The 2025 Minnesota Vikings season: Successes, disappointments and shoutouts
A look back at who shined and who fell short in 2025
By Matthew Coller
Well, it’s certainly been a football season.
The Minnesota Vikings wrap up on Sunday afternoon against the Green Bay Packers. With the game meaning nothing toward the postseason, let’s take a look back at the things that worked, what did not work and some special shoutouts…
Successes
The possible final Harrison Smith season
It’s not clear whether Smith is going to return in 2026 but if he decides to hang up the No. 22, the final stretch of his play was the highlight of the entire 2025 Vikings season.
Certainly the best way for an all-time great player to leave the game is raising the Lombardi Trophy on the way out but the second best way is by playing at a vintage level. That’s exactly what Smith did during the second half of the season.
After a rough start to the year dealing with a health issue, Smith looked like himself coming out of the bye week. Since Week 9, he leads all safeties in QB pressures (10) and batted passes (10). He’s lined up as an outside linebacker on 58 snaps, in the box 170 times and as a deep safety 300 times. All very Harrison Smith-y numbers.
The best part about all of it has been Smith’s joy. His steely exterior has always been part of what made him cool and intimidating but fans have really gotten to see what playing for the Vikings means to him. It’s rare that you get to see an aging all-timer still play at an elite level and show his genuine appreciation for the game and the fans in his (possible) final days on the field.
Brian Flores’ aggressiveness
Not that anyone expected the Vikings’ DC to change his ways but there was discussion coming into the season about trying to rush four D-linemen more often. That went out the window as the Vikings led the NFL with blitzes on 43% of opposing teams’ drop backs. They finished 3rd in pressure percentage (Pro-Football Ref), 4th in sack percentage, 4th in QB knockdown percentage and No. 1 in opposing QB average depth of target.
The Vikings defense as a whole finished fourth in total Expected Points Added, which is remarkable considering they had so few opportunities to create splash plays due to their offense struggling to get them ahead in games. They ranked 32nd in opposing pass attempts.
Had Flores’ defense been healthy from the jump with Smith, Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman, who knows what those stats would look like.
Jalen Redmond’s breakout
It became apparent during training camp that Jalen Redmond was ready to make some noise in 2025. He did exactly that, ranking as PFF’s 19th best DT (out of 90 starters) overall, 9th best against the run and 23rd in pressures (just ahead of $25 million DT Milton Williams).
Oftentimes a player who is asked to jump from 236 snaps to 766 snaps in a single season will have some regression due to volume and opponents game planning for them but Redmond just kept getting better, finishing with the fourth most run stops in the NFL.
After this year, he shouldn’t just be viewed as a solid piece, he should be looked at more as a centerpiece to the defensive front.
It should be mentioned that Flores’ plan along the D-line was to put five guys up there and create one-on-one matchups, which probably helped Redmond win as often as he did. If there is a new DC next year, they will need to make sure his usage plan is similar to maximize Redmond’s talents.
The Isaiah Rodgers bet
In the offseason, much was made of Flores’ appreciation for the journeyman cornerback. He had never been a full-time starter before and the Vikings were making a bet that there was more to him than previously met the eye. While he had a couple of rough outings and struggled with tackling from time to time, Rodgers enters Week 18 with the 13th highest PFF grade among all starting corners.
He was targeted 64 times in 2025 and allowed 42 receptions and a 93.1 passer rating into his coverage.
The biggest stat in terms of Rodgers’ bang for buck is that he played 912 snaps.
Eric Wilson was a menace
Wilson is one of those players that is unequivocally respected by everyone in his locker room and coaching staff. He was an undrafted free agent and fought his way to stay in the NFL by grinding on special teams and handling every role he was ever asked to take on at linebacker.
This year he signed up to act as solid depth and lead the ‘teams unit. Instead he won a starting job and played exceptionally well.
Wilson has 35 QB pressures and is the team’s third highest graded run defender with the 13th most run stops (PFF) in the NFL. The 31-year-old has also played 920 total snaps, which is wild when you consider that he didn’t open the season as LB2 and he hadn’t played more than 600 snaps since 2020.
Will Reichard and Ryan Wright
When the Vikings drafted Reichard, they seemed pretty pumped about getting him. Now you can see why. He has gone 30-for-32 with 11 field goals over 50 yards. He averaged 7.5 points per game, making up 37% of the team’s scoring this year. Reichard nailed key clutch field goals in wins over Chicago, Detroit (away), Dallas, New York and Detroit (home).
Wright took a big step forward this season, ranking third in the NFL in net yards per punt. The Vikings also had the fifth lowest touchback percentage in the league.
They are set at the specialist positions.
Dallas Turner’s improvement
Through the first half of the season Turner had some tough times trying to fill the role of Andrew Van Ginkel but in the second half he took over for banged-up Jonathan Greenard and looked like an ascending young player.
