32 teams in 32 days: Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings
Record: 5-10-1
Offensive Rank: 13th, Points: 15th, Passing: 23rd, Rushing: 8th
Defensive Rank: 31st, Points: 32nd, Passing: 31st, Rushing: 16th

Offensive MVP: Cordarelle Patterson
Offensive LVP: Christian Ponder/Josh Freeman
Defensive MVP: Umm... Jared Allen?
Defensive LVP: The secondary

Story of the Season:
Adrian Peterson ran 80 yards for a TD on the first play of the season, and it was pretty much all downhill from there. The Vikings won their first game in week 4, against the 0-3 Steelers in London. Then were winless until week 10. They did go 4-3-1 down the stretch though, so fair play. In between that, Ponder struggled, the teams most dynamic offensive player remained on the bench most of the season (Patterson), AD failed to hit the heights of 2012, Josh Freeman got paid 3m for one of the worst games ever, and the defense couldn't cover anyone.

2014 Outlook:
Mike Zimmer finally gets his shot at being a HC after several productive years in Cincy, and job 1 will be fixing a defense that was atrocious vs the pass in 2014. With Jared Allen set to walk, reuniting with Michael Johnson makes sense. You would expect the Vikings to be aggressive at the QB position, with Ponder and Freeman proven busts, and Matt Cassel testing FA. Mike Vick would make sense here as a stopgap.

2014 Draft Needs:
Primarily a QB after the 3 1st round splurge in 2013. Rick Spielman gets a rare chance to try again, after missing big on Ponder. The teams in decent shape, as shown by the 4-3-1 stretch run with Cassel at the helm, more secondary help wouldn't go amiss.

Not even sure Allen was the best DE on the roster last season to be honest, resigning Everson Griffen should be a priority. Despite the secondary issues, Harrison Smith looks like a star.
I'd like to see them keep Gerhart, although if he can get a starting job elsewhere then good luck to him.

The Vikings have had good drafts in the past two years and I feel they shouldn't panic with a QB at #8. They may be better off giving Matt Cassel a year as starting QB and continue to build and strengthen their depth.

There could let Ponder go and still get a nice QB later in the draft Garoppolo, McCarron, Mettenberger or even Connor Shaw to compete with Cassel.

At #8 they could look at Khalil Mack or Haha Clinton-Dix.

I like Cassell, think he could do a decent job still as a stopgap for a team like Minnesota so long as he's not asked to do too much.

Gerhart is so gonna end up as a nice pickup for someone at RB, if Blount leaves I'd love us to pick him up for a minimum fee.