5 NFL teams that need to embrace tanking for the rest of 2020

2. Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are one of the “good-bad” teams this year as they have looked like world-beaters one week but like bottom dwellers the next. The Vikings were inches away from beating the 6-1 Seahawks and beat the 5-1 Packers but also lost handily to the previously winless Atlanta Falcons.

They have had a tough schedule to open the season but have also done themselves no favors with one of the more porous defenses in the NFL. Quarterback Kirk Cousins has turned over the ball at an alarming rate and is second in the NFL with 10 interceptions in seven games.

Despite their struggles, they still have talent on offense with young stars like Dalvin Cook and Justin Jefferson have a quarterback that can deliver in the right situation. The offense has shown it can score points when firing on all cylinders, but the defense is what’s holding them back.

Thanks to the Stefon Diggs trade and other moves, the Vikings have 12 picks in the 2021 draft and can use them to trade for a difference-maker on defense or rebuild the unit from the ground up. In order to do so effectively, they need to embrace tanking this season by protecting Dalvin Cook by limiting his touches and perhaps moving one of the safeties that are in the trade rumor mill.

They can’t do a full rebuild due to Kirk Cousins’ massive contract but a reload of their defense is definitely on the cards for the 2021 offseason.