Minnesota Vikings: 10 Young Players Who Still Need to Step Up

With a 2-8 record, it's pretty obvious that some members of the Minnesota Vikings really need to step up.

With guys like Jared Allen, Adrian Peterson, Chad Greenway and EJ Henderson as the real veteran leaders on this team (that of course, is among many others), the guys that need to start pulling more of their own weight are the younger guys on the team.

As far as difficulty goes, the Vikings have a pretty middle-of-the-road schedule remaining this season. These games should act as proving grounds for these young guys to show that they are actually worth a roster space moving forward.

Because this is clearly a rebuilding year, it will become more of a tryout for next season as we get down to the last few weeks of the regular season.

I want to be clear that, in this article, I'm not saying that each named player has to "step up or get out," I'm just making observations comparing potential to production. Therefore, if a solid player is on this list, I just think he could have to potential to be doing more than he has been.

Now that we've got that out of the way, here are 10 young guys that need to step up for the Minnesota Vikings.

Kyle Rudolph

Rookie TE Kyle Rudolph has the potential to be one of the league's next great tight ends.

He also happens to be becoming QB Christian Ponder's go-to receiver.

Without the safety net of Adrian Peterson to fall back on, Ponder will be forced to make it happen through the air.

The lack of ground game will make the use of Rudolph and Visanthe Shiancoe much more valuable.

This, of course, means that Rudolph will have to step up and put himself in a position to make some big plays. He's already shown that he can catch the ball—oh boy, can he catch the ball—but his ability to create separation could use a little work.

If Rudolph can help Ponder stretch the field, the Vikings offense might be able to get on track (as far as rebuilding goes).

Christian Ballard

Vikings starting nose tackle Remi Ayodele is garbage.

With a mere five tackles on the year, Ayodele could be to blame for the Vikings' inability to stop the run this year.

Christian Ballard is second on the depth chart at NT and will likely replace Ayodele soon.

Coming out of the draft, Ballard was considered a steal as the Vikings drafted him in the fourth round—though he was considered second-round talent.

While he hasn't wowed anyone so far this season, he hasn't necessarily been disappointing in a limited role, either.

Coming off the bench, Ballard still has under 10 total tackles, but he did just record his first NFL sack last week against the Raiders and has consistently put pressure on QBs and helped in run support.

If Ballard can step up his game and put himself ahead of Ayodele, he will not only be improving himself, he will help to drastically improve the interior of a very proud defensive line.

Asher Allen/Marcus Sherels/Brandon Burton

I'm grouping the three of these guys together as one player because (other than the fact that that's about the combined potential of the three of them) they all have to essentially compete for the same job.

With Antoine Winfield and Chris Cook (likely) done for the 2011 season, Cedric Griffin and Benny Sapp are the best corners on the roster—and that's saying a lot about this secondary.

Asher Allen has been playing decently in a starting role since Winfield's been injured, but at the same time he's been giving up some big plays.

Burton and Sherels haven't even been good enough in practice to get the game-time necessary to truly evaluate their ability on defense.

Sherels has mildly shown his worth as the punt returner, but even that could use some work.

Above all, I'm willing to make the prediction that only one of these three guys will remain on the roster in 2012.

Whom that may be, I'm not willing to speculate right now. I will say, though, that the rest of the season will act as an open tryout to these three and see which one wants to remain on the roster badly enough—because Lord knows the Vikings will draft a CB this year to address this pitiful group of DBs.

If none of these guys step up in the next few weeks, they'll all be looking for new jobs in 2012.

Jamarca Sanford/Husain Abdullah

Like I said on the previous slide, the Minnesota Vikings are notoriously weak in their defensive secondary.

Though I don't have many nice things to say about their corners, they are a lot better off there than at safety.

Starting at strong safety is former seventh-round-pick Jamarca Sanford from Ole Miss.

Sanford has shown some improvement this year in recording 40 tackles and two interceptions.