Since Week 10, Turner is the 16th highest PFF graded edge rusher and has the 9th best Pass Rush Productivity (PFF). He also ranked in the top 10 in run stops during that time.
While Turner will always be connected in some way to his draft status and the stock the Vikings put into him, if we consider the 2025 jump and the fact he hasn’t yet reached 23 years old, the future prospects for the ex-Bama outside linebacker are moving in the right direction.
The run game efficiency
Entering their 17th game, the Vikings are 12th in Expected Points Added per rush. That’s up from 23rd from 2022-2024.
Neither Jordan Mason or Aaron Jones had big fantasy football seasons, both players combined for 1,212 yards on 277 carries (4.4 YPC) and eight touchdowns. They added 42 receptions for 250 yards.
The ancillary running game on top of the duo was effective too. Jordan Addison had a 65-yard touchdown run, JJ McCarthy tacked on 142 yards and four touchdowns and Zay Scott gave them 105 yards and 13 receptions.
It wasn’t the easiest ride for the offensive line considering Christian Darrisaw and Ryan Kelly’s health issues but overall PFF ranks the Vikings run blocking as 14th.
It should be at the top of Kevin O’Connell’s list for next year to continue building on what they started in 2025, including leaning harder into the run in the second half of the season.
Donovan Jackson’s first impression
The Vikings first-round draft pick in 2025 ranks 36th of 60 guards and 33rd in pass protection. Crazy stat for you: The only Vikings guards to grade higher in pass pro than Jackson (min. 10 games) since 2017 are Dalton Risner 2024 and Josh Kline 2019.
“I thought the best thing about Donovan is he's talented, he's gifted, he's got great experience from the collegiate level, but his ability to self-correct,” O’Connell said on Friday. “As a young player, to learn, even in-game, something happens early on in a game, he can correct it the next drive or the next quarter and can do it that day. I couldn't be more excited about what Donovan's got out in front of him, and his future here, and what he's demonstrated here in his first year.”
It’s really hard to play guard in the NFL in 2025, much less to be a rookie, battle through several injuries and get very little help from Christian Darrisaw outside of a couple games. Impressive.
Myles Price, the entertainer
There were some rocky moments for undrafted rookie Myles Price — a costly fumble versus the Ravens and the ball bouncing off him on a punt return against the Packers — but Price was the first fun watch from the returner position since Kene Nwangwu in 2021 and he didn’t get nearly the number of opportunities as Price.
This year the former Hoosier totaled 30 punt returns and 57 kick returns as the dynamic kickoff forced teams into returns. He ended up averaging 25.2 yards per return but probably had 200 yards taken off the board by penalties.
In the end, Price showed an exceptional vision, explosiveness and tackle breaking ability that should put him in line to be a returner in Minnesota for years to come… so long as the mistakes cease in the future.
Disappointments
Letting Sam Darnold walk, overestimating how ready JJ McCarthy would be
What more needs to be said about the Vikings electing not to franchise tag Darnold? On Saturday night, he led the Seattle Seahawks to their 14th win and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Seattle scored the most points in franchise history in 2025, ranking second in the NFL in offense. He and Tom Brady are the only QBs ever to win 14 games in back-to-back seasons and he has the fourth most TD passes and seventh highest passer rating over the last two seasons.
They were also able to put an incredibly strong team around his significant contract by drafting well and making some key signings. Salt meet would.
Had JJ McCarthy been prepared to lead the 2025 Vikings, they would likely be in the playoffs, possibly playing for a chance to meet up with Sam in Seattle. Everyone would have felt satisfied with their decisions. But McCarthy has the third worst Expected Points Added mark in the NFL (-44.0) and repeatedly showed his inexperience.
Had the Vikings not been so strong in their statements about McCarthy’s readiness (publicly calling him the “franchise QB” and repeatedly citing his work behind the scenes), then maybe they could have developed him for a year behind Darnold and attempted to find out if Darnold could repeat his 2024. Instead, the decision landed them on the couch watching their former QB.
None of this means that McCarthy’s career is over but Darnold is playing for a chance at a Super Bowl and the Vikings are praying that their young QB can improve his throwing technique.
Kevin O’Connell trying to coach ‘em up
This was by far O’Connell’s most difficult year. You might nominate 2023 because they went 7-10 but if you review that season, where the organization stood in its roster build, the challenges they faced and the tight nature of games, that season was closer to being a success than this one.
In ‘23, they started 4-4 with three tight losses, beat San Francisco and Green Bay and then had the Josh Dobbs magic games to reach 6-4. The wheels coming off came in the form of a 1-point loss to Denver, 2-point loss to Chicago, 3-point loss to Cincy, 6-point loss to Detroit and a winnable final game versus the Lions. They ended the season 16th in passing EPA and 5th in passing yards.
