Jauan Jennings Solves One Vikings Problem, but Others Remain

Nov 16, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) looks on during warmups prior to the game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

End result — Jennings for Nailor appears to be a wash and a good result after the Vikings lost Nailor to the Raiders and didn’t draft a wide receiver.

I’m not feeling as positive about the center and safety positions at this juncture. I think the Vikings made a mistake by not signing a quality center in free agency, then surprisingly passing on several good prospects at the position in the draft before finally picking Gavin Gerhardt in the seventh round.

It’s hard to expect a seventh-round rookie to become an immediate starter, and he’s more likely to compete with 2024 seventh-rounder Michael Jurgens (who has shown limitations in his limited play time) to be the backup center to Blake Brandel.

Brandel wound up starting nine games last season after Ryan Kelly’s concussion issues, and he played okay at center but still seems better suited to guard or tackle. We’ll see if he steps up his game with a full offseason and training camp at center, but it appears to be a potential trouble spot on an otherwise solid offensive line if the other starters stay healthy.

As for safety, it appears third-round rookie Jakobe Thomas is a solid pick at No. 98 overall. He had five interceptions and only gave up one TD in coverage for a Miami team that made it to the national championship game.

Thomas is reputed to be a decent run defender and had 3.5 sacks last season, so he could be an effective blitzer. He’s supposed to be a smart player, which bodes well for picking up Brian Flores’ defense.

But it remains to be seen if the Vikings erred in passing on top safeties Dillon Thieneman (picked in the first round by the Bears after the Vikings took DT Caleb Banks) and  Emmanuel McNeil-Warren (chosen in the second round by the Browns after the Vikings picked LB Jake Golday).

Sep 26, 2025; Dublin, Ireland; Minnesota Vikings free safety Harrison Smith (22) at press conference at Sport Ireland Campus. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

I think it’s still important for the Vikings to convince Harrison Smith to return for his 15th season. He finished strong last season and would provide leadership, smarts, and playmaking ability to the secondary. If Smith returns and Thomas quickly develops into a quality starter, that would give the Vikings a much better safety situation than counting on the rookie Thomas, along with Josh Metellus (who is good in run support but limited in coverage) and Theo Jackson (a backup at best).

Early Schedule Thoughts

The Vikings will play an international game in Mexico City against San Francisco on November 22. The 49ers are the home team, so the Vikings gain the advantage of playing a neutral-site game instead of a road game in San Fran.

They also stay in the Central time zone, so there is no time change or jet lag compared to games in Europe or Australia (where the 49ers and Rams will meet in Week 1).

The Vikings have a good history in international games (5-1 in the regular season after splitting two games last season, losing to the Steelers in Dublin and beating the Browns in London).

Oct 23, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) scrambles against the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

I’ll give my complete analysis of the schedule next week after it is released, but I can say now that it’s advantageous for the Vikings to have nine home games vs. seven true road games plus the Mexico City game. And I think it’s a positive for the NFC crossover division to be the weaker NFC South (home vs. Atlanta and Carolina, road vs. Tampa Bay and New Orleans).

With the AFC East as the Vikings’ interconference crossover division, I also think it’s a plus to play Buffalo (who I see as the best AFC East team) in Minnesota (along with Miami here), and they’ll travel to New England and the Jets. Facing the AFC East is better than matching up with the AFC West or North, and also likely an easier assignment than the AFC South.

It won’t matter in the division race, since the other three teams play all the NFC South and AFC East teams, but it should help the record-wise wild-card race if the Vikings don’t win the NFC North.

In a third-place schedule, the Vikings will host Washington and Indianapolis, who could be tough opponents, especially if their QBs, Jayden Daniels (Commanders) and Daniel Jones (Colts), are healthy when they come to U.S. Bank Stadium.

The third-place road team is San Francisco, which has turned into a more advantageous neutral site game in Mexico City (although the 49ers have a good following in Mexico, Vikings fans have proven to travel well to international games, and heading to warm Mexico in late November should be appealing to the Purple fan base).

Of course, we know every year there are teams such as Seattle and New England last season (who wound up in the Super Bowl) that are better than expected, and some, such as Detroit and Kansas City last season, who surprisingly falter, so all schedules have to be taken with a grain of salt.

And I will say, watch out for the Lions, who will play the last-place schedule that the Bears profited from last season, and now the Bears have one of the league’s toughest schedules (based on last season’s results) as the defending NFC North champs.

Around the NFL Observations

1. It was good news that the NFL and the Referees’ union reached an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Nobody wanted to see a repeat of the 2012 fiasco with replacement officials who came from officiating small college games.

2. The Steelers were hoping to commit to play this coming season from Aaron Rodgers by the draft, but of course, the mercurial QB is taking his time, and we’ll see if he shows up by the June minicamp if he indeed returns to Pittsburgh for his 22nd NFL season as a 42-year-old QB.

Aug 16, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) watches introductions during a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

New head coach Mike McCarthy brings a new offense, but Rodgers did play for McCarthy in Green Bay so that the learning process won’t be an issue. McCarthy has to want Rodgers to sign and report for this month’s OTAs and next month’s minicamp so he has extra time to fine-tune his game within McCarthy’s scheme and connect with new players such as WR Michael Pittman.

All indications are that Rodgers will return to Pittsburgh, but the Steelers did draft Drew Allar in the third round, and he’s an interesting prospect as a 6-5, 228-pounder with a strong arm who went 26-9 as the starter at Penn State.