Minnesota Vikings: Positives and negatives from 2019 season

2. Negative: Question marks on defense

In stark contrast to previous years, question marks arose on the defensive side of the ball this season — a question that will continue throughout the offseason for Minnesota.

Traditionally, the Vikings have contained one of the top defensive units in the entire league, but there were plenty of glaring issues and question marks that popped up during the regular season schedule and in the playoffs for Minnesota.

Overall, the Vikings defense as a total unit was relatively average for the most part during the 2019 campaign, ranking 19th in the NFL in total yards given up per contest (341.6), while allowing opposing offenses to score 18.9 points per game on average, which ranked fifth-best in the league.

When it comes to breaking down aspects of the defense as far as individual players go, one area of concern for Minnesota on defense came in its passing defense and especially the play of the Vikings defensive backs during the regular season.

Specifically when it came to the performance from players such as Pro Bowl cornerback Xavier Rhodes, Minnesota might have some decisions to make in moving personnel on that side of the ball during the offseason.

Moving forward beyond the 2019 season, the Vikings will also have some questions pertaining to who they value more on defense with a handful of playmakers on that side of the line of scrimmage entering free agency this offseason.

The defense holds multiple impending free agents going into 2020, including players like top contributors Trae Waynes, Mackensie Alexander, Anthony Harris, Stephen Weatherly and Jayron Kearse, to name a few.

Throughout the regular season, Minnesota’s defense wasn’t as elite as we have been accustomed to seeing from it. And now, the Vikings have some big questions going into what will likely be a busy offseason.