The Vikings have done a nice job of addressing positions of need. The team drafted two offensive linemen in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft. Along with that, the team also drafted defensive Patrick Jones in the third-round of the draft.
In free agency, the team did a nice job of bringing in talent for the defensive back group.
So, what’s next?
Marc Sessler over at NFL.com said that ‘pinpoint pass-rushing pecking order’ is the biggest need for the Vikings to close out the offseason, assuming the team doesn’t add another defensive end in free agency.
Here’s what Sessler wrote about the Vikings:
Only four teams logged fewer sacks than Minnesota’s 23 from a season ago. Losing Danielle Hunter for the year to neck surgery — in combo with trading away Yannick Ngakoue — was apocalyptic. Hunter is back in the fold after whispers of the chiseled pass rusher demanding a lucrative new deal died down. The question is who will start across from him. A platoon (Stephen Weatherly, D.J. Wonnum, Jalyn Holmes and rookie Patrick Jones II) feels logical, but defensive line guru Andre Patterson sounds especially high on fourth-rounder Janarius Robinson, saying: “I always find that guy in the draft where I say, man, I’d love to get my hands on this kid, and he’s the guy.“
The Vikings had just 23 sacks last season, a mark that ranked 28th in the NFL. The previous year, with a healthy Hunter, the Vikings had 48 sacks.
The hope is that with Hunter’s return, and the emergence of one of the young prospects expected to start opposite of him, will boost those numbers. The question, though, is who that player will be.