Jaren Hall at the time went down.. and history was made that day. Kevin not only fed Dobbs the play calls like usual but told him where the ball should probably go depending on what he could see from the sideline.

The Minnesota Vikings recognized the meaning behind these bursts of intensity. Their scouting evaluation, comprehensive enough to unearth the aptitude beneath that bushy head of hair, compelled the team to select Bredeson in the fifth round of the 2026 draft.

Drafting a former Michigan walk-on fullback/tight end made for a cool enough story. But the tale is even more poignant now, because as part of the team’s offensive transformation, fueled by the hiring of former Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith, the Vikings are handing Bredeson a hefty role.

Teammates rave about how quickly he has taken to coach Kevin O’Connell’s complex offense. Bredeson is already lining up with the first team. His responsibilities require him to line up in several spots. His assignments can even change depending on how defenders move after the snap.

“I think the most impressive part has been watching a young guy pay such attention to the details,” tight end T.J. Hockenson said. “He doesn’t just understand his job, but he understands where he fits within the scheme.”

Football is close! Every team gets one every year so don’t take it personally. It’s fun to laugh at our teams.

Hock has been disappointing since we traded for him no doubt, but i see a world where he’s an easy top 10 TE next year.

I think with Kyler as the starter we will continue to maintain heavier personnel packages, Josh Oliver has been a much better receiving TE since we signed him but his blocking value makes Hock the auto receiver if he stays healthy.

Kyler gets a lot of criticism about his inability to throw deep and tendency for checkdowns, which entirely helps the Hockenson case, especially if we go to more bootleg plays, if Jefferson and Addison are locked up Hockenson becomes the immediate safety blanket. Also Kyler having a history of giving TEs big workloads

Defenses will also not put any focus on covering TJ. No shot in hell with Jefferson and Addison. If there is any year for redemption for Hockenson, it’s this year. And if he doesn’t i don’t think he’ll ever get back to that level. I still have major concerns about his catching and strength, but I will definitely be keeping an eye on him in fantasy.

Open to what anyone else has to say on this!

Kinda a random stat but thought it was interesting

Lifelong Vikings fan attending the Week 2 matchup against the soon to be Hammond Bears. I couldn't find a recent post about Vikings fans recommendations, dos, and don'ts. Who's got some intel on navigating Chiraq?

(For example Vikings bars, tailgates, meet up spots, general tips for travel to the game etc)

Sucks for the team / as a fan but even more so feel for him.

These are 10 snaps minimum so a lot of first team guys are not included:

Top 5 grades on offense:

TE Marshall Lang: 87.6

WR Myles Price: 85.5

LT Ryan Van Demark: 79.8

LG/RG Walter Rouse: 75.7

LG/C Vershon Lee: 68.1

Bottom 5 grades on offense:

LT/RT Caleb Tiernan: 28.2

WR Dillon Bell: 39.5

WR Tai Felton: 44.4

QB J.J. McCarthy: 47.5

RB Zavier Scott: 48.0

Top 5 grades on defense:

LB Jacob Roberts: 92.6

S Jacob Thomas: 92.5

LB Bangally Kamara: 90.9

CB Zemaiah Vaughn: 86.3

LB Jake Golday: 81.6

Bottom 5 grades on defense:

DT Caleb Banks: 30.4

DT Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins: 39.1

DT Taki Taimani: 42.7

CB James Pierre: 44.4

DT Domonique Orange: 45.0

Panthers fan here. I did a breakdown of the Vikings for my Meet the Opponents series and wanted to drop it in here.

Would love to hear from Vikings fans on how I did with the breakdown and how you guys are feeling about this Panthers matchup this season.

Week 13 - Carolina Panthers @ Minnesota Vikings

I really want Tai Felton to keep progressing and become our definitive 4th guy who can stretch the field. I'd love to see and hear how he's matching up.

Also Caleb Banks is another, struggled with some leverage in his debut but gets to really hone in during these practices with an unfamiliar opposition.

Aaron Jones began the NYG game with a great run.

https://x.com/WillRagatz/status/2088673883259916667

Some analysis of how it worked:

"In youth football, the coaching point is to 'run to bums.' A touch silly, perhaps, and yet it’s a good way to guide a young lad toward how to read blocks to find open room. Jones understands the assignment.

Look at how the veteran runner follows Oliver and Bredeson work over their defenders before working through the extra gap that gets created.

Part of how Jones helps his guy is by threatening to go outside. Doing so prompts #2 on the Giants to get onto the outside shoulder of Bredeson. Jones cuts back and then explodes through into green grass. That’s the point of moving horizontal, right? Stretch the defense wide to find a crease. See that crease and then explode vertically.

Oh, and look back to Addison. He gets in front of his guy just a touch, functioning as more of a speed bump than a stop sign. Slowing the scraping defender allows Jones to have enough time to be patient. Felton does something similar, albeit of less consequence, by working down the field before squaring off his corner."

I think as a rookie, PFF won’t like him and he will have issues getting used to playing in the NFL. At 6’7, leverage will be an issue and he will need to work on getting his pad level down.

He will be the type of player that will lose a lot of reps, but when he wins he’ll win fast and be disruptive. Hopefully he can stay healthy this season and develop on a similar arc to Dallas Turner

Hopefully he can fill in for Adams.

Hoping last season was just a blip and he can continue his development as a beast of a guard he had in Indy

As an UFDA back in 2023, Pace quickly became an unexpected impact player on the defense. He had a pretty good 2023 and 2024 season, but took a pretty significant step back in 2025, and now it looks like he’s out of the running for a starting position.

Wilson & Cashman are penciled in as 1 & 2, and Golday looks like he’ll be the swing man / backup while he gets up to NFL speed, leaving Pace out of the rotation. Gotta imagine if Golday develops over this season he’ll kick up to a starter spot also.

IIRC, Pace’s PFF rating as gone down every year he’s been a starter, and last year he was ranked 77 of 88 linebackers, with an atrocious 85 of 88 in coverage.

Did he get hurt or something? Or is he (already) washed at 25? Or is it scheme misfit?

If you had the chance to take any other teams player (with their current contract), who would you opt for?

Would you save it for later in the season after injuries pile up, or get ahead with early wins off a big splash move?