5 Things the Vikings Need to Be Successful

1. Hire Leslie Frazier as head coach for the next 3 seasons: The current 2010 Vikings season has not been very great. In fact it has been an interchanging soap opera of poor physical performances and locker room drama. The investment of a washed up quarterback with an underachieving coach led to a truly miserable 2010 season which feels like it shall never end. Therefore moving forward the Vikings need to invest in a coach that was the opposite of Mike Tice and Brad Childress. That type of coach would be a defensive coach who would focus on running the football and playing the clock. I cannot stress the defensive part of that statement enough in regards to the NFC North which strangely the blossoming of offensive juggernauts in Green Bay, Chicago and Detroit.

All three teams have excellent young quarterbacks, so the investment in the defense and a running game that can keep the opponents offense off the field is an absolute necessity. Leslie Frazier who through four games has posted a 2-2 record beating crappy teams in the Redskins and Bills, but losing to contenders like the Bears and Giants has done a solid job. Leslie Frazier without a doubt will be a head coach in the NFL and the Vikings can ill afford to let another Mike Tomlin or Tony Dungy go to another team. Leslie Frazier has actual playing experience, a wealth of past environments that showed him various situations along with solutions, and just that head coaching swagger. Better give him a shot.

2. Invest in a short term and long term quarterback: Unfortunately for the Vikings they have a strange influx of youth on offense with Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin, Adrian Peterson, and Toby Gerhart. They also have a bunch of aging stars on defense in Kevin Williams, Jared Allen, E.J. Henderson, Ben Leber, which are in their physical prime or just passing it. The answer to keeping both sides of the ball happy in the coming season is to invest in both a short and long term quarterback. So the answer is somewhat simple, find a quarterback that can compete NOW, and also one who can compete in three years. Sign a quarterback who can compete now such as Carson Palmer who might benefit from a different offense and non-needy wide receivers. He would also be competent enough to hand the ball off and throw the ball to a talented young offense.

Through the draft the Vikings should address their quarterback situation. As the NFL has taught many draft and personnel gurus, you don't need to draft a quarterback in the first few rounds to land a stellar player. A quarterback can be developed through time long term, no matter what round they were picked in. I would shy away from quarterbacks in the first few rounds since they typically have a solid college football program supporting them and go with some quiet players who had to rely on their brains and physical ability because of their lack of supporting cast. I would in fact draft two quarterbacks and therefore double your chances of developing a solid one.

3. Retool the offensive line dramatically: Favre might have a good year if he had more then three seconds to throw the football. Bryant Mckinnie and Phil Loadholt are completely worthless tackles who are completely overrated. Neither tackle can move around or maintain blocks for more then a few seconds, both need to be cut or reduced to a back up role. Free agents should be signed in the off season to replace both tackles, they cannot bring in two young tackles and expect them to compete at the pro level immediately. Also they need to get a new center plain and simple. Sure, John Sullivan has appeared okay at times back he lacks one fundamental problem that cannot be overlooked. He continuously snaps the ball over the quarterbacks head which results in huge turnovers or large amounts of yards to make up.

The two guards in Anthony Herrera and Steve Hutchinson are excellent, they bring a great swagger to the offensive line. A solid back up behind them is needed and that could be solved with the further development of Ryan Cook or Chris Degeare. But immediate depth must be added to offensive line through free agency to further create the identity of a run first team. An investment must be made in quick tackles and not bulky ones, who can run down the field to open holes for Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart.

4. Invest in a veteran safety: In the 2009 season where the Vikings nearly made the Superbowl, the defensive weakness at safety was masked over by the teams good fortune throughout the season. Now as the 2010 season is coming to the end we can see that opponents avidly target the Vikings middle of the field not only with passes but with elaborate runs knowing that the Vikings defense is lacking a play-making safety. Husain Abdullah is an young and raw safety who appears to have a knack for being around the ball and making plays. I would keep him as a starter because he is simply so young, this being his second year in the league. The more experience he gets the better he will become already judging by his inherent ability displayed this current NFL season.

The Vikings need to sign a couple of veteran free safeties who will be able to command a physical and intelligent presence in the middle of the field. Literally any veteran safety would be welcome. A safety that could command the secondary and have reasonable knowledge of how pass patterns over the middle work. The Vikings might even want to consider trading away a defensive tackle or end (a position with surprising depth) and a draft pick for a veteran safety of any value. They should also consider drafting one to Sheppard as a back up.

5. The Vikings need one more running back: This statement may seem somewhat insane considering that the Vikings have Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart who are both big physical backs and capable of shouldering the load at any point in a game. But because of their running style both are susceptible to injury very easily and if the Vikings start running the football as often as I think they will in the next season, a third running back would be a huge insurance policy. Lorenzo Booker so far looks like a good experiment as a scat back or third down back. Judging by his cuts he has an excellent feel for the game and should be used in a consistent role. But if the Vikings are going to consistently compete they need a back up, for back up, for back up, at running back.