According to USA Today, the Vikings have the top current Defensive End. According to the same newspaper, remember, the Vikes also have the top Defensive Tackle and the top interior Offensive Lineman.
Let's give Brad Childress this credit: when he took over as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, he talked about how a good football team should be built first from the offensive and defensive lines. Going into his third year with the team, the Vikings appear to be stacked on the offensive and defensive lines. This is the sort of team he said he wanted to make the Vikings.
The 2008 Vikings should have great play at the line of scrimmage. Nobody seems terribly worried about that.
Defensively, the Vikings also have good starting linebackers and an OK secondary (don't let the cumulative numbers fool you: the Vikes ranked 16th in pass yards allowed per attempt last season. They gave up a lot of yards because they gave up so many attempts: they were average in defending those attempts).
Offensively, they have dynamic running backs in Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor, and an improving group of wide receivers (high hopes for Bernard Berrian and Sidney Rice).
Which brings us back to Tarvaris Jackson. It always brings us back to Tarvaris Jackson.
Note that Pat Williams was #8 on the same list Kevin was at the top of...now let's get out there and win a damn championship!
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