{"id":85183,"date":"2024-01-26T03:33:34","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T03:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=85183"},"modified":"2024-01-26T03:33:34","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T03:33:34","slug":"vikings-linked-to-pro-bowl-rb-with-projected-20-million-value-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/vikings-linked-to-pro-bowl-rb-with-projected-20-million-value-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings Linked to Pro Bowl RB With Projected $20 Million Value"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0must answer several questions this offseason, though one reality shines through the muck of the team\u2019s 7-10 campaign in 2023 \u2014\u00a0Alexander Mattison\u00a0is not the answer in the backfield.<\/p>\n

\"Alexander<\/p>\n

Judd Zulgad of USA Today\u2019s Vikings Wire\u00a0on Thursday, January 25, asserted as much as he examined a compilation of four free agents the Vikings will potentially target once March rolls around. Among the list was running back\u00a0Tony Pollard, currently of the\u00a0Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n

The Vikings could try to solve their issues at running back by making\u00a0Ty Chandler\u00a0the No. 1 guy next season, but it\u2019s not a given that will happen and the team is in need of depth at this spot.<\/p>\n

Alexander Mattison, who signed a two-year,\u00a0$7 million extension\u00a0last offseason, figures to be back but he failed to take control of the top role.<\/p>\n

Pollard, 26, could be an interesting fit sharing time in the backfield. He saw his per carry average dip from 5.2 to 4.0 yards this season, but he had six touchdowns and caught 55 passes for 311 yards (5.7 average). Mattison and Chandler caught 51 passes combined. The other thing that separates Pollard from the Vikings\u2019 duo is that he\u2019s very good in pass protection and, thus, can be trusted on third down.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tony Pollard\u2019s Production Dipped in 2023, but Cowboys RB Still Gained More Than 1,000 Rushing Yards<\/h2>\n

\"Tony<\/h2>\n
\n

Pollard is a one-time Pro Bowler (2022) and two-time 1,000-yard rusher, achieving the feat in each of his past two campaigns.<\/p>\n

Despite his success, however, Zulgad pointed out that Pollard\u2019s per carry production dipped after\u00a0Ezekiel Elliott\u00a0departed for the\u00a0New England Patriots\u00a0last offseason. However, that development could serve the Vikings\u2019 purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cPollard played this season on the franchise tag and had to carry far more of the workload with Ezekiel Elliott no longer in Dallas. Just as Mattison didn\u2019t live up to expectations with Cook gone in Minnesota, Pollard fell short in Dallas when he carried the ball,\u201d Zulgad wrote. \u201cThat decrease in production figures to drop his value and, at the right price, giving him an opportunity to compete for a job with the Vikings could make everyone better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pollard played the 2023 season on a one-year,\u00a0$10.1 million\u00a0deal due to the team\u2019s utilization of the franchise tag to keep him out of free agency. Spotrac projects Pollard\u2019s market value\u00a0just shy of $20 million\u00a0over a new three-year contract.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Vikings Running Back Ty Chandler Made Leap at Season\u2019s End<\/h2>\n

\"Ty<\/h2>\n

Chandler became Minnesota\u2019s primary rusher late in the year and finished relatively strong.<\/p>\n

The second-year RB tallied\u00a0461 rushing yards on 102 carries\u00a0(4.5 yards per carry) and 3 TDs as well as 21 receptions for 159 yards. He appeared in all 17 of the team\u2019s regular-season games in 2023, with his highlight performance coming Week 15 against the\u00a0Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n

Chandler carried the football 23 times, gaining 132 yards and scoring a TD in that contest. He also caught 3 passes for 25 yards.<\/p>\n

His performance against Cincinnati suggests that Chandler is ready for an increased role on a week-to-week basis. The notion that he is a three-down starter in the NFL, however, remains far-fetched until he proves it over a considerably larger sample size. As such, Minnesota is a good bet to be in the market for a running back of some sort this free-agency period, be that player Pollard or someone else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0must answer several questions this offseason, though one reality shines through the muck of the team\u2019s 7-10 campaign in 2023 \u2014\u00a0Alexander Mattison\u00a0is not the answer in… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}