Most of those eyes are going to be glued to McCarthy, the second-year QB who inherits the starting job after missing his rookie season with a knee injury sustained last August. But don’t miss the position battles and new faces elsewhere on the field.
Minnesota Star Tribune reporters who cover the Vikings each picked the player other than McCarthy who intrigues them most during camp.
The Vikings’ March 18 trade for Mason came with a two-year, $10.5 million contract for the running back that will likely make him more than an aide to Aaron Jones. His 223-pound frame and tenacious running style will pair well with the Vikings’ new offensive line as coach Kevin O’Connell seeks a more forceful running game that can pick up first downs and finish drives. The Vikings have struggled on third-and-short runs over the past three years, and have been one of the league’s least efficient running teams in the red zone; Mason could be especially useful on the goal-line runs that help the Vikings score touchdowns while relying less on an intricate play design from O’Connell and flawless execution from their young QB. There’s a shift coming in the Vikings offense that the team hopes will make things friendlier for second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and the commitment to Mason shows how serious the Vikings are about a different offensive identity. They could look more like the team Mason just left (the 49ers), with a bruising offensive line and two-pronged rushing attack that helps them squeeze teams in the fourth quarter. — BEN GOESSLING
Dallas Turner, a first-round draft pick in 2024, average just 19 defensive snaps a game last season. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
McCarthy isn’t the only 2024 first-round pick expected to produce this season. Turner, the former Alabama star drafted 17th overall, averaged the fewest defensive snaps as a rookie — about 19 per game — among the nine first-round defenders in that class. He ended the season with three sacks and an interception while trying to grasp multiple roles under coordinator Brian Flores and lesser playing time behind veterans Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel. Teammates and coaches said Turner found a better weekly routine by season’s end, which he carried into the offseason. “Sky’s the limit,” Greenard said of Turner this spring. “Just seeing him weather every storm last year, [it] was just great to see him mature. … It started to click for him. Even translating to the offseason, he was still here as soon as the season ended in the weight room with me working out.” — ANDREW KRAMMER
Theo Jackson is expected to play a bigger role in the Vikings defense this season. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
The first Viking to receive a contract extension this spring was Jackson, who agreed to another two years and up to $12.6 million in March following his most games played (17) in his career. When Cam Bynum signed with the Colts a couple weeks later, it all but solidified what the contract extension hinted: That the Vikings envision a bigger role for Jackson, 26, in 2025. A glimpse of that vision came in December when Jackson, filling in for Harrison Smith, caught the game-sealing interception against the Seahawks. What exactly his role looks like alongside Smith and Josh Metellus should become more clear throughout training camp. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores likes to arrange packages to his personnel’s strengths, and if Jackson can distinguish himself over the next few weeks as someone the Vikings want on the field over, say, a third cornerback, he could be seeing a lot of snaps this season. — EMILY LEIKER
Isaiah Rodgers made three starts for the Super Bowl champion Eagles last season, then signed as a free agent with the Vikings. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
The Ghost of Mike Zimmer has my eyes trained on the concerns at cornerback. Byron Murphy Jr. is an All-Pro-caliber star in the making. That’s not enough. Another standout must emerge. Flores believes Rodgers — a five-year veteran with 13 career starts — will be that guy. In fact, Flo has told people at TCO Performance Center that Rodgers can be this year’s Zack Baun. Baun, a linebacker Flores loved in free agency a year ago, went from unheralded Saints special teamer with 14 career starts to first-team All-Pro and Super Bowl hero with Philadelphia in 2024. Rodgers played 36% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps with three starts a year ago. Like Zimmer, even the brilliant Flores struggles when he’s short at corner. The Vikings need Rodgers to reach the next level and other unproven players such as Mekhi Blackmon and Jeff Okudah to form reliable depth before Flores’ creative schemes can maximize the massive upgrades that have been made to the front seven the past two years. — MARK CRAIG