It’s Election Day, so let’s vote for the Vikings’ midseason MVP

Today is Election Day across the United States (for those of you that didn’t already vote ahead of today, I mean). No matter which party or candidates you support, I sincerely hope that you took the opportunity to get to the voting booth today, or that you voted ahead of time in some way, shape, or form.

Having said that, we’re having an election of our own today, and it’s to vote for your Minnesota Vikings midseason MVP. As far as I can see it, there are three worthy candidates, though if you want to present other points of view you can do that in the comments section. With that, here are our three candidates:

Kirk Cousins, quarterback (71.3% completion rate, 2,685 passing yards, 17 TD, 5 INT)

Even after a not-so-stellar performance against the Detroit Lions this past Sunday, at least statistically, Cousins is still on track to have a very good season and totally validate the Vikings’ decision to eschew Sam Bradford, Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater, and a host of others to make him the Vikings’ quarterback for the next three seasons (at least). Sure, he’s had a couple of down moments, but for the most part he’s done a very nice job through the first nine games for the Vikings.

Danielle Hunter, defensive end (43 combined tackles, 11.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 TD)

With Everson Griffen having missed the majority of the season with his personal issues. . .and we’re thrilled to see him back, by the way. . .Hunter has taken over as the leader on the defensive line for the Vikings. He collected a sack in the first seven games of this year, but after not getting one against New Orleans, he made up for it by picking up 3.5 against the Lions this past Sunday. He now leads the NFL in sacks at 11.5, and it’s starting to look like a really good thing that the Vikings locked him into a long-term deal when they did.

Adam Thielen, wide receiver (78 receptions, 947 yards, 7 TD)

After racking up an NFL record-tying eight straight 100-yard appearances to start the season, Thielen was held to just four catches for 22 yards and a score this past week. Despite that, he still leads the NFL in both receptions and receiving yardage, and is tied with a host of others for second in receiving touchdowns. Thielen snapped the Vikings’ drought of 1,000-yard receiving seasons last year, and is now on pace to set Vikings’ records for both receptions and receiving yardage in a season.

Since I don’t want to unduly influence anyone’s vote, I won’t talk about who I personally would vote for in this race. However, those are the top three candidates as I see it, so let your voice be heard!