Minnesota Vikings: 7 Players That Need to Prove Themselves This Offseason

The Minnesota Vikings bottomed out in 2011. A season that started with high hopes but a million question marks, ended with a thud and all of the questions were answered in the negative.

So when posed the question, "Who needs to prove themselves in the offseason?" one could probably answer by throwing darts at a list of the entire organization. Head coach Leslie Frazier has as much to prove as anyone at Winter Park.

While fans are obviously not privy to the day to day machinations of an NFL team, a majority of Vikings fans weren't sold with the job Frazier did in his first year.

Frazier was certainly dealt a bad hand heading into his initial season as a head coach. The lockout robbed him of any type of productive offseason, and he headed into the 2011 season flying somewhat blind. The Donovan McNabb signing was a disaster, and the team never found its feet after a dismal start.

With the draft done and the free agents signed, Frazier and staff can now get to work on the actual coaching part of their job. Frazier is tasked with changing the mentality of a team coming off of a horrible season. GM Rick Spielman has had a strong offseason, not spending it foolishly trying for the quick fix, but instead adding pieces with long-term success in mind.

A quick turnaround to winning ways and fighting for playoff contention might be a little too much to ask for the 2012 season, but there's no doubt the Vikings will be improved on both the offensive line and in the secondary—the two worst areas on the team last year.

Coaching aside, the Vikings roster is full of players who need to step up and take the next step in their careers. For Minnesota to make big improvements, the following seven players will all have to play major roles in the rebuilding process. 

Erin Henderson and Jasper Brinkley, Linebackers

Erin Henderson and Jasper Brinkley could be poster boys for the Vikings rebuilding project. Neither was highly regarded coming out of college, but both have proved to have plenty of potential. 

It's now time to turn that potential into production.

Henderson became a starter last season, his fourth in the league, and more than held his own taking over the starting spot for the departed Ben Leber. Henderson had 70 tackles, including six for losses and proved to be an active defender against both the run and the pass. 

Hoping he had proved enough to sign a big free agent contract in the offseason, Henderson quickly learned that one pretty good season isn't enough to call your shot. Henderson was given a one-year deal for two million dollars, a contract that is good for both sides. If Henderson can improve on last year's good season, he'll be in for a big pay day heading into 2013.

Jasper Brinkley looks like he might be handed the starting job at middle linebacker heading into next season. Brinkley could be replacing his mentor from the past three years, E.J. Henderson. Brinkley saw a lot of snaps his rookie season and showed flashes of brilliance, but also made the expected rookie mistakes.

The 6'1", 250 pounder is a student of the game (he aspires to be a high school coach after his pro career), Brinkley will have to work hard this summer to refine his game after missing the 2011 season with injuries.

In Chad Greenway, the Vikings have one bonafide stud at linebacker. With Henderson and Brinkley probably starting at the other two spots, the Vikings are hoping that linebacker will be a position of strength for them next season.

Both Henderson and Brinkley have proved they can make plays at the NFL level. Now they need to take the next step and become difference makers and leaders on the 2012 squad.

Everson Griffen, DE, LB

Everson Griffen isn't just one of the best athletes on the Minnesota Vikings, he can stake a claim as one of the best in the entire NFL.

The 6'3", 270 pounder out of USC is heading into his third season in the league and has certainly shown flashes of brilliance in those two seasons, but he's still too raw and unrefined to take on a starting role.

The Vikings are doing their best to get Griffen on the field, even using him as a gunner on punt coverage for much of 2011.

Griffen has been a highly touted player since rushing for over 1,200 yards and 20 touchdowns his senior year in high school in Arizona. He had a brilliant, if uneven, career at USC, before being drafted by the Vikings in the fourth round of the 2010 draft.

Griffen has not disappointed, but he hasn't broken through yet either. Obviously the Vikings have been stacked at defensive end for the last couple of seasons, and there has been a lot of talk of moving Griffen to linebacker. 

What Griffen has to do this offseason is prove to the Vikings coaches that he has refined his game and that they need to find a way to have him on the field.

Whether it's splitting time with Brian Robison at end, or playing at one of the linebacker spots, Griffen has to earn the playing time. In order to do that, he has to learn the game better and have a better understanding of the Vikings' defensive schemes.

