I wanted to ask about the team’s recent approach to roster building and the draft.
Last season, there appeared to be a strategy of taking calculated risks on injured players in free agency, with the expectation they would return to health and contribute. Unfortunately, that approach didn’t seem to work out as intended.
With that in mind, I’m curious — what is the reasoning behind continuing to take similar risks in the draft with players who have injury concerns?
Additionally, the draft seemed heavily focused on defense. Is the expectation that the current offensive roster, along with internal development and coaching, will be enough to elevate performance and support a competitive run this season?
I appreciate the vision and effort that goes into building a team, and I’m simply trying to better understand the strategy moving forward.
These are valid points, especially on the heels of the 2025 Vikings season that was impacted so heavily at multiple spots by injuries.
The team’s Health & Performance staff has earned a high level of respect across the NFL and from players for how knowledgeable and intentional it is, but there’s some instances where best-designed plans can’t prevent a particular outcome.
Although Caleb Banks has dealt with the foot injury, the Vikings were able to do a comprehensive medical evaluation and have a tremendous level of confidence in team doctors. At least one or maybe more other teams were seeking more medical information on Banks as recently as the opening day of the draft in case Banks did fall to where (or below where) teams had placed them on their boards.
Health obviously is a question until Banks can move past this spring’s setback, but his upside is high (more on that below), so the risk-reward equation might look a little different than with other players in a year where defensive line was not considered as deep as some other positions like safety.
The board fell in a way where Minnesota invested its three highest picks on two defensive linemen (Banks in the first and Domonique “Big Citrus” Orange in the third) and linebacker Jake Golday in the second. Those are areas where higher draft picks have not been applied to roster building. I could see a situation where all three of those players contribute in roles early this season if things go well.
The Vikings wound up picking four players on offense: tackle Caleb Tiernan, fullback Max Bredeson, running back Demond Claiborne and center Gavin Gerhardt.
Those positions can have a pretty confident line drawn to some of what the team experienced in 2025 (depth getting tested at swing tackle and center; the retirement of C.J. Ham; desiring a few more breakaway runs that could result from adding Claiborne’s speed).
The Vikings have a pretty strong group of established skill players, from Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison to tight ends T.J. Hockenson and Josh Oliver to running backs Aaron Jones, Sr., and Jordan Mason. O-line health will be important for a quarterbacks room that has elevated its competition at the start of the offseason program.
The NFC North, the NFL’s only division in which all four teams had winning records in 2025, doesn’t seem like it’s getting easier, but I do believe the Vikings are built to challenge.