Here is your Minnesota Vikings Season Preview with everything you need to know ahead of the 2023 season. By Danny Atherton
Under first time Head Coach, Kevin O’Connell and General Manager, Kwesi Odofo-Mensah, the Vikings topped the NFC North with a 13-4 record in 2022 before losing 31-24 to the New York Giants in the Wild Card round.
In a season which had lots of bright moments, the brighest came from star Wide Reciever Justin Jefferson who topped the NFL recieving yards with a 1,809.
The Vikings did decide to release running back Dalvin Cook at the end of the season and Alexander Mattison will now lead the Vikings rushing attack.
Year 2 under the new regime should give Vikings fans plenty to be excited about there should be plenty of meaningful football player in Minnesota in the years to come.
Vikings 2023 Schedule
- Week 1 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Week 2 – @ Philadelphia Eagles
- Week 3 – Los Angeles Chargers
- Week 4 – @ Carolina Panthers
- Week 5 – Kansas City Chiefs
- Week 6 – @ Chicago Bears
- Week 7 – San Francisco 49ers
- Week 8 – @ Green Bay Packers
- Week 9 – @ Atlanta Falcons
- Week 10 – New Orleans Saints
- Week 11 – @ Denver Broncos
- Week 12 – Chicago Bears
- Week 13 – Bye
- Week 14 – Las Vegas Raiders
- Week 15 – @ Cincinnati Bengals
- Week 16 – Detroit Lions
- Week 17 – Green Bay Packers
- Week 18 – @ Detroit Lions
Coaching Staff
General Manager: Kwesi Odofo-Mensah
Head Coach: Kevin O’Connell
Offensive Coordinator: Wes Phillips
Defensive Coordinator: Brian Flores
Special Teams Coordinator: Matt Daniels
Players In
Free Agents
TE – Josh Oliver – 3 year $21 Million
DE – Marcus Davenport – 1 year $13 Million
DL – Dean Lowry – 2 year $8.5 Million
CB – Byron Murphy – 2 year $22 Million
2023 NFL Draft Class
- Round 1 – Pick 23 – Jordan Addison – WR – USC
- Round 3 – Pick 102 – Mekhi Blackmon – CB – USC
- Round 4 – Pick 134 – Jay Ward – S – LSU
- Round 5 – Pick 141 – Jaquelin Roy – NT – LSU
- Round 5 – Pick 164 – Jaren Hall – QB – BYU
- Round 7 – Pick 222 – DeWayne McBride – RB – UAB
Vikings Projected Starters
Offence
QB – Kirk Cousins
RB – Alexander Mattison
FB – C.J Ham
WR – Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison & K.J Osborn
TE – T.J Hockenson
LT – Christian Darrisaw
LG – Ezra Cleveland
C – Garrett Bradbury
RG – Ed Ingram
RT – Brian O’Neil
Defence
DE – Dean Lowry
DT – Khyiris Tonga
DE – Harrison Phillips
OLB – Danielle Hunter
MLB – Brian Asamoah
MLB – Jordan Hicks
OLB – Marcus Davenport
CB – Andrew Booth
CB – Byron Murphy
S – Harrison Smith
FS – Camryn Bynum
The 2023 Vikings have a very explosive offence on paper with weapons such as Jefferson, Addison and Hockenson and a quarterback in Cousins who is not afraid to get the ball down the field.
The weakness last season was the defence who gave up 7.3 yards per pass play – the 3rd worst in the league. The acqusition of Byron Murphy will definitely help that and new DC Brian Flores.
Star Player
Without doubt Justin Jefferson is the star name on the Vikings roster. The wide reciever is heading into his 4th NFL season and has already amassed 324 receptions, 4,825 yards and 25 touchdowns. Jefferson is already certainly in the conversation for the best reciever in the league and im sure many would have him atop of that list. The former LSU wideout had the best season of his career last year under head coach and play-caller Kevin O’Connell and he could have the same impact Cooper Kupp had on the Rams when O’Connell was OC in LA. With Dalvin Cook no longer in Minnesota and rookie reciever Jordan Addison lining up opposite Jefferson, the 2022 NFL Offensive Player of The Year will play a massive role in how far this Vikings team goes.
2023 Breakout Player
Alexander Mattison may be heading into his 5th season in the NFL but this will be his first chance as a lead back after the departure of Dalvin Cook. The former Boise State running back says he is “excited” for the opportunity. With the Vikings posing some serious threats on the outside, Mattison should get plenty of running lanes and opportunites and he has the chance to run the Vikings into the playoffs and beyond.
Vikings 2023 Season Expectations
The Vikings are a team not many experts are talking about but they have very quietly had a nice offseason. The decision to release star running back Dalvin Cook won’t of been easy but the offence is still very explosive and Vikings fans should be very excited to see where Kevin O’Connell can take them in year 2. The defence is also better than last year and the addition of Brian Flores as DC is a very shrewd one.
As mentioned earlier in the piece the Vikings will be very dissapointed if they don’t atleast claim the NFC North crown and make the playoffs once again and they will be hoping to go beyond the wild card round and make a deep run in what could be a very open NFC this year.
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Banner Image: Kirk Cousins will lead the Vikings into the new season. Iamge from people.com