{"id":653319,"date":"2026-05-06T12:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T12:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/653319\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T12:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T12:51:16","slug":"vikings-land-in-toilet-of-nfl-power-rankings-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/653319\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings Land in Toilet of NFL Power Rankings Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the 2026 NFL Draft, NFL.com released a new batch of power rankings, placing the Minnesota Vikings<\/a> at No. 28, also known as the fifth-worst squad in the business. Now, ESPN has followed suit, keeping the purple team in the toilet but with a bit more respect at No. 24.<\/p>\n

Minnesota\u2019s roster looks stronger than the national rankings suggest.<\/p>\n

To put it plainly, the NFL media machine just doesn\u2019t think Minnesota will be very good in 2026.<\/p>\n

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Kyler Murray<\/a> Gives Minnesota the Obvious Rebuttal<\/p>\n

Where would you toss the Vikings in your personal power rankings<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\"MicahGreen Bay Packers<\/a> defensive end Micah Parsons<\/a> beats his blocker and pressures the pocket during first-half action against the Minnesota Vikings, gaining the edge on Nov 23, 2025, in Green Bay<\/a>, Wisconsin, as he disrupted protection schemes at Lambeau Field in a physical NFC North divisional matchup. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images.<\/p>\n

ESPN Power Rankings: Vikings at 9th-Worst<\/p>\n

ESPN situated Minnesota and No. 24, and Kevin Seifert explained<\/a> the most improved roster position: \u201cMost improved position: Quarterback. The Vikings did some good work at defensive tackle in the draft, but they had long ago accomplished the most important task of the offseason by building a more competitive QB room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKyler Murray<\/a> was the best quarterback available this offseason, and he will cost the Vikings only $1.3 million while the Cardinals pay the remainder of his $37.6 million salary. Instead of simply hoping J.J. McCarthy<\/a> will take the necessary steps forward, the Vikings have a proven veteran with arguably higher upside in Murray.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Murray will battle McCarthy this summer for the QB1 job at training camp, though most expect Murray to prevail \u2014 somewhat easily.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if it doesn\u2019t work out, the Vikings brought back Carson Wentz<\/a> to ensure the position will have a higher floor than it did last season,\u201d Seifert concluded.<\/p>\n

Just a Bit Mind-Boggling<\/p>\n

Such power rankings continue to be confusing for a handful of reasons.<\/p>\n

Minnesota finished 9-8 last season; they are not starting from a position of tremendous weakness. Concurrently, power rankings treat the franchise as if it finished 5-12 or 6-11 last year.<\/p>\n

The Vikings\u2019 defense ranked third in the NFL last year per EPA\/Play and DVOA. Teams with great defenses don\u2019t usually struggle or end up low in power rankings.<\/p>\n

Minnesota signed Murray for the QB1 job in March; he\u2019s a two-time Pro Bowler and an immediate upgrade over McCarthy.<\/p>\n

Rarely does Minnesota have back-to-back underwhelming seasons.<\/p>\n

Those components do not have the makings of the NFL\u2019s 24th-best team.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, Power Rankings Are Not Important<\/p>\n

The Vikings have one simple goal in 2026 regarding power rankings: to defy their 24th-place NFL standing.<\/p>\n

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Last season, Minnesota finished 9-8, despite quarterback play that ranked fifth-worst in the league by Dropback EPA. The big bet here is that Murray will immediately boost their floor and blow off the ceiling.<\/p>\n

\"DwightMinnesota Vikings cornerback Dwight McGlothern<\/a> celebrates after recording a second-half sack against the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>, reacting with teammates on Sep 21, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minnesota<\/a>, as the defense created pressure and forced disruption at U.S. Bank Stadium during a key stretch of the contest. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images.<\/p>\n

However, this is just a May power ranking, released four months before the season begins. No one will remember ESPN\u2019s thoughts next fall if the Vikings start racking up wins and make the playoffs. Power rankings are simply a snapshot of current opinion.<\/p>\n

A Twist from SI.com<\/p>\n

To an extent, a different website gave Minnesota its flowers, at least compared to ESPN. SI.com ranked Minnesota as the NFL\u2019s 19th-best team, sandwiched between the Detroit Lions<\/a> at No. 18 and the Green Bay Packers at No. 20.<\/p>\n

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Conor Orr from that site opined<\/a>, \u201cI think we forget that the Vikings won nine games last season with a ridiculous carousel of quarterbacks, including a version of Carson Wentz so injured that a police report should have been filed. While we can all pile on the Caleb Banks pick, this was a draft of wild swings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBanks may be a team\u2019s only crack at a defensive tackle that can wreck games. And without a GM at the wheel, why not let DC Brian Flores have a voice?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/p>\n

Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores observes drills and evaluates players during minicamp practice on Jun 10, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as he monitored defensive execution and adjustments at the team\u2019s training facility while continuing to shape the unit ahead of the upcoming NFL season. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images.<\/p>\n

Last month, CBS Sports\u2018 Jordan Dajani dropped Minnesota at No. 24 like ESPN and noted<\/a>, \u201cThe Vikings missed the playoffs last year for the second time in four seasons under Kevin O\u2019Connell, despite winning their final five games after a 4-8 start. Former first-round pick J.J. McCarthy didn\u2019t do enough to secure the starting job, prompting Minnesota to bring in Kyler Murray to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWith an aggressive Brian Flores<\/a> defense and one of the best wide receivers in Justin Jefferson, there\u2019s urgency to build a roster that complements the team\u2019s strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sportsbooks predict the Vikings to finish around 8-9 or 9-8. The next stop in the offseason is the schedule release, which should be about one week away. The Vikings will have nine home games this go-round and are expected to face a middle-of-the-road opponent docket per strength of schedule<\/a>. The NFC North, of course, will probably be quite the murderer\u2019s row once again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After the 2026 NFL Draft, NFL.com released a new batch of power rankings, placing the Minnesota Vikings at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[17460,64,63,55565,1252,3055,315917,794,6587,1243,1282,1535,17457,17456,291895,5380,24247,1245,5387,1239,593,15666,85,17467,41710],"class_list":["post-653319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-aaron-jones","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-carson-wentz","tag-cincinnati-bengals","tag-detroit-lions","tag-dwight-mcglothern","tag-espn","tag-green-bay","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-j-j-mccarthy","tag-jordan-addison","tag-jordan-mason","tag-justin-jefferson","tag-kevin-seifert","tag-kyler-murray","tag-mandatory-credit","tag-micah-parsons","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-vikings","tag-nfl","tag-power-rankings","tag-sports","tag-t-j-hockenson","tag-the-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}