The Minnesota Vikings are on to the next portion of the offseason after selecting seven players in the 2024 NFL Draft and signing 17 undrafted free agents afterward. The first step in that process is seeing the rookies perform in rookie minicamp with all of the undrafted free agents, draft picks and select invites.
The interesting thing about where things sit with the Vikings going into rookie camp is how they rank across the board with the other teams in the National Football League. Power rankings are starting to come out post-NFL Draft and Sports Illustrated's Conor Orr has a fascinating take on the Vikings, comparing them to the 2023 Houston Texans.
Minnesota Vikings compared to Houston Texans in power rankings
I think I will be the most wrong about the Vikings out of any team. I came out fairly strongly against the J.J. McCarthy pick, which is a foolish stance given how good Kevin O’ Connell is at tutoring the quarterback position and the fact that McCarthy has two elite wide receivers and a great tight end. If Kwesi Adofo-Mensah hits on McCarthy and Dallas Turner, we could be looking at another GM with offensive and defensive rookies of the year potential. For the record, I hated Houston’s draft a year ago, too, so Adofo-Mensah is in good company.
This is the same guy who ranked the Vikings outside of his top 10 during the middle of the Vikings' 2022 season when they were winning nearly every game. It's safe to say Orr doesn't like the Vikings, but how he frames this is fascinating.
He fully admits that he's likely going to be wrong about the Vikings and draws the comparison to the Texans getting C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson. A top quarterback and the consensus best edge rusher? It worked well for the Texans and the Vikings arguably have a better infrastructure set up for McCarthy than the Texans had with Stroud.
Nobody knows what the future will hold, but it's interesting to see that comparison drawn already.
