Vikings' stark talent gap: Justin Jefferson, then everyone else

The Vikings' 13-4 record in 2022 was achieved in highly improbable fashion on multiple fronts, not the least of which of course was their 11-0 record in one-score games during the regular season.

Those close wins and some blowout losses led to a negative point differential for the season, extremely unusual for a team with nine more wins than losses.

A recently published list of the top 100 NFL players heading into 2023 gives us another example of how unusual last year's Vikings were.

ESPN's list is subjective, of course, and it is forward-looking rather than past-looking. But it gives us a good reference point to compare the Vikings to their peers.

And as I talked about on Tuesday's Daily Delivery podcast, it shows how receiver Justin Jefferson is on a sort of talent island with the Vikings. His greatness is without peer, a fact that is comforting but troubling all at once.

I took a look at the Vikings and the eight other NFL teams that won at least 10 games last season and found Minnesota to be an extreme outlier in terms of top-end talent, according to ESPN's list.

For the Vikings, Jefferson was ranked the No. 2 player in the entire league heading into 2023 behind just Kansas City QB Patrick Mahomes. That's high praise, of course, and having one of the best players in football is a great starting point for any roster.

But the next-highest ranked player was Danielle Hunter at No. 81. Quarterback Kirk Cousins at No. 94 was the only other ranked Viking.

The other eight teams that had double-digit wins all had at least two players in the top-50 and at least four players in the top 100. Every other team but the Ravens had at least five players in the top 100 and six of the eight had at least two players in the top 25.

The 49ers had a whopping seven players in the top 50. Of note, too: Six of the other eight teams had QBs ranked in the top 20.

Relative to other 2022 high-achievers, the Vikings have an overall top-end talent deficit and easily the largest gap between their best and second-best player. That puts a lot of pressure on Jefferson — and on someone else to emerge in 2023.

But it's hard to identify a likely candidate to even be top-50 in 2024. Maybe Hunter re-establishes a higher level of dominance? Maybe T.J. Hockenson or rookie receiver Jordan Addison take huge steps?

All of this is a quasi-scientific way of saying the Vikings need more top tier players, and that the more good players you have the better your team is going to be.

Those things are obvious. So, too, is the likelihood of a Vikings regression unless their talent takes a major leap in 2023.

Here are four more things to know today:

*Then again, I have been wrong about the Vikings before.

*I asked on Tuesday's Daily Delivery podcast whether the Twins have become Royce Lewis' team after his second grand slam in as many days provided more evidence of his talent, energy and big-moment ability. Randy Johnson also joined me to talk Gophers football ahead of Thursday's opener against Nebraska.

*Speaking of the Twins' 10-6 win over Cleveland, this scoreboard fact was amazing.

*I'll be joined on Wednesday's podcast by Chip Towers from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who just did a story on the Gophers being the last three-peat college football champions (from 1934-36), a feat Georgia is attempting this year.