The Vikings won 14 games last season, but this year they are predicted to win somewhere around 8.5.
There isn’t just one reason for that dip, of course. The Vikings’ schedule this season figures to be more difficult than it was a year ago. And there is naturally regression baked in when a team has as much success as the Vikings did a year ago in one-score games.
But if you want to point to one player, he’s standing front and center both literally and figuratively.
You can’t have a conversation about expectations for the Vikings without acknowledging all that is being asked of quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
Conventional wisdom might be to look at all the talent around McCarthy — a revamped offensive line, a greater dedication to the running game, a ferocious front seven and the best receiver in football, just to name some of the most notable strengths — and conclude that he won’t have to do much more beyond managing games to be an asset this season.
That might be true, but these Vikings do not aspire to merely be good. They aspire to be great, and McCarthy holds the key to that.
It’s an unusual level of pressure for a young quarterback, as Ben Goessling and I talked about on Friday’s Daily Delivery podcast.
Consider these factors, which make up the start of 10 things you should know today:
