Top 5: Things to Watch For During The Upcoming Vikings Season

The reason AP is number five is because what will he do next? Already he said he is aiming for 2,500 yards rushing which sounds ridiculous unless those words came out of Adrian Peterson mouth, because for a guy who was less than a year removed from a significant knee surgery still somehow managed to rush for over 2,000 yards is amazing. Still though I am skeptical to think that AP can repeat what he did last year, because six players before him have rushed for 2,000 yards and not one of them repeated 2,000 yards again in their career. But AP is superhuman and if anyone can it will be AP, and now that the Vikings have some weapons at receiver which means defenses won't be able to stack 9 men in the box to stop him. Watch and see if AP gets even close to 2,500 or even can break through 2,000 which will make NFL history.

Even though the Vikings drafted a D-lineman in this years draft in Sharrif Floyd, there are still question marks throughout this line given the fact that the majority of the lineman are closer to age 40 then they are to age 20, and Brian Robinson, Kevin Williamson and Jared Allen are all free agents after this season. Robinson and Allen need to show the Vikings that they still have enough gas in the tank to deserve another contract, and Floyd also needs to show the Vikings he was worth a first round pick and is able to replace Williamson, Just a few years ago the Vikings had one of the most dangerous D-lines in the entire league; now they have a bunch of players getting ready to accept their AARP checks soon. Watch and see if the old Allen can return or not we might not see number 69 come next season.

This is more aimed at Bill Musgrave because given the fact that he was suppose to be some QB master because of what he did with Matt Ryan in Atlanta, but so far we haven't seen his work pay off with Christian Ponder. Also the offense was dull besides AP busting for an 80 yards here and there, but Musgrave needs to open up his playbook and make this offense explosive. Get rid of those dink and dunk passes and just let this offense loose. If we see the same old Viking offense this season Bill needs to go, and defenses will just stack 11 men in the box to stop AP.

No more Percy Harvin, and hello Greg Jennings. Welcome back Jerome Simpson; and thank god Joe Webb will be catching passes rather then throwing passes. This is no Receiving core of Randy Moss, Chris Carter, and Jake Reed; but it is still respectable. These guys should give Ponder the weapons he needs in order to show that he belongs in this league. Simpson was hurt last season so watch and see if he can return back to his glory days with the Cincinnati Bengals. Also Jennings needs to stay healthy, last few seasons he has been dinged up, and already has a sore ankle and it is only the first few days of OTA's! Webb and Jarius Wright are intriguing, Wright showed some explosiveness last season and Webb well he might be athletic enough to catch a ball but he was no Michael Vick as a quarterback. Cordarrelle Patterson is an intriguing piece. I like his ability, but he is raw. Watch and see if he becomes the next Moss or the next Troy Williamson.

This is the season, no more excuses, no more chances. I will say that Ponder progressed well last season even though he went through that horrible stretch in the middle of the season when he almost ruined the whole season, but in the last few weeks of the season he helped guide this team to the postseason. Ponder needs to show not only the coaches or the fans but everybody that he deserves to be the starting quarterback for the Vikings or not Johnny Manziel would look mighty good in Purple and Gold. I have faith that Ponder will mature into a quality quarterback, and now with some weapons, he should be able to improve his 18-13 touchdown to interception ratio this season. Watch to see if Ponder becomes the next Matt Ryan or the next Ryan Fitzpatrick.