Midseason Report Card for Every Minnesota Vikings Positional Unit

When your team is 5-2 and in position to reach the postseason, plenty has gone right.

And that's exactly the case for the Minnesota Vikings.

They enter their Week 8 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as postseason-bound for the first time since their magical 2009 campaign.

That doesn't mean there isn't a fair amount to improve upon yet either.

With that in mind, here are my grades for each positional unit.

Quarterback

The transformation over the last three weeks has been amazing for Christian Ponder.

He finished the first four weeks without an interception. Then the past three games he's thrown two interceptions in EACH game.

The second-year quarterback got lucky the first four weeks of the season. He had numerous passes hit defenders squarely in the hands only to have them dropped.

The turnover bug needs to go away for Ponder and the Vikings if they hope to reach the postseason because the second half of their schedule is no cakewalk.

The turnovers and the 58 passing yards against the Arizona Cardinals aside, Ponder has shown great growth this season.

The former Florida State Seminole has thrown for 1,492 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions. He's on pace for roughly 3,000 passing yards with 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

He throws a great ball within 15 yards of the line of scrimmage. He has succeeded in finding the open receiver among a corps that outside of Kyle Rudolph and Percy Harvin lacks playmakers.

His completion percentage is the league's seventh best (67.0), and while Minnesota's offense doesn't involve many passes over 15 yards, he deserves credit for completing as high of a percentage as he has.

Without Ponder's grand step forward the Vikings aren't 5-2.

Grade: B-

Running Backs

Minnesota's top two running backs entered this season coming off of knee injuries.

Toby Gerhart tore his MCL. Adrian Peterson tore his MCL and ACL. The recovery time for a torn ACL is typically nine months or more. Peterson was running around the field during training camp in late July, roughly seven months after the injury was suffered.

Now, Peterson is a top-five rusher with 692 yards through seven games. He's reached the end zone just three times, but that's hardly all on Peterson. Minnesota's passing game is much improved, which reduces his opportunities.

He's cutting, running and trucking through defenders much like we saw him do before his injury. Peterson is back. And the rest of the NFL better be ready.

While Peterson has been a standout, Gerhart has been a dud.

This was supposed to be a breakout year for Gerhart. He averaged 4.9 yards per carry and rushed for 109 yards against the Washington Redskins in Week 16 last season.

He was running with an attitude and plenty of confidence. It looked like he was ready to justify his second-round selection by forming the league's most dangerous running back duo.

Instead, he's fumbled twice (one more than all of last season) and is averaging 3.4 yards per carry.

It's still early, but Gerhart's regressed.

Grade: B+

Offensive Line

Part of the reason the Vikings were awful last season was that their offensive line was unreliable, at best.

It allowed 49 sacks (fifth most) and 76 QB hits (tied for 15th most). Steve Hutchinson was past his prime and Charlie Johnson wasn't made to be a left tackle. Phil Loadholt was regressing and Anthony Herrera wasn't healthy.

Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart had to fight for every yard and make their own plays.

Fast forward to seven games into the 2012 season and the offensive line has been one of the strengths of this team. It's protecting Christian Ponder adequately and opening plenty of holes for Peterson.

Matt Kalil, the fourth pick in the 2012 draft, has been phenomenal at protecting Ponder's blindside. He's not the league's best run-blocker, but he's adequate. He's well-positioned to be the left tackle in Minnesota for the next 10 years if he so chooses.

Johnson has transitioned seamlessly to left guard and forms a strong left side with Kalil.

Brandon Fusco and Loadholt aren't as strong as the left side, but the Vikings are obviously happy with Loadholt because they're in contract negotiations with him.

The line has allowed 16 sacks and 31 QB hits this season, on pace for roughly 32 sacks and 62 hits.

It hasn't played its best football the past three games, allowing eight sacks, but the Vikings have to be happy with the unit's performance as a whole.

Grade: B+

Tight Ends

This offseason the Vikings put their trust in John Carlson to be a key cog of Minnesota's aerial attack. Thus far, the payback has been minimal.

Carlson battled injuries in the preseason and has yet to really get into the offense. He's caught three passes for nine yards. That doesn't scream, "I DESERVE A $25 MILLION CONTRACT!"

It's Week 8. The injury excuse can only be relevant for so long. He's been a major disappointment, considering Minnesota did next to nothing to improve its wide receiver corps in the offseason.

Kyle Rudolph, on the other hand, has been impressive. Minnesota selected him 43rd overall in the 2011 NFL draft when it already had Visanthe Shiancoe. Rudolph was dubbed a first-round talent whose injuries slipped him to Round 2.

After an underwhelming rookie campaign Rudolph has stormed onto the scene this season with 25 catches for 225 yards and five touchdowns. He's on pace for roughly 50 receptions for 500 yards and 10 touchdowns.

He's a beast in the red zone and a reliable safety valve for Christian Ponder.

Neither of these players are known for their abilities in the run game, although both made numerous key blocks against the Arizona Cardinals to spring Adrian Peterson.

Grade: B

Wide Receivers

Percy Harvin is the Minnesota Vikings receiving corps. Without Harvin this unit is a joke.

He has 53 receptions for 577 yards with two touchdowns.

The next closest wide receiver is Michael Jenkins with 20 catches for 209 yards and one touchdown.