During the offseason leading up to ‘23, the Vikings took apart most of the old pieces of the roster like Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook, Eric Kendricks etc. and started the process of getting their salary cap right.
This year, the expectation was that O’Connell’s hands-on approach with JJ McCarthy could at least raise them to an average level at the QB position and that they would have so much around the young QB that he would be able to lead them back to the postseason. But it turned out that there is no magic wand to wave over a QB that isn’t ready.
We can agree that it was a massive challenge for KOC to coach a quarterback with so little experience and even harder to develop him when he was healthy for Week 1-2, 9-12, 14-16. But it’s also fair to think that O’Connell expecting certain things out of McCarthy might have been a bit too much.
Criticisms of O’Connell’s game management may be overstated at times by the angry internet but missteps get punished when the QB play is mediocre-to-poor. The Vikings strangely ranked 29th in run play percentage on third/fourth-and-short (per TruMedia).
Regardless of the explanations and critiques, the final numbers are what they are. An offensive-minded head coach with his 10th overall draft pick and a top-five group of weapons should never finish 26th in scoring, right next to teams like the Jets and Titans.
JJ McCarthy and Justin Jefferson’s lack of chemistry
The young Vikings QB’s numbers when throwing to his superstar receiver are shocking in comparison to his predecessors.
When targeting Jefferson, here’s how he stacks up:
Kirk Cousins: 109.2 QB rating
Sam Darnold: 107.4
Nick Mullens: 91.7
Carson Wentz: 81.8
JJ McCarthy: 40.1
Cousins, Darnold and Mullens all averaged more than 10 yards per attempt in his direction and completed at least 67% of throws. McCarthy averages 6.1 per attempt with a 51% completion percentage.
Nobody could have ever dreamed it would go this badly.
Jefferson talked about his view on McCarthy’s future this week.
"That's not my job," Jefferson said. "[But] of course I would love for him to be here. Of course I would love for him to be the quarterback. Especially off this year. I feel like he needs to show everybody and prove to everybody that he is that top-tier quarterback. So I would love to have him. I would love to work with him and show everybody that he is that No. 1 guy."
Jefferson said that he has plans to get together with McCarthy to throw in the offseason. O’Connell cited Jefferson missing some of camp as one possible cause of the struggles with chemistry.
“I think it's just another example of Justin, he's so much more than just a wide receiver to our team, and those guys building that rapport will be huge, getting as many reps as possible,” O’Connell said. “And it was nobody's fault by any stretch, and Justin got himself ready for the season. But you look back on that time in training camp, when Justin was working through his [hamstring injury]. You look back on a lot of those routes on air, seven-on-sevens, individual periods, team periods, where it was time that could have been used.”
Another related cause: Per Pro-Football Reference, McCarthy’s “bad throw” percentage is 20.7%, third highest in the NFL and he has the lowest “on-target” throw percentage.
Jordan Addison’s drops
After being suspended for the first three games, the Vikings’ 2023 first-round pick did not perform up to his usual standard. Some of that was connected to the quarterback play but not all of it.
In his first two seasons, Addison’s drop percentages were 4.1% and 5.7% per PFF. That number jumped to 14.6% in 2025. That’s 8th worst out of 91 starting or rotational receivers.
Combined with the fact KOC sat down Addison in London for the opening of the game and his middling numbers, it was not a great season.
Trying to replace Cam Bynum
Last offseason the Vikings seemingly spent money on everyone in sight — except for Bynum.
The former fourth-rounder signed a four-year, $60 million deal with the Colts and it paid big dividends for Indy as he ranks 15th among safeties by PFF with a 90.2 tackling grade and four interceptions. His replacement Theo Jackson saw his snap count decline as the season went along, in part because of issues with his run defense. Brian Flores started using the more physical Jay Ward instead.
Jackson is still a developing player but Bynum was a key locker room player and consistent playmaker alongside Smith. The Vikings may have underestimated his value and/or how easy it would be to replace him.
Price vs. production with veteran signings
In a different world where the Vikings get average quarterback play, a lot of the signings would look totally worth it to overpay. But here’s a look at where their biggest dollar figures were spent vs. performance:
Javon Hargrave (2 years, $30 million) — 511 snaps, 68.6 PFF grade, 31 pressures, 3.5 sacks
Jonathan Allen (3 years, $51 million) — 782 snaps, 52.0 PFF grade, 33 pressures, 3.5 sacks
Byron Murphy Jr. (3 years, $54 million) — 994 snaps, 56.4 PFF grade, 2 INT, 95.1 rating allowed
Will Fries (5 years, $87 million) — 922 snaps, 60.2 overall PFF grade, 36 pressures allowed (4th most)
Aaron Jones (2 years, $20 million) — 132 carries, 548 yards, 28 catches for 199 yards, 3 TD
Another note: While these players did not live up to the dollar figures, they did stay healthy, which was a concern upon signing. So you can’t say that these decisions went bust, just that they underperformed vs. payday.