Some way, some how, Griffen has to earn himself more playing time, it seems like a waste to have such a big, athletic player on the sidelines so much.  

Phil Loadholt, OT

Phil Loadholt really has no excuse to not be a phenomenal football player. At 6'8", 345 pounds, Loadholt has an ideal body for today's NFL, he's a huge, athletic man that should be a can't miss star in the league.

Loadholt performed well his first two seasons in the league, but took a step backwards last season. Whether he was slowed by injury, or just fell into the malaise that seemed to grip the whole team, Loadholt seemed lethargic for most of the season, his worst as a pro. 

The knock on Loadholt has always been that he has too genial of a personality, that he lacks that animal, killer instinct that seems to be inherent in all top offensive linemen.

While Loadholt can't pretend to be someone he's not, what he can do is get himself into top physical condition, spend plenty of time in the weight room and on the treadmill to prove to the Vikings' staff that he's dedicated to being the best player he can be.

Loadholt has plenty of physical gifts and by all accounts is a great team guy. It would be truly sad to see him waste those gifts by not working as hard as he possibly can to be the best player he can be.

Loadholt can be a huge factor in the Vikings bouncing back from their dismal 2011 season, but it will take a lot of hard work on his part over the summer.

Kyle Rudolph and John Carlson, TE

The New England Patriots did something never seen before in the NFL during the 2011 season. Always an innovator and constantly looking for ways to one up the competition, Bill Belichick found a way to make two tight ends superstars in the same season.

The dynamic duo of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez combined for mind-boggling numbers: 169 catches for 2,237 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Let the copying begin.

Now, obviously there was a little bit of good fortune in the Patriots nabbing two phenomenal tight ends in the 2010 draft, but to their credit, they've optimized both player's value and given the Patriots offense a look the league just hasn't seen before.

The Vikings do not have Gronkowski and Hernandez (or Tom Brady), but with Kyle Rudolph and John Carlson both on the roster, they have two tight ends who can be highly productive. Rudolph showed off great hands and great size during his rookie season and will only get better in his second season.

The Vikings signed Carlson to a free agent deal and are hoping he can get his career back to where it was in 2008 and 2009 when he caught over 50 balls both seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.

It was a very smart signing by Rick Spielman, and it gives Christian Ponder a couple of security blankets as he tries to grow into the role of starting NFL quarterback.

This summer's OTAs and minicamps will be crucial for both Rudolph and Carlson. For Rudolph it's a chance to accelerate his learning curve and stake his claim as one of the go-to receiving threats on the roster.

For Carlson, it's a chance to acclimate to his new teammates and to re-establish a career that's been paused due to injuries over the last two seasons. 

Christian Ponder, QB

You didn't really think we'd have a story outlining where the Vikings need to improve and not have Christian Ponder a part of it, did you?

While Vikings fans have heard it as nausea since Ponder first took over as the starting quarterback last season, there is just no denying that the success of the franchise lies more with Ponder than any other single person.

The NFL has completely become a quarterback driven league. Rule changes, personnel packages and ideologies have all slanted towards the passing game over the last decade. While having a good quarterback certainly doesn't guarantee you to have a good team, it's almost impossible to have a good team without a strong quarterback.

The Vikings gambled on Ponder in the first round of the 2011 draft, and after his rookie season there really weren't a lot of questions about Ponder that were answered.

The team was a disaster, so any evaluation of the quarterback has to take that into account. Ponder was dropped into a season that was already in free fall, and he was tasked to nearly do the impossible. With a beat up offensive line and below average receiving corps, Ponder was dealt a terrible hand and had to make the best of it.

If Drew Brees and Tom Brady are asked to walk across a street in a small town during mid-morning traffic, Ponder was told to navigate rush hour in mid-town Manhattan. 

This offseason is crucial to Ponder's development. He can catch his breath and assess everything he learned last season and apply it to improving everything he does in 2012. He'll have time to work with his receivers and lineman during the summer and should head into next season a completely different player.

Ponder proved at different points last season that he's capable of just about everything asked of a starting quarterback. Yes, he made a lot of mistakes, but every rookie does and every quarterback on a bad team does as well. 

The action will slow down for Ponder in year two. For better or worse, the Vikings are now his team. Ponder needs to grab this offseason and prove that he's up to the task.