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2013 Record: 5-10-1
Notable Losses: Erin Henderson, John Carlson, Desmond Bishop, Toby Gerhart, Chris Cook, Jared Allen, Kevin Williams
Notable Gains: Jasper Brinkley, Linval Joseph, Captain Munnerlyn, Derek Cox, Corey Wootton
Draft Class: Anthony Barr, Teddy Bridgewater, Scott Crichton, Jerick McKinnon, David Yankey, Antone Exum, Kendall James, Shamar Stephen, Brandon Watts, Jabari Price
The Facts: The Vikings did the smart thing by unofficially putting an end to the Christian Ponder era by drafting Teddy Bridgewater. Bridgewater won't immediately start, but when he does, he won't be in a bad environment to do so. He has a reliable running back to hand it off to, a quality tight end in Kyle Rudolph, veteran wideout Greg Jennings, and a promising young wideout in Cordarrelle Patterson to throw to.
The offense should also be better with Norv Turner as the team's offensive Coordinator, a position in the NFL he belongs at. The defense should be better with the addition of Linval Joseph, Jasper Brinkley, and Captain Munnerlyn, along with the drafting of Anthony Barr, Scott Crichton, and Antone Exum.
However, this is still a rookie team. The defense is going to be better than it was last year, but not top tier. And Teddy Bridgewater isn't going to be the solution to all the problems. They're still looking up at the Bears and Packers in the division.
Predicted Record: 7-9. Wins against Lions, Bears, Falcons, Buccaneers, Panthers, Jets and Dolphins.
If you disagree with my assessment and ranking remember: Unless it's something crazy, your guess is as good as mine.