Stay or go: 2021 Vikings offense poll results
The Minnesota Vikings need to shake things up to compete for an NFC North crown in 2021.
According to Over The Cap, Minnesota is currently at $7.6 million over the cap, which ranks 23rd in the NFL. The Vikings will need to trim that number down and make room for a free-agent signing or two before March 17, the first day of the new league year. Signings and cuts will be in the Vikings’ near future, with a possible trade or two mixed in.
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We offered our take on who the Vikings should retain and who they should let walk out the door on offense ahead of the 2021 season.
But what about you, the fan base?
Below, we present the results from Vikings fans from around the web voting on the fate of their favorite (or, in some cases, least favorite) players.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Minnesota fans are confident in center Garrett Bradbury and tackles Ezra Cleveland and Brian O’Neill as the future of the Vikings offensive line. The guards, though? That’s a different story.
Just 17.2% of fans want Dakota Dozier to return. Dru Samia, who did not have a, uh, good showing in 2020, collected the fewest votes of confidence among offensive linemen (9.9%). He was one of two players on offense to see votes at a single-digit clip.
It looks like fans want to give Oli Udoh a chance to contribute. Udoh, a 2019 sixth-round pick by Minnesota, played a total of 31 offensive snaps as a rookie and two snaps in 2020.
| PLAYER | STAY |
| Zack Bailey | 45.8% |
| Garrett Bradbury | 92.5% |
| Blake Brandel | 60.7% |
| Ezra Cleveland | 94.6% |
| Dakota Dozier | 17.2% |
| Rashon Hill | 70.5% |
| Kyle Hinton | 59.0% |
| Brett Jones | 34.9% |
| Brian O’Neill | 91.9% |
| Riley Reiff | 43.7% |
| Dru Samia | 9.9% |
| Oli Udoh | 75.9% |
QUARTERBACK
The hottest topic on #VikingsTwitter during the offseason is the question of whether or not Kirk Cousins should be back under center in 2021. Should he? Probably. Will he? Most likely, especially considering the $31 million in dead cap space if he’s cut and $20 million in dead money if he’s traded before June 1.
However, over 1/4 of fans think Cousins should be cut or traded before next season.
The majority of fans think it’s time to move on from Sean Mannion as backup quarterback. Mannion saw just 6.1% of “stay” votes, the lowest clip on the offense.
| PLAYER | STAY |
| Jake Browning | 63.2% |
| Kirk Cousins | 68.7% |
| Sean Mannion | 6.1% |
| Nate Stanley | 78.9% |
RUNNING BACK
Nothing too wild to see here. Dalvin Cook, C.J. Ham and Alexander Mattison are wanted back for 2021 by just about every fan. Mike Boone, however, is closer to a 50-50 decision.
One surprise (for us, anyway) was Ameer Abdullah nearly reaching 40% stay votes, considering he averaged a humble 23.5 yards per kickoff return in 2020.
| PLAYER | STAY |
| Ameer Abdullah | 38.8% |
| Jake Bargas | 39.1% |
| Mike Boone | 54.5% |
| Dalvin Cook | 97.4% |
| CJ Ham | 94.7% |
| Alexander Mattison | 93.3% |
SPECIAL TEAMS
Will we see another kicker in Minnesota in 2021? The fans hope so. Dan Bailey collected just 18.7% votes to stay, which was right around his field-goal percentage for the 2020 campaign. Ba-dum-tss! Britton Colquitt, who ranked 20th with an average of 45.1 yards per punt last season, is wanted out by the majority of fans as well. Long snapper Andrew DePaola barely makes the cut.
| PLAYER | STAY |
| Dan Bailey | 18.7% |
| Taylor Bertolet | 15.9% |
| Britton Colquitt | 42.3% |
| Andrew DePaola | 52.4% |
TIGHT END
Wow. Just about 1/4 of fans want to see tight end Kyle Rudolph back in 2021. Salary (likely) has a ton to do with it, as Rudolph is due $9.4 million next season. The rise of Tyler Conklin and Irv Smith Jr. in 2020 didn’t help his cause.
| PLAYER | STAY |
| Tyler Conklin | 90.0% |
| Brandon Dillon | 47.6% |
| Hale Hentges | 19.7% |
| Irv Smith Jr. | 97.1% |
| Kyle Rudolph | 24.7% |
WIDE RECEIVER
Rookie of the Year runner-up Justin Jefferson didn’t see a single “go” vote, which makes a whole lot of sense. Adam Thielen (97%) wasn’t far behind. But it appears Minnesota fans want general manager Rick Spielman to address the slot receiver position, as Chad Beebe’s approval rating was a mere 38%.
K.J. Osborn, a fifth-round pick in 2020, isn’t wanted back after he fumbled the ball twice on punt returns late in the season.
| PLAYER | STAY |
| Chad Beebe | 38.0% |
| Dan Chisnea | 53.0% |
| Justin Jefferson | 100.0% |
| Bisi Johnson | 67.2% |
| K.J. Osborn | 18.8% |
| Adam Thielen | 97.0% |
