Minnesota Vikings Offseason Wish List: 10 Positions That Need to Be Upgraded

I watched every second of every Vikings game this season, and if I read the above headline, my response would be, "only 10?"

Minnesota finished an ugly, embarrassing season with a 3-13 record, matching their worst mark in 51 years in the league. It was a season that never got any positive momentum going; if there was a chance of something bad happening, it usually did.

It's a roster that is full of glaring holes and weaknesses, but one that might not take years to fix. The most hard core of Vikings fans can point to a rookie quarterback who showed flashes of great play early on, and to a team that lost nine of its games by seven points or less.

The bottom line is that they are currently a bad football team that had a terrible season. An offseason overhaul is definitely in order. Here are 10 areas where the Vikings need to improve to turn things around in 2012.

The Front Office

Vikings' owner Zygi Wilf's "triangle of authority" has run its course. The truth is, when your team goes 12-4 and is just a couple of plays away from the Super Bowl, nobody cares what's going on in the front office or who's making player personnel decisions.

12-4 was a long two years ago.

Hire a general manager already.

Leslie Frazier lost all of his credibility as a personnel manager by pushing hard for the Vikings to sign Donovan McNabb in the offseason. Is it silly to judge Frazier on that one decision? Of course it is, but it was a pretty bad move, and Frazier clearly has enough on his plate just trying to get his coaching and that of his staff on the right path.

The Vikings have far too many VP's of this and that, and ultimately, nobody takes responsibility for the drafting and the creating of this current roster. Minnesota had drafted terribly over the last five to seven years. They've made a few great picks in Kevin Williams, Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin, but ultimately fail to get anything in later rounds or in free agency—places where good teams have to do well to fortify their rosters.

Leslie Frazier and His Coaching Staff

There's no other way to say it; it was a bad year for head coach Leslie Frazier and his staff. Given a weak roster and no offseason to implement his new coaches and systems, Frazier has to be given the benefit of the doubt.

However, it should be made abundantly clear to Frazier that there is plenty of doubt. 3-13 says it all. Jim Harbaugh was hired the same week as Frazier last January and also took over a team that had gone 6-10 in 2010.

Harbaugh led the 49ers to a 13-3 record and the second seed in the NFC, and all with a quarterback, Alex Smith, that had been written off as a bust three or four times in his career.

Frazier will be back as the Vikings head coach. He has the respect of his players, and his football background earned him the shot to be a head coach. Much has been made of the Wilfs not wanting to pay three different people head coach money next season if they fired Frazier (still owing money to the fired Brad Childress).

Frazier deserves more time. He's a good guy who hasn't tried to sugarcoat the terrible season and hasn't tried to blame everyone else for the team's troubles. He is a high character guy, and that should count for something.

The guess is that defensive coordinator Fred Pagac won't be back and that offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave will be. Fair enough. Musgrave took a lot of heat over the course of the season, but he was working with a way over-the-hill quarterback and then a rookie, combined with a weak offensive line and bad receivers.

You have your offseason, Coach Frazier; better results will be expected in 2012.

Quarterback: Christian Ponder vs Joe Webb

Minnesota Vikings fans seem to be split in two when it comes to the most important position on the football field: starting quarterback.

The Vikings will head into the 2012 season with Christian Ponder as the starter and Joe Webb as the backup, and that's how it should be.

Having said that, Ponder has a lot to prove after his rookie season. He showed plenty of promise in his first few starts, showing a stronger than advertised arm, above-average running ability and a great knack to convert passes on third down. 

Then came the rookie growing pains.

Ponder needs to get better at reading NFL defenses. He needs to learn that passing windows in the NFL aren't there for very long, and more than anything else, he needs to learn that ball protection is the most important thing in the NFL. Most games are won and lost in the turnover battle.

Many thought the Vikings reached in the draft when they took Ponder with the 12th pick in the first round. It became increasingly harder to grade Ponder throughout the year, considering the talent around him. But the bottom line is, he went 1-8 as a starter in his first year. Like Coach Frazier, he now has an offseason to learn and get better.

Offensive Tackle: Charlie Johnson and Phil Loadholt

Charlie Johnson is not a starting left tackle in the NFL. The Vikings signed him basically as a band-aid after cutting Bryant McKinnie at the start of training camp for showing up 30 pounds overweight.

For a team that needs some of everything, left tackle is probably the best place to start. The best hope for Vikings fans is that they will be able to get USC tackle Matt Kalil with the third pick in the draft. If Kalil is gone, they could trade back and try to land Riley Reiff of Iowa or Jonathan Martin of Stanford.

At any rate, they can't go into 2012 with Johnson at left tackle. There has been talk of Johnson possibly moving to guard to take over for Steve Hutchinson. If Hutchinson decides to return for another season, Johnson could provide depth as a backup.

Phil Loadholt needs to have a fire lit under his ass. Loadholt is a monster at right tackle, but he was awful in pass protection this year and he wasn't quite as good at run blocking as he's been in the past. He needs to work to get into better shape this offseason, or his days in the league could be numbered.

Offensive Guard: Steve Hutchinson and Anthony Herrera

Guard Steve Hutchinson played 10 seasons of Pro-Bowl caliber football before this season. He's long been a warrior and everything you could ask for from one of your offensive linemen. 