Overall, though, Sanford has been too inconsistent and unreliable to play a position that is so detrimental to the Vikings' Tampa-Two defense.

The same goes for Husain Abdullah, who starts at free safety. Abdullah is an inspiring player—because of his spirituality, not his ability.

Abdullah has totaled 49 tackles and one interception so far this season. While those statistics are a big improvement from what Husain has shown us in the past, he's also given up far too many jump balls for big gains to even consider not addressing this position.

Both Abdullah and Sanford are ideal backups on a team that could desperately use some depth, but neither are qualified to start because of how important it is to have good safeties in a cover-two defensive scheme.

These guys both need to step it up and prove that they deserve a roster spot, because as of right now, both look like they will be "exploring other options" by next season.

Devin Aromashodu

OK, Devin Aromashodu is 27 years old, but he's still young and inexperienced enough for me to say that there's still room for him to step up.

We've all seen that Aromashodu possesses the ability to stretch the field and take a corner deep on the go-route.

In fact, the Vikings brought him in for that very purpose.

Aromashodu has worked himself up to a starting job on the depth chart, but since then, he hasn't gotten much to show for it.

He needs to step up his game and be the No. 1 WR that his team needs him to be. If he can do this, stretch the field and actually become some kind of threat, the Vikings won't be the only ones in a better position going into 2012.

Aromashodu only has a one-year contract with the Vikings. If he can prove his worth, he'll no doubt have a roster spot next season.

Percy Harvin

In the opening slide of the article, I said that certain players would appear on this list because they have unbelievable potential and could get more production going than they have.

I was mainly referring to Percy Harvin.

With Adrian Peterson likely out for a few weeks, Percy Harvin is automatically the best playmaker on the roster.

Harvin is elusive and explosive—and he fights for every yard. \

When paired with a No. 1 WR, Harvin has the ability to be one of the best slot receivers in the NFL and most certainly a Pro Bowler.

Unfortunately for both Harvin and the Vikings, nagging injuries and health issues have kept both parties from discovering Harvin's true potential.

If Harvin can stay on the field as much as he's needed to, he should be able to make some big plays and key plays for his squad.

Though he's already utilized in both the passing and running game, look for Harvin to be featured even more with the lack of Adrian Peterson over the next few weeks.

The Vikings need him to step up and essentially be the guy on offense if they hope to win any games without Peterson.

Toby Gerhart

After an ugly injury against Oakland, the Vikings lost Adrian Peterson to a high ankle sprain.

Though this isn't that serious of an injury, they likely won't want to risk any further injury in what has become a meaningless season.

This essentially means that AP is done for the better part of the rest of the season and second-year RB Toby Gerhart becomes the starter.

Gerhart has been decent in a limited role, but when faced with the majority of the workload on a team that has a run-first mentality, Gerhart will be under a lot of pressure.

The Vikings used a second-round pick on Gerhart in the 2010 draft. Having high expectations for him would certainly be fair—especially when he was a front-runner to win the Heisman Trophy at one point in his college career at Stanford.

With a severely under-developed passing game, the Vikings will need Gerhart to step up and carry the load for at very least the next three weeks.

Christian Ponder

While I think most Vikings fans would say that they're pleased with the way rookie QB Christian Ponder has progressed, we would all be lying to ourselves in saying that he's been great in his four starts as an NFL QB.

Ponder has shown flashes of high potential and ability through his athleticism, leadership and ability to come through in critical moments.

Unfortunately, it's been his decision-making and inability to make plays in the pocket that have limited him thus far.

Rightfully so, a lot of blame can come from a shoddy offensive line and a rag-tag group of receivers, but the six interceptions that he's thrown this season have all been ugly. Ultimately, the Vikings need him to be better than his 67.3 passer rating.

Ponder has a high ceiling and is already progressing at a good rate considering he's only made four starts as an NFL quarterback, but he really needs to minimize his mistakes more to truly step up and be the leader of this football team.

If he can do these things, he will have a long career as the starting QB in Minnesota.

Thanks for reading.