The folks from Fox Sports put together a list the other day of the NFL's 25 best players that are currently age 25 or younger. Only one member of the Minnesota Vikings made the list, that being Teddy Bridgewater squeezing in at number 25. However, the Vikings have a ton of talented players that are currently 25 and under. . .so many, in fact, that limiting the list to five is a bit of a challenge.
However, here's one man's stab at who those top five players under age 25 on the Vikings roster are. No rookies will appear on this list because, well, they haven't done anything at the NFL level yet. Ages are taken from the roster on the Vikings' official website.
1) Teddy Bridgewater, quarterback (age 22) - Much like the Vikings as a whole over the coming years, this list starts with the most important player at the most important position. Bridgewater got off to a bit of a rough start in his rookie season, but ended the season playing better than just about anyone could have expected. With the knowledge that he's going into this season as the top guy on the depth chart, plus a full season in Norv Turner's offense, a lot of people are expecting big things from Bridgewater in his second year. Frankly, there's little reason to think that he won't deliver.
2) Xavier Rhodes, cornerback (age 24) - Rhodes showed massive improvements in 2014 as the season progressed as well, and by the end of the season the Vikings were trusting him to go one-on-one with the likes of Jordy Nelson, Calvin Johnson, Brandon Marshall, and other big-time receivers from their opponents. While he still isn't getting a ton of interceptions (just one in his first two NFL seasons), that's not really an indicator of how well he played over the second half of 2014. He's another Viking that seems set to make a big jump this coming season.
3) Sharrif Floyd, defensive tackle (age 24) - Floyd didn't make a lot of noise in the Vikings' defense as a rookie, but under the watchful eye of Mike Zimmer, he made big strides in 2014. Despite missing a few games and battling injuries in some others, he finished the season as the Vikings' top-graded defender by the folks at Pro Football Focus. If he can stay healthy in 2015, the sky is the limit for him. He's drawn a lot of comparisons to another former pupil of Zimmer's, Cincinnati defensive tackle Geno Atkins, and he appears to be on that sort of trajectory.
4) Anthony Barr, linebacker (age 23) - It says a lot about the Vikings' amount of young talent that a player like Barr, who was a Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate for most of the 2014 season, is this far down on the list. Barr made a lot of big plays in 2014 for the Vikings, and though he still has a couple of issues that need addressing, he's already shown the ability to be a cornerstone for the Vikings' defense over the next few years. It will be interesting to see how he pairs with his former college teammate, Eric Kendricks, at the second level of the Minnesota defense.
5) Brandon Fusco, guard (age 25) - The Vikings thought highly enough of Fusco to give him a long-term contract extension last season. Of course, he promptly got hurt after that, but all indications are that he's back and ready to go, and the Vikings are moving him to left guard to help protect Bridgewater's blind side. From indications thus far, his transition to the left side has been going well, and hopefully he can help the offensive as much from that spot as he did at right guard.
5) Blair Walsh, kicker (age 25) - As we've mentioned in other places, Walsh had a bit of a hiccup at the end of last season. However, he's still one of the NFL's best kickers, and will hopefully have a full rebound in 2015.
EDIT: So Fusco is already 26. . .looks like the Vikings' website needs to update some of the ages on their roster. But that's my mistake for not looking at it more closely, so Walsh moves up to #5.
These aren't the only talented Vikings under the age of 25. . .the list doesn't get to players like Jarius Wright (age 25), Kyle Rudolph (also 25), and Jerick McKinnon (23). There are also a couple of bounce-back candidates that didn't make the list in Cordarrelle Patterson (24) and Matt Kalil (25).
The Minnesota Vikings are a very young, very talented football team. But that's one take on who their five best young players are. What do you think? Would you order the Vikings' 25-and-under talent the same way?