But when you look at other signings from last offseason that were more shrewd, the desire to go “all in” and getting the blank check from ownership to spend after a 14-win season resulted in some inefficient moves.
Ryan Kelly and Christian Darrisaw’s injuries
When the Vikings rebuilt their offensive line, they knew that a lot of its success was bound to rest on whether Kelly could stay healthy and Darrisaw would be ready to play a big chunk of the season after suffering an ACL tear last year. Neither of those things happened as Kelly played 322 snaps and Darrisaw 504 snaps.
When Darrisaw was in the game, he wasn’t the same as previous seasons, posting only a 65.9 PFF grade. He hasn’t been under 80 since his rookie year.
The replacements had ups and downs. Blake Brandel was serviceable, Michael Jurgens played at an average backup level but neither of those guys are in Kelly’s ballpark. The veteran star ranked 4th by PFF grade among centers with at least 300 snaps.
Developing young players anywhere on the roster
The only players age 25 or under who played more than 250 snaps on offense or defense this year were JJ McCarthy, Donovan Jackson, Jordan Addison, Dallas Turner, Levi Drake Rodriguez and that’s the list.
Shoutouts
Justin Jefferson’s handling of difficult times
This week, the Twin Cities media named Justin Jefferson the winner of the 2025 Korey Stringer Media Good Guy award.
I voted for Jefferson because he faced a lot of tough questions this season and handled down times gracefully. The captain/superstar’s voice matters to the fans and his willingness to provide perspective and insight was appreciated by those who act as the medium between the team and fans (media). It also said a lot about him as a leader. It’s easy to stand at the podium when you’re winning and setting records; it’s not easy when things are going poorly. He didn’t change his approach during the latter.
Give CJ Ham some flowers
Much has been made about the possibility of Harrison Smith playing his last game but it could also be the swan song for fullback CJ Ham on Sunday if he elects to retire after 11 seasons.
Ham has had a very good season playing 163 snaps and grading 74.1 as a pass blocker, where he is used often in pass situations. He has been a long-time leader on offense, special teams and been a part of all of the best moments of the last decade. He may be a relic in the NFL but that doesn’t mean the fullback position isn’t still valuable when used properly.
Not to mention, there are few people who match Ham’s intelligence, leadership, toughness and off-field contributions to the community.
I asked O’Connell about him on Friday. Here was his full answer:
“Multiple-time Pro Bowler. What he is as a football player, his journey into the NFL and being a tryout guy that makes this team and is part of this organization for 10 years. Then, becomes a two-time Man of the Year nominee. I said it when he won the award this year from his teammates, you can't find a better example, you can't find a better teammate, you can't find a better player to coach.”
“He is a spectacular human being, great family, and the work he does in the community. I mean, I could go on and on and on, and if you guys want me to, I will. I know you guys probably have plans to get to here on a Friday, but I love C.J. Ham. I know our fans love C.J. Ham. He's meant the world to me.”
Brian O’Neill’s toughness, performance
We have gotten complacent about how good O’Neill is, year after year. He’s 14th by PFF among tackles and 10th as a run blocker. He battled through some injuries toward the end of the season and continued to play at a high level.
Jalen Nailor’s season was way better than his numbers
The tape vs. the box score, nobody has a bigger gap this year than Nailor. He put on a bunch of muscle in the offseason and it showed with his physical route running, blocking and playmaking when the ball did find him. He has been the one positive development story from the 2022 draft and another feather in the cap of Keenan McCardell.
Blake Brandel played all over
Life as a swing lineman is not easy. Give a ton of credit to Brandel for playing snaps at LT, LG, C and RT this year and finishing with an above average pass blocking grade by PFF (67.0). He’s an asset.
Matt Daniels had a lot on his plate this year, Andrew DePaola is incredible
Certainly the massive miscues hurt the Vikings in several games but the overall performance of the special teams units was a positive and considering that he had to teach a bunch of UDFAs a brand new kickoff that doesn’t exist in college and bring along a rookie punt gunner in Tai Felton, he got a lot out of this group.
Also the Vikings long snapper didn’t get Pro Bowl recognition this year but he’s a beast. It’s tough to find a single snap that Ryan Wright struggled with all year and that has been the case every season. Not to mention that he’s the veteran voice with two young specialists.
It’s rare for NFL players to get to leave on their own terms. If this is it for Harry, I’m delighted he was able to overcome his illness and play at this level again.
I’m surprised to see the run game on the positives list. It felt that we regressed from last year, even with a better (on paper) 1-2 punch.
It never felt that we could lean on the run game, which could have helped our QB learning situation