When Mike Zimmer was hired to be the 9th head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, he looked each and every one of us media members in the eye and told us that after reviewing the roster he didn't have all the players he would need to do exactly what he wanted. Some of the players fit the new coaches scheme and some of them didn't. But he told us that it was his job, until they can get the players that he needs for the scheme, to "fill in the gaps" and make it work the best he can.

Some of that gap filling came in the form of free agency and the 2014 NFL Draft. With Zimmer and offensive coordinator Norv Turner getting their first chance and acquiring talent for this football team, the Vikings went out and turned some heads with the high-dollar signings of Everson Griffen and Linval Joseph and the drafting of an unknown commodity in Anthony Barr with the 8th overall selection. 13 games into the season, with hindsight set at 20/20, you can clearly see the vision that Zimmer has coming to fruition. Everson is likely on his way to the Pro Bowl and Anthony Barr, before injuries, was the front-runner for defensive rookie of the year.

But what about the rest of the roster? You couldn't possibly fill all the gaps of a wholesale change in the course of one offseason.

While admittedly, some gaps do remain unfilled, others have been temporarily filled with the spackle that is the "willing" players on roster. I say "willing" because not all players are willing to sacrifice their numbers and their style of play for the betterment of the team. Those players are the ones that you see losing playing time and sticking out like a sore thumb while everybody else is doing their job.

For the willing, they bought in to what the new coaching staff was selling and many of them are running to the bank with it. For instance, look at Harrison Smith and Xavier Rhodes defensively. Harrison, the commander of the defensive secondary understands what former defensive backs coach Mike Zimmer expects out of his players. For Rhodes, it was the grasping of a subtle intricacy that puts Xavier's physical play into the "legal" category as opposed to drawing pass interference and holding flags on a regular basis.

Flip over to the offensive side of the ball and let's look at the way that Greg Jennings has filled the gap while one of his cohorts in the wide receivers room has done just the opposite. Jennings, always a professional, has visibly taken hold of Norv Turner's offensive schemes and his hard work has aided the progression of younger wide receivers as well as rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. The way that Greg Jennings executes his responsibilities so accurately, showcases the success this offense can have.

On the other hand, you have Cordarrelle Patterson. By his own admission, a guy who doesn't work hard in practice and has skated by with his God-given talents up until now. His sloppiness on the field has landed him 3 snaps in last week's win and a benching the week after.

Then there were the injuries.

Injuries are a big part of the NFL, but nobody can predict them. There's no telling who they will affect, how long they will last or when they will come. But the one thing we know is they will come, to varying degrees. For the Vikings this season, that's been a pretty heavy degree.

With Matt Cassel, Adrian Peterson, Kyle Rudolph and Brandon Fusco all missing a considerable amount of time this season, Zimmer and his staff along with the help of General Manager Rick Spielman, have had to come up with creative and effective ways to fill the gaps that the injury bug left on this roster over the season. That's where Zimmer drafting "Zimmer guys" comes into effect again.

When Adrian went to be away from the team for most of the season, a Zimmer/Turner guy, Jerick McKinnon filled in with some success despite being a rookie in a vulnerable, physical position. The same can be said for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. While most people expected Teddy to take over the starting role at some point in time, there weren't too many who thought it would be this season and under these circumstances. Three weeks in and Teddy was thrust into action. It's been a learning curve, but again, a player who fits the system and buys into the system at the same time is starting to find success on the field.

Here's the point. As Mike Zimmer continues to fill the gaps and continues to develop the players that are currently on his roster, you can already see signs that he is the right guy for this job. Despite having his hands tied with the players already on roster, despite being bitten by the injury bug in a heavy way, Zimmer already has this team winning the same number of games that they did last year with Adrian Peterson and Matt Cassel...and there's still four more games to play!

It may seem that his main responsibility in his first year as head coach has been that of a "gap filler", the signs are already there that tell us once he has the ability to get out from under that umbrella, this team will flourish.

This offseason might be one of the more important ones in the history of the Minnesota Vikings. The blueprint is there and the framework has already been laid. With another crack at the market and another run through the draft, you should really start to see some of the vision coming together in 2015.