Minnesota Vikings: 3 Early bold predictions for the 2020 season

2. Offense will return to form during the year

Another prediction that will take place for Minnesota during the course of the 2020 campaign is that its offense will return to form from what we saw out of it a season ago.

Of course, there are some pieces that are missing within the Vikings offensive group leading into the new year, most notably a few wide receiver targets headlined by the departure of wideout Stefon Diggs who was traded to the Buffalo Bills during the offseason.

Even with the departure of Diggs, Minnesota will retain a bulk of the offense headlined by quarterback Kirk Cousins, running back Dalvin Cook and wide receiver Adam Thielen, among others, going in the regular-season schedule.

With that core group still in tact, along with the addition of some young prospects such as wide receiver Justin Jefferson, the Vikings will be able to recover from some offensive departures to put together a nice showing on that side of the line of scrimmage once again in 2020.

During the 2019 season, Minnesota’s running game outshined its passing attack during the regular season. Led by Cook on the ground, the Vikings were one of the top running squads in the NFL during the year.

Last season, Minnesota ranked fourth in the NFL in total rushing attempts (476), tallying 2,133 total yards (6th in the NFL) and 19 touchdowns (4th-most in the league) on the ground.

In the passing game, the Cousins-led group managed to throw the ball just a total of 466 times, which ranked third-least in the league. The Vikings did average eight yards per pass attempt, which ranked sixth in the NFL, tallying a total of 3,729 yards (9th in the NFL) with 26 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.

Although Minnesota does have a hole to fill with the departure and absence of Diggs, the group of Cousins, Thielen, Jefferson, Cook as well as tight ends Kyle Rudolph and Irv Smith Jr. should be able to return to form during the year and help lead the team offensively.