Minnesota Vikings Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson did not report for the start of the team's offseason program on Monday. He's entering the final year of his rookie deal and is (rightfully) looking for a big contract extension. “I’ve had a lot of great dialogue with Justin throughout even the early part of this offseason and leading up,” HC Kevin O’Connell said. “My hope is we can get him around the team. Obviously such a special player, but it goes beyond that this time of year because of just the energy and flat-out way he goes to work.” We'll see where these contract negotiations go and how long Jefferson stays away from the team. We'll also see if the Vikings add a QB early in the draft later this month. Despite those issues, Jefferson still sits fourth among WRs in our current 2024 fantasy football rankings.

The Vikings acquired the 23rd overall pick of this year's draft -- plus pick No. 232 -- from the Texans in exchange for picks 42, 188, and a 2025 second-rounder. Minnesota now holds the 11th and 23rd overall picks in the draft. The obvious conclusion here is that the Vikings are stockpiling ammo to make a move up for a QB. They'd likely need to trade into the top three to land Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, or Drake Maye. Or they could make a smaller move up for J.J. McCarthy. Any of those guys would be good news for the short and long-term fantasy outlooks of WR Justin Jefferson, WR Jordan Addison, and TE T.J. Hockenson. QB Sam Darnold currently tops Minnesota's depth chart.

The Vikings have agreed to a deal with former Packers RB Aaron Jones, according to The Athletic's Dianna Russini. This comes just a day after Jones' release and Green Bay's announced deal with RB Josh Jacobs. Minnesota finished last season with Ty Chandler leading the backfield, and he should still factor in a decent amount. Jones has averaged 12.1 carries per game for his career and reached 13.0 in just two of his seven seasons. But we're betting Jones will lead the Vikings in both carries and RB targets. He should be a top-24 RB across draft formats and carries upside into the top 12. Jones turned 29 in December but also closed out the season with five straight games of 108+ rushing yards (and 18+ carries in each of those). Chandler looks like an RB4 -- with handcuff upside behind a starter who has missed games in five of seven seasons. Check our updated RB rankings to see where the new teammates land.

The Vikings and QB Sam Darnold agreed to a one-year deal worth "up to" $10 million, NFL Network reports. That's more than "backup money" but doesn't necessarily guarantee Darnold the 2024 starting job. Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall are the other QBs currently on the roster, but Minnesota could certainly add a rookie in April's draft. It's been a popular landing spot for Michigan's J.J. McCarthy in mock drafts. Darnold attempted 46 passes for the 49ers last year, with 26 of them coming in a meaningless regular-season finale. He started 17 games for the Panthers across the 2021 and 2022 seasons, completing 59.5% of his passes at 6.7 yards per attempt -- right around his career averages. Darnold would be a significant downgrade from QB Kirk Cousins for Minnesota's pass catchers.

The Packers now plan to release RB Aaron Jones, according to multiple reports. This comes on the heels of the Josh Jacobs news, which makes the move unsurprising. Jones spent all seven of his pro seasons to date with Green Bay and remained effective when healthy in 2023. That included racking up 108+ rushing yards in each of the final five games, including both playoff outings. Expect the 29-year-old to land another gig with at least solid opportunity. And keep an eye on Jones to potentially slide in best ball ADP while he doesn't have a team.

Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy came in at nearly 6’3 and 219 pounds at the NFL Combine. It’s a win for the 21-year-old, who Michigan listed at 202 pounds. McCarthy averaged only 22.1 attempts per game in 2023, as former HC Jim Harbaugh leaned on an excellent defense and run game. While McCarthy wasn’t a big-time college producer, he displayed the live arm and athletic traits of a first-round talent. NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah compared him to former Chief and 49er Alex Smith. Keep in mind that McCarthy is far from a finished product, so 2024 fantasy contributions are unlikely.

Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson underwent surgery on January 29 to repair his torn ACL, the team announced. Doctors waited for 36 days after the injury to do surgery in order to let Hockenson's MCL heal. It's standard practice but obviously pushes back Hockenson's timeline for return. Consider him iffy to be ready for the start of the 2024 season, which kicks off in about 7.5 months.

Vikings WR Jordan Addison caught 4 of 8 targets for 57 receiving yards and a TD in Week 18’s loss vs. the Lions. He ends this season ranking first in receiving TDs (12), third in receiving yards (911), and fourth in receptions (70) among his rookie WR counterparts. While the presence of teammate Justin Jefferson puts a cap on his long-term upside of ever developing as a true alpha,” Addison has proven more than capable of being a viable lineup asset with potential for blow-up games. He should be considered as a strong low-end WR2 in dynasty moving forward.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson hauled in 12 of 14 targets for a season-high 192 receiving yards and a TD in Week 18 vs. the Lions. The veteran’s 192 yards from Sunday stand as the second-highest total of his four-year career and the fifth time this season that Jefferson exceeded the 100-yard threshold. Having only played 10 games in 2023 due to a hamstring injury, the fact that Jefferson hit the century mark in half of his games speaks to his level of dominance. He should continue to be among the very elite WRs in dynasty formats moving forward. The only big question looming over the Vikings is who will play QB next season, but a player of Jefferson’s caliber should be fine no matter the outcome on that front.

