Vikings season preview: What you need to know before the opener vs. the Giants

The Vikings start the regular season on the road for the first time in Kevin O’Connell’s tenure, but given what awaits them at the start of their home schedule, their trip to New Jersey takes on extra importance. They’ll face the Giants for the first time since losing to New York in the 2022 NFC wild-card round. Read more

For Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell, it was always about 2024, when they felt they’d have a refreshed roster built around players brought in to fit a particular culture and the spending room to pursue high-level talent. Read Ben Goessling’s analysis

The Vikings bet $10 million over one year that quarterback Sam Darnold, a former No. 3 overall pick on his fourth NFL team, can turn around his career given the right culture, coaching and surrounding talent. Read more

Every NFL season is filled with moving parts. A lot of the Vikings’ moving parts need to prove they’re moving in the right direction, writes Jim Souhan. Read more

Receiver Justin Jefferson was one of Kirk Cousins’ most outspoken advocates, but he will play the next stage of his career with more NFL stature than his quarterback. He wants Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy to believe they can make any throw on the field, and to trust he’ll come down with any ball they send his way. Read more

Edge rusher Dallas Turner, selected by the Vikings with the 17th pick in the first round of the NFL draft in April, has thrived in the pressure cookers that are South Florida youth football and Alabama college football, leaving those around him with little concern about how he’ll transition to the grandest stage. Read more

Despite boasting one of the game’s best receivers, a QB looking to resurrect his career and a coach searching for balance, all of the Vikings’ success may depend on what Aaron Jones does in the backfield, writes La Velle E. Neal III. Read more

Vikings need to transition from a team that talks about running the football to one that actually can run the football. And that starts with an interior line that’s been maligned and is aiming to prove people wrong. Read more

New faces abound in the Vikings’ starting lineup -- not just at quarterback. Here are five other remade positions that will play a role in whether the team can rebound from a 7-10 season. Read more

The Vikings’ 2024 schedule features Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins and a lot of up-and-coming quarterbacks, including C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson and Caleb Williams. Read more

Not all the Minnesota Star Tribune staff writers and columnists who cover the Vikings think this will be a lost year for the team. Read more

Buckle up. All told, there will be 272 regular-season games, 12 more postseason games, one exciting new set of kickoff rules and countless controversies and heart-pounding finishes before we arrive in New Orleans on Feb. 13 for Super Bowl LIX. Read more

In an effort to encourage kick returns and reduce injuries, the NFL adopted a new kickoff format modeled after the one used in the XFL. Read more

Which quarterback will be Most Valuable Player? Which teams will surprise? Which ones will disappoint? Read more

On the Access Vikings podcast, Ben Goessling, Andrew Krammer and Michael Rand discuss how the Vikings match up with the Giants, Sam Darnold’s readiness, and expectations for a restocked defense. Listen here