Time eventually runs everybody down, and in 2011, Hutchinson didn't look like the same player. He actually seemed to be playing better towards the end of the season, but a concussion in Week 15 sidelined him for the last game, and the smart guess is that Hutchinson calls it a career this offseason. 

If Hutchinson does return to football, it probably won't be with the Vikings, who would be wise to let him and his seven million contract go.

The Vikings also need to find an answer at right guard, as Anthony Herrera just isn't getting the job done. Long a favorite of his teammates for his positive attitude and team-first approach, the Vikings just flat out need more production at the position. 

Defensive Secondary

What's left to say about the Vikings defensive backfield?

While it may be true that every fanbase in the NFL complains that their d-backs are terrible, Vikings fans have tangible evidence that theirs is the worst.

The Vikings set an NFL record by going nine straight games without intercepting a pass. The numbers became sort of a running gag among Vikings fans: Opposing quarterbacks completed 209 of 296 attempts for 2,640 yards and 27 touchdowns in between Vikings interceptions. Accidents happen? Not in the Vikings secondary they don't.

It's true that the Vikings DBs were ravaged by injuries during the 2011 season, but the truth is, this group of purple defenders isn't very good when they're perfectly healthy.

Antoine Winfield, the heart and soul of the Vikings defensive backfield, missed most of the season with a broken collarbone. The rest of the group all sort of morphed into the same person as the season wore on: Cedric Griffin, Mistral Raymond, Asher Allen, Benny Sapp, Marcus Sherels, Hussain Abdullah, Eric Frampton, Tyrell Johnson, Jamarca Sanford and your cousin's buddy's neighbor all seemed to spend time not covering anyone for the Vikings this year.

Abdullah and perhaps one of the others listed may return as a starter, but other than that, the Vikings need to find some playmakers in the draft or free agency or somewhere else in your cousin's buddy's neighborhood.

Wide Receivers

It's sort of insane that in listing where the Vikings need upgrades in the offseason, I've waited until No.  7 to list wide receiver. I'm not listing these in any particular order, but you'd still think that Minnesota's awful receiving corps would have come up before this.

They could be called "Percy Harvin and the CFLers."

Harvin is an explosive talent and a triple threat as a receiver, a running back and as a return man. At 5'11" and 185 pounds, Harvin is as tough as they come in the NFL and was an absolute steal as the 22nd pick in the 2009 draft.

The rest of the receivers leave much to be desired.

Michael Jenkins was having a middling season before getting hurt, but showed no explosiveness and is at best a third receiver. Devin Aromashodu ended up catching 26 balls and may be worth bringing back, but it would break no one in Minnesota's heart if he was let go. 

In an offseason that isn't chock full of talented free agents at most positions, there are several wide receivers that would add immediate help to the Vikings. 

And as long as we're making wish lists, the Vikings are long overdue to find their version of seventh-round draft pick Marques Colston.

Linebackers

In a season where the Vikings were exposed in so many different areas, the linebackers kind of went under the radar. 

They were decent at best and probably a little worse than that.

Chad Greenway signed for big money in the offseason and was a disappointment. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't an upper echelon linebacker that the Vikings paid him to be. Though he led the team in tackles, he had just two sacks and wasn't a big-time playmaker. There is no doubt Greenway will work hard in the offseason, and hopefully, he can become an elite linebacker in 2012.

The Henderson brothers are another story. Nobody will ever doubt the heart and tenaciousness of E.J. Henderson. The guy seems to come back from what could be career-ending injuries every season and is always working his butt off.

The truth is, at 6'1", 245 Henderson has always been an under-sized middle linebacker and has never been very good in pass coverage. E.J. will be 32 years old heading into next season, and his best days are clearly behind him.

Erin Henderson certainly lacks the talent that his older brother had, and through four years in the league, it's clear he's never going to be a top level linebacker. Henderson is a hard worker and a good character guy, but the Vikings can probably find a better option at that spot.

Defensive Tackle

Kevin Williams had his worst season as a Minnesota Viking, but by the end of the season, he was clearly the second best player on the unit, only behind the all-world Jared Allen.

Williams will be 32 years old at the start of next season and won't ever again be the game changer he was for most of his career. He can probably give the Vikings two more seasons as a starter.

The Vikings need an upgrade at the other defensive tackle slot. The combo-platter of Remi Ayodele and Letroy Guion just wasn't good enough. With so many other changes necessary on the roster, it won't surprise me if both guys are back, and hopefully, a year of getting snaps under their belt will payoff with improvement from both players.

A Whole New Culture

Obviously, if your team goes 3-13, a lot has to change. As the 2011 season went on, the Vikings simply became a team that looked like they expected to lose. Their body language, their play calling and their execution all looked like that of a losing team.

That can change in a hurry in the NFL. Momentum can be a very real thing in an NFL season (see: Denver Broncos and Tim Tebow).

For the 2011 Vikings, I would give Jared Allen, Percy Harvin and Adrian Peterson A grades. I would give a B- to Kevin Williams and John Sullivan.

The rest of the team gets a C or less (and mostly less).

Things will be different in 2012. The Vikings will be getting the third pick in the draft, where they will pick up either an elite offensive tackle or cornerback or trade down to pick up a second high pick in the second round. 

With the third pick in each round, the Vikings should be able to pick up three starters in the draft, and they can pick up a couple of more via free agency.

Frazier and his staff will have a year of offseason planning to get things going in the right direction. If they don't, we'll be writing about who the Vikings should hire at this time next year.