The Texans have ruled Edge Jonathan Greenard (ankle) out for Saturday's game against the Colts. Edge Will Anderson Jr. (ankle) is questionable for the second straight week. He followed the same practice schedule as Week 17, sitting out the first two days before returning to a limited workout. Anderson played through the questionable tag for normal duty and good production last week. You can find him in a usable range in our Week 18 DL rankings.

49ers QB Sam Darnold will start Sunday's regular-season finale vs. the Rams, HC Kyle Shanahan announced Wednesday. QB Brock Purdy will join RB Christian McCaffrey on the sidelines for that one after San Francisco locked up the NFC's No. 1 seed. WR Deebo Samuel, WR Brandon Aiyuk, and TE George Kittle are unlikely to play much, if at all, against the Rams.

Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell announced Wednesday that QB Nick Mullens will start this weekend's finale vs. the Lions. "To me, Nick has been very effective moving the team," O'Connell said. "We've been very explosive as an offense when he's been in there. Nick knows the one area that we must focus on is possession of the football, not giving the football away." Mullens has tossed six INTs over the past four games but otherwise completed 67% of his passes at 8.8 yards per attempt with five TDs. He threw for 411 yards, two TDs, and four INTs against the Lions a couple of weeks ago and is at least an intriguing DFS tournament play this week.

Vikings WR Jordan Addison (ankle) is active for tonight’s game vs. the Packers. Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported this morning that the team originally believed Addison would miss multiple weeks with this injury and that he’ll need to be monitored throughout this game. The rookie is a risky fantasy play.

Vikings WR Jordan Addison (ankle) will need to be monitored throughout tonight's game vs. the Packers, according to Fox Sports' Jay Glazer. Addison was originally expected to miss multiple weeks with his ankle injury, Glazer adds. The rookie obviously comes with elevated risk in Week 17 fantasy lineups.

Vikings WR Jordan Addison (ankle) will play vs. the Packers tonight, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Addison got in limited practices on Thursday and Friday, but it's fair to assume that he won't be at 100% for this one. QB Jaren Hall also adds some unknown to Addison's Week 17 outlook. At least he gets an awesome matchup against a struggling Packers defense that will be without CBs Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes.

Texans LB Blake Cashman (hamstring) finished the week with a full Friday practice and carries no injury designation into Sunday's game against the Titans. That says Cashman's ready to return to the lineup. LB Denzel Perryman (ankle) similarly returned to full practice Friday and doesn't appear on the final injury report. Perryman hasn't missed any time with his injury, though. Cashman missed the past two games. The last time Cashman, Perryman, and Christian Harris played a full game together, Cashman played every snap, Perryman played 65%, and Harris played 60%. It was Harris edging Perryman in playing time each of the past three weeks, though, starting with the game Cashman left early. We haven't seen word from Houston coaches about the LB plan for this week, so we can only assume Cashman will reclaim the corps lead and Harris will follow. The uncertainty plus a Titans offense that has supplied the fifth-fewest fantasy points to LBs, though, has us wary of putting any Texans LB too high in the Week 17 rankings.

The Texans have ruled out Edge Jonathan Greenard (ankle) for Sunday's game against the Titans -- and they might miss as many as three other D-line starters. Edge Will Anderson Jr. (ankle), DT Maliek Collins (hip), and DT Sheldon Rankins (ankle) are questionable. Anderson missed the past two games with the injury and managed just a limited Friday practice this week. He doesn't look like a good bet for IDP lineups even if active. Rankins also put in just a single limited workout, while Collins missed the whole week. At the least, this D-line will be well below full strength. That can only help the matchup for Titans RB Derrick Henry. He posted a terrible 10 total yards on 20 touches in the teams' Week 15 meeting, but Anderson was the only of those four D-linemen injured for that contest. Henry looks like an RB2 with upside across formats this week.

Vikings WR Jordan Addison (ankle) is listed as questionable for Sunday night’s game vs. the Packers. He got in limited practices on Thursday and Friday. HC Kevin O’Connell expressed some optimism about Addison’s status on Friday, per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, but added that more progress needs to be made. We’ll look for further updates on the rookie.

Vikings WR Jordan Addison (ankle) returned to a limited practice on Thursday. That seemingly gives him a chance to play vs. the Packers on Sunday night. We'll see what Addision does on Friday and how he's listed on the final injury report.

Texans Edge Jonathan Greenard has missed the first two practices of the week after spraining an ankle in Sunday's loss to the Browns. That has him looking unlikely to play this week against the Titans. We'll watch for confirmation on his status Friday but have removed Greenard from the Week 17 rankings. Houston looks likely to also miss rookie edge Will Anderson Jr. for the third straight game. Anderson also has yet to practice this week while nursing his own ankle injury.