2016 Team Needs: NFC North
By jonfox
Left tackle. Matt Kalil had it, then he lost it. For his first two seasons, he looked like the best young tackle in the NFC and was on his way to NFL superstardom. Then somewhere between the end of the 2013 season and start of the 2014 season, he lost it.
He did improve somewhat from 2014 to 2015 but he’s far from the player he was in 2012 and 2013. The Vikings could give him another season to refind his old form, but thats not really a risk that the Vikings would want to take with Bridgewater’s development and the tail end of Adrian Peterson’s career. They need someone who can come in and stabilize the position or at least push Kalil to fight for his job.
Or they can start again at the position and move Kalil to another team where he can play out his rookie contract and hope to refind what he once had.
Three names to consider: Russell Okung(free agency), Cordy Glenn(free agency), Jason Spriggs(day 1 of the draft).
Y wide receiver. The Vikings may have found a great complimentary piece at the slot in Stefon Diggs. Whether he can stay healthy is another question. In his rookie season he started out very hot and finished very slowly. Some of this was the usual up and down rookie play when teams struggle to defend a player until they get enough tape of how he’s being used. The other part of it is that the Vikings really didn’t have a great receiving threat on the other side of the formation from him.
The other top targeted wideouts for the Vikings combined for 71 catches for 915 yards. That’s just not good enough. And while Kyle Rudolph can contribute some in the passing game, he’s never going to become the player that they were hoping for when they drafted him over Randall Cobb and Jordan Cameron.
What the Vikings need is what every young quarterback needs: a receiving target at wideout or tight end with a big catching radius so that he doesn’t have to make a perfect throw every time. This isn’t to let the passer develop bad habits, but let the passer learn so that failure doesn’t drag down his confidence.
Three names to consider: Alshon Jeffery(free agency), Coby Fleener(free agency), De’Runnya Wilson(day 2 of the draft).
Strong Safety. Harrison Smith is a superstar at free safety, but they need to pair him with an effective strong safety so that Smith doesn’t have to do everything between the hashmarks behind the linebackers.
Ideally, they would get an in-the-box safety who won’t embarrass himself in short/flat coverage. That way, Zimmer has more flexibility to go with his 4-2-5 defense, which he loves to throw in as a base set to confuse offenses.
Three names to consider: George Iloka(free agency), Jayron Kearse(day 3 of the draft), KJ Dillon(day 3 of the draft).
Next: Green Bay Packers