Well, the Minnesota Vikings have not taken the field since the last time we did a Power Rankings Roundup, but they did make a significant trade that doesn’t appear to make them any better for this season, so it will be interesting to see what sort of changes. . .if any. . .there are to their standing in the Power Rankings from around the internet.
Let’s do that now, shall we?
Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports: #26 (Last week: #26)
The Vikings put on a happy face and said they’re still trying to win, but the trade of Yannick Ngakoue should start a fire sale. It wouldn’t make much sense to trade Ngakoue and not others. It will be an interesting week for the Vikings.
Nate Davis, USA Today: #26 (Last week: #26)
Wondering who their starting defensive ends are the rest of the way? Try Jalyn Holmes and Ifeadi Odenigbo. They’ve combined for 2½ sacks in 2020.
Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News: #27 (Last week: #24)
The Vikings needed a bye to regroup defensively and get Dalvin Cook back healthy. Kirk Cousins should also clean up some things. They face a stretch of three must-win division games, starting against the Packers in Green Bay.
Danny Kelly, The Ringer: #23 (Last week: #24)
Nothing said specifically about the Vikings this week.
Reddit: #24 (Last week: #27)
Despite being highly favored to not lose during the bye week, the Vikings still found a way by trading away Yannick Ngakoue at a discount and by every team ahead of the Vikings in the current draft order finding a way to lose.
Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk: #27 (Last week: #28)
Hey, Vikings, take next week off, too.
Matt Williamson, Pro Football Network: #29 (Last week: #27)
This is a lost season for the Vikings, who watched from home in Week 7. The 29th ranked team in my Week 8 NFL Power Rankings should get Dalvin Cook back on the field after this bye.
Dan Hanzus, NFL.com: #26 (Last week: #27)
When the Vikings acquired Yannick Ngakoue via trade in late August, it was a clear signal the organization was going all-in on a Super Bowl run. His trade last week tells us management now sees the 2020 Vikings as broken beyond repair, a 1-5 team that’s as bad as its last-place record indicates. Regaining draft capital for a veteran on an expiring contract makes sense, even if it puts head coach Mike Zimmer in the difficult position of motivating a locker room that knows the bosses are already looking ahead to 2021 with 10 games to play.
MMQB, Sports Illustrated: #25 (Last week: #26)
I’d like to see the Vikings sell off a bit at the trade deadline. Mike Zimmer is a good coach who isn’t going anywhere and they deserve some capital after years of picking toward the back of the pack.
ESPN: #24 (Last week: #25)
Who needs to step up: QB Kirk Cousins
The Vikings’ QB was brutally honest after throwing three interceptions in the first half of Minnesota’s fifth loss of the season. “The reality is, if the pace I’m on in terms of the interceptions, if that were to continue, I won’t finish the season,” Cousins said. He is tied for the league lead in interceptions (10) after throwing just six last season. If Cousins’ poor play continues, the Vikings will need to make a decision about his future. Yes, it would be financially catastrophic to move on from the QB who has two years (basically guaranteed) left on his contract, but if Minnesota is going to try to rebuild and Cousins continues to play poorly, his status will be debated.
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: #27 (Last week: #26)
They come off their bye seemingly in a look-to-the-future mode after trading Yannick Ngakoue to the Ravens. The defense also won’t have pass rusher Danielle Hunter the rest of the way, which means a lot of high-scoring games.
Bleacher Report: #27 (Last week: #26)
The Minnesota Vikings threw in the towel.
In August, the Vikings sent two picks to the Jaguars for edge-rusher Yannick Ngakoue. With Danielle Hunter placed on injured reserve with a neck injury before the start of the season, Ngakoue was going to anchor a pass rush that would hopefully help get the Vikes back in the postseason.
Last week, with Minnesota mired at 1-5 and the playoffs looking like a pipe dream, the Vikings dealt Ngakoue to the Baltimore Ravens for two draft selections.
According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, Ngakoue may not be the only player leaving Minneapolis. The team is mulling a fire sale at the Nov. 3 trade deadline, but one rival GM said that he’s not sure teams are interested in buying what the Vikings are selling.
“They want to move on from some guys for sure but not the guys we want,” a GM said. “They want to cut payroll, but I don’t know how successful they’ll be with that.”
That’s the kind of year it’s been in the Twin Cities.
The Athletic: #21 (Last week: #18)
They come off the bye week in bad shape. My one issue with the Yannick Ngakoue trade: Why didn’t the Vikings show more patience and try to tag and trade him after the season if they weren’t going to get at least a second-round pick now? In 2019, the Chiefs gave up a first-round pick and a second-round pick for Frank Clark, who was on the franchise tag. The 49ers gave up a second-round pick for Dee Ford on the tag that same offseason. Given how young Ngakoue is, it seems like the Vikings could have gotten similar compensation, rather than the third-round pick they received from Baltimore. There are two possible explanations. One is that the Vikings save money and cap space by trading Ngakoue now. And two, moving on from him now makes them a worse team, which likely means a better first-round pick in the spring.
Associated Press: #27 (Last week: #27)
No commentary from the Associated Press
So, we had a couple of rises and a couple of drops this week, despite the Vikings not taking the field, but the average ranking remains basically unchanged. The Vikings were at an average of 25.5 last week, and this week sees them drop just a hair to 25.64.
Here’s what it all looks like in picture form for this week. As always, you may click to embiggen if it helps you to more easily see things.
That’s your Power Rankings Roundup for this week, ladies and gentlemen. I wouldn’t anticipate any sort of reversal of trends next week, but hey. . .stranger things have happened, I guess.