything more than a backup Safety. I would love to add a player like Jabril Peppers - Michigan but with no 1st round pick that's going to be virtually impossible.
At DE it's no secret that Brian Robison is getting up there in age and next year could be his last in a Vikings Uniform. Yes the Vikings have a Stud waiting in the wings but it seems there philosophy has been to grab a guy in the middle rounds with tons of potential & I believe there is another guy who fits that bill perfectly, his name is Bryan Cox - Florida
WR will really depend upon who we decide to bring back. Currently the only WR's that will for sure be on the roster next year are Jarius Wright, LaQuon Treadwell & Stefon Diggs. It's quite possible that WR won't be a need at all next year but in the scenario that we only bring back 1 guy(Thielen) or even only 2 guys(Thielen & Cordarrelle Patterson) I'd love to add Mike Williams - Clemson but again he's a player who we'd have to trade up for or a player who I think will end up being one of the top 3 wideouts when the class is looked back upon years down the road in Corey Davis - Western Michigan
