The Minnesota Vikings made the wrong choice last summer. Instead of giving Sam Darnold a longer leash, head coach Kevin O’Connell wanted to stick with first-round pick J.J. McCarthy. Unfortunately, a disastrous 2025 campaign seems to have changed his mind.
Signing Kyler Murray in the offseason, they now have a more proven dynamic quarterback at the helm. And with the weapons already on the roster, they could have a legitimately excellent offense. However, one analyst believes they need more help in the backfield.
Minnesota Vikings Need Running Back Depth
Despite all the right pieces on the roster and a vaunted NFC North, the problems at quarterback severely limited the Vikings. As a result, the team couldn’t emerge as a playoff team after the 14-win year they had under Darnold.
The one area of the roster where they weren’t elite was the running game. None of their players ranked in the top-25 of PFSN’s RB Impact Metric, as they struggled to establish a consistent threat on the ground.
This offseason, they haven’t done a ton to address that issue. As a result, Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports has them pegged as a potential landing spot for De’Von Achane in a blockbuster trade.
In his breakdown of potential trade targets for all 16Â NFC teams, he listed a third-Â and a fifth-round pick as the potential asking price for Achane. And his rationale for the Vikings being the team to make the move was pretty straightforward.
“The Vikings brought back Aaron Jones, but he’s 31 and constantly battling injuries,” Vacchiano wrote. “And while he’s a good receiver out of the backfield, Achane is a great one, a much faster and more dynamic player overall and seven years younger (24).”
Last season, Achane posted spectacular numbers en route to finishing second in RBi. So far in his career, the star running back has scored a total of 35 touchdowns in 44 games. That kind of value would be hard to replicate, which is why the Dolphins are wary of moving on from him, something Vacchiano acknowledged.
“The Dolphins say they want to keep him after he ran for 1,350 yards and caught 67 passes for 488 yards last season. But they have the look of a team undergoing a fire sale, so surely they have their price.”
BE AN NFL GM: PFSN’s Ultimate GM Simulator
It remains to be seen if a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick get the job done. But the Vikings believe in this roster after making an upgrade at the most important position in the sport.
Bringing in Achane would raise that ceiling even further and give them a chance to be a potential contender in the NFC once again.
