After finishing with a 14-3 record but crashing out of the playoffs with a whimper in the wild card round, the Vikings appear to be considered a borderline top-ten team heading into the offseason.
Soon after Sunday’s Super Bowl ended, several outlets dropped their end-of-season NFL power rankings. These differ slightly from the usual weekly rankings that we covered all season long. Depending on the outlet, these power ranks are generally either a summation of where teams finished the 2024 campaign or a ‘way too early’ look ahead to next year.
Let’s dive into where the Vikings came out…
Over at NFL.com, Eric Edholm chose the ‘summation’ route and has the Vikings as the No. 7 team in his power rankings, the highest spot they placed in the collected rankings. Minnesota finished three spots behind the Lions but one spot ahead of the Packers.
The Vikings come in at No. 8 in The Athletic’s rankings, where Josh Kendall also chose the ‘summation’ route. The Lions came in four spots ahead of Minnesota here while, once again, Green Bay finishes a spot back of Minnesota.
The worldwide leader chose the ‘way-too-early’ route and this is where the drop-off begins for the Vikings. It would appear the uncertainty around the QB situation and the plethora of holes on the defense has those who went this route slightly questioning what the Vikings will look like in 2025.
Detroit finished in the top three while the Packers came in three spots above Minnesota heading into the 2025 season.
David Helman over at FOX Sports was another ‘way-too-early’ power ranker, dropping the Vikings completely out of the top ten. While the questions surrounding who will play QB for Minnesota next season seem to trouble most, Helman notes that “quarterback uncertainty might not matter as much if Kevin O’Connell is your head coach.” Helman credits the Vikings with a “fantastic” roster, which probably spared them from an even bigger drop.
Yahoo’s Frank Schwab rounds out the list with his ‘way-too-early’ look ahead, listing the Vikings as the No. 12 team in the NFL heading into 2025. Schwab has both the Lions (No. 5) and Packers (No. 7) ahead of the Vikings.
Fox – 2
ESPN – 3
The Athletic – 4
NFL – 4
Yahoo – 5
Fox – 6
Yahoo – 7
ESPN – 7
NFL – 8
The Athletic – 9
Fox – 18
Yahoo – 20
NFL – 22
ESPN – 22
The Athletic – 24
Stay up to date on all things Vikings by bookmarking Minnesota Vikings On SI, subscribing to our YouTube channel, and signing up to receive our free Vikings newsletter.