Jerome Simpson has been a major disappointment as injuries and his three-game suspension have limited him to five catches for 58 yards.

Harvin is the only player who would be a No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 receiver. Simpson hasn't proven himself, Jenkins is unreliable and Devin Aromashodu is as inconsistent as they come.

Someone else has to step up in the second half as defenses begin to key more and more on Harvin.

Grade: B-

Defensive Linemen

Entering the 2012 season one thing Minnesota knew was that it was very stable at defensive end.

Brian Robison, Jared Allen and Everson Griffen form one of the best trios at the position. And that has lived up to the standard.

Allen and Robison are on pace for roughly double-digit sack seasons and are very active. Both have amazing motors. They never give up on a play.

Both of their sack totals were down to start the year but have picked up.

Griffen continues to demonstrate the ability to wreak havoc on oppositions in his limited time (3.0 sacks this season). His playmaking ability is as visible as ever and is why Minnesota tried to convert him to linebacker to get him on the field more often.

Kevin Williams demonstrates game by game that he's getting older but is still strong at stopping the run. His days of recording much more than 5.0 sacks (if that) in a season are well past, but like Allen and Robison he's still active. He doesn't give up on many plays.

Letroy Guion has been the surprise of the unit. No one was sure what to expect from him this season, but he's impressed me. He has 19 tackles and 2.0 sacks.

Grade: A-

Linebackers

This unit was one of the biggest question marks entering this season.

Could Jasper Brinkley be a legitimate starting middle linebacker?

Erin Henderson showed glimpses of warranting a starting outside linebacker position, but would he take a step forward this season?

And could Chad Greenway do more than make just the basic plays?

The answers to all three questions have been overwhelmingly positive.

Greenway started the season overly aggressive, recording two sacks in the first three games of the season and recording 10 or more tackles in four of the first five games. Like the entire defense, he struggled to tackle Robert Griffin III in Week 6 but he hasn't played as aggressively the last three weeks.

Brinkley is strong against the run and weak against the pass. He has only one game with 10 or more tackles and lets himself get blocked too easily. His play has been solid, but the Vikings defense has allowed 100 or more yards the past two weeks, and he deserves plenty of blame in that as the middle linebacker.

Henderson missed the Detroit and San Francisco games with symptoms of a concussion and has struggled to be as active the last two games as he was the first two games of the season.

Grade: B

Safeties

As each game passes, the Vikings' decision to trade back into the first round to select Harrison Smith looks better and better.

Smith plays the game with so much passion, aggression and energy. It's fun to watch him operate, and there haven't been too many safeties in recent Vikings history that fit into that category. He plays with an attitude and doesn't take any crap from anyone.

He's strong against the run and is solid against the pass. Outside of his 31-yard touchdown return against the Arizona Cardinals and dislodged pass against Calvin Johnson and the Detroit Lions, he hasn't made too many standout plays against the pass but usually puts himself in positions to be successful.

Mistral Raymond and Jamarca Sanford have provided strong play from the other safety position. Sanford still is better against the run and Raymond against the pass.

Raymond has missed the past four games with an ankle injury and Sanford has filled in admirably since then. Raymond may have to earn his job back when, if, he returns.

The safety play has been vastly improved from last season when it was part of a pass defense that allowed the seventh-most passing yards, the most touchdowns, the second-highest completion percentage and highest passer rating, and recorded the fewest interceptions.

As the season progresses, the safety play will get even better as Smith progresses and gets comfortable with Raymond/Sanford.

Grade: A-

Cornerbacks

Many believed that if Antoine Winfield had been healthy the entire season and Chris Cook hadn't been suspended that the Vikings secondary wouldn't have been as bad as it was statistically last season.

Those people look pretty intelligent at this point.

The Vikings were 26th against the pass last season and are 17th now.

Winfield and Cook don't deserve all of the credit, but they deserve enough. Winfield is still among the game's best tackling corners at age 35 and has 55 tackles to date.

Cook is still maturing as a corner. He isn't as effective against the run as Winfield but is much better as a pass defender. At 6'2" and 212 pounds he has the size to mature into a top corner.

Josh Robinson has provided strong cover skills as a rookie but likes to wander too much in zone. He will continue to get better as the season progresses. He also makes Minnesota look that much smarter for cutting Chris Carr and Zack Bowman after the preseason.

A.J. Jefferson continues to see more and more time on the field, and he's earned it. He appears to be a nice pickup from the Arizona Cardinals.

Grade: A-

Kickers

As the season progresses, Blair Walsh continues to prove all of his critics wrong. He doesn't have an accuracy problem, like many said of him coming out of Georgia.

But unlike the advertised accuracy problem, the powerful leg he showed at Georgia is still very real.

Walsh has made three of three attempts from 50-plus yards. His one miss came from 46 yards, and it surprisingly came in an enclosed environment at Detroit's Ford Field.

The No. 1 reason Minnesota cut veteran Ryan Longwell after the NFL draft was because of its dissatisfaction with Longwell's kickoff skills and its belief that Walsh could consistently force a touchback.

That belief has also held water. Walsh consistently puts the ball in the end zone or out of it, forcing the opposition to start from its own 20-yard line.

Chris Kluwe, on the other hand, has been very average on punts. He hasn't been terrible. He hasn't been great.

His net average is 40.3 yards per punt (18th best), and he's recorded 10 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

Grade: B+