NFL Power Ranking Preseason Edition: NFC only gets better

The King of the North somehow got better this offseason by adding a quarterback who can take them to the next level. Case Keenum, Sam Bradford, and Teddy Bridgewater won games and got the job done, but they weren’t enough to get Minnesota past the NFC Championship game last season.

Add a quarterback many believe hasn’t hit his peak in Kirk Cousins, and you have an already dominant team inconceivably getting better this year. They’ll also get running back Dalvin Cook healthy after an ACL injury stole most of his rookie season. Pairing Cousins with Cook and a trio of excellent receivers in Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen and Kyle Rudolph could be lethal for opposing defenses.

Minnesota also got better on defense, adding Sheldon Richardson to the interior of their defensive line and drafting cornerback Mike Hughes. Adding these two pieces to a defense that was the number one team in fewest opposing yards allowed is scary. Teams will have little chance to run the ball against Richardson, and the Vikings are loaded with young cornerbacks, and Terence Newman.

The NFC North has gotten better with Aaron Rodgers healthy, Mitch Trubisky another year into the league, and the Lions hiring a rocket scientist as their new head coach. Regardless, I think the Vikings come back better than ever off the arm of Cousins, and they’ll be in the thick of the NFC race through the new year.