The 2025 season didn’t go according to plan for the Minnesota Vikings. They might have finished with a winning record, but the playoffs stopped looking like a realistic ambition early in the season. If the Vikings are to return to the playoffs in 2026, then there are five Vikings who need bounce-back seasons in 2026.

The five players in question had down years in 2025 for a variety of reasons, from injury to loss of form to wider team issues holding them back.

The 5 Vikings Facing the Most Pressure to Rebound in 2026

Whether it’s down to themselves or a wider improvement from the whole team, these five Vikings need to have a bigger impact in the Vikings’ 2026 season.

Justin Jefferson

For most wide receivers, a 1000-yard season would be something to celebrate. For a man of Justin Jefferson’s abilities, it amounts to a disappointment. Jefferson caught 84 of 141 targets for 1048 yards and two touchdowns.

That was a career low in both yards and TDs, including the season when he appeared in only 10 games because of injury. It left Jefferson without All-Pro or Pro Bowl recognition for the first time in his career, outside of his injury-hit 2023 season.

Jefferson’s career started at a record pace as he broke record after record, but the Vikings’ 2025 offense was blighted by inconsistencies at the quarterback position that affected everyone, and even Jefferson wasn’t immune to the consequences. Minnesota has turned to Kyler Murray in the hope of getting their offense back on track this season. If Murray can prove to be accurate, something he has been during his career, then Jefferson should be back in reach of the really big seasons that Vikings fans have become used to. 

Christian Darrisaw

The season never seemed to get going for Christian Darrisaw. Not recovered in time for the start of the season because of a knee injury that happened during the 2024 season.

Darrisaw first appeared in the Vikings’ Week 3 game against Cincinnati, but he still didn’t look right, and his knee continued to be an issue as he was named on the injury report week after week. His final appearance came in Week 14, after which Darrisaw was placed back on Injured/Reserve and shut down for the season.

The hope will have been to get ready for the 2026 season so he can get back to his best. Darrisaw was cementing himself as one of the best tackles in the game over his first four seasons in the league. However, he looked a shadow of that player last year and the Vikings offensive line suffered because of it. A fully healthy and firing Darrisaw in 2026 will be a major boost for Minnesota.

Byron Murphy Jr.

Byron Murphy got a payday on the back of a Pro Bowl season that saw him lead cornerbacks in interceptions in 2024. The same production wasn’t there for Murphy in 2025, as interceptions dropped from 6 to 2 and passes defended from 14 to 7. 

James Pierre has been signed to add depth at the position, and CB is a position that may or may not be addressed in the draft. Murphy is still the Vikings’ best CB, and the team will lean on him heavily again this season. They will hope he can get back to his 2024 form.

T.J. Hockenson

After coming to Minnesota via a trade with Detroit, T.J. Hockenson looked to be just what the Vikings needed at tight end. Then an injury towards the end of the 2023 season derailed everything, preventing Hockenson from reaching the first 1000-yard season of his career in the process.

Hockenson eventually returned in the 2024 season but hasn’t looked quite the same, failing to reach 500 receiving yards in the last two seasons. He was heavily touted as a cut candidate this offseason, but Hockenson took a pay cut to stay in Minnesota. Much like Jefferson, the hope will be that better play at QB will help Hockenson return to his best and most productive football.

Blake Cashman

Injured in the opening game of the season, Blake Cashman didn’t return to the Vikings’ line-up until Week 7. Cashman certainly wasn’t bad last season, but after an injury disrupted the start of his season, he never quite hit the heights he did in his first season with his home-state club.

It’s another case of hoping a fully healthy version of a player can play for 17 games and be at their very best. Cashman is an integral part of Brian Flores’ defense, making everything else tick. The 30-year-old is set to hit free agency next year and will want a strong season behind him when he sits down at the negotiating table.

Proud UK Viking. Family Man. Enjoy writing about my team. Away from football an advocate for autism acceptance.

Geoffrey Boycott has launched a scathing critique of accountability within English cricket, following the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) decision to retain head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key despite a humiliating 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia.

The former England opener did not mince words, questioning ECB Chief Executive Richard Gould’s credentials and labelling Key and McCullum as “incompetent” figures who had “sabotaged” England’s Ashes campaign.

“Like me, cricket supporters will be asking how McCullum and Key could make so many bad decisions on the Australian tour and yet the chief executive of English cricket decides there is no need to make any changes. Where is the accountability?” Boycott wrote in the Telegraph.

He added: “I’m sure they promised him they would do better, but leopards don’t change their spots, so it looks like we will get the same type of test cricket.”

While acknowledging McCullum’s success in fostering an aggressive and exciting playing style, Boycott expressed concern that players had grown complacent under the former New Zealand captain.

He argued: “In trying to create a free-spirited team, he has made them too comfortable and complacent. They know they will not get dropped, whatever their performances or conduct on or off the field.”

Boycott further described the setup as a “boys’ club where, once you are in the team, it is hard to get out… competition for places is the lifeblood of sport. Complacency in a team does not breed a good appetite to excel.”

Other prominent voices in English cricket echoed Boycott’s sentiments, with former England captains Michael Vaughan and Mike Atherton suggesting Key and McCullum were fortunate to keep their positions.

“There’s not many management groups that deliver something so poor away from home in an Ashes series and get the chance to carry on,” Vaughan told BBC Test Match Special, adding, “they’ve had some exciting times, but they haven’t won enough. What England fans are looking for now is, what change (will happen)?”

Atherton, writing in The Times, stated that English supporters would find “the lack of accountability hard to stomach”.

He concluded, “In most walks of life, such a litany of mistakes would result in some significant change. There will be limited patience if the general public do not sense a shift in attitude this summer from players who, they felt, were too slapdash during a 4-1 Ashes defeat.”

A consortium led by Kal Somani has acquired the Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals for USD 1.6 billion. While the deal has been finalised, the formal transfer of control is expected after the conclusion of IPL 2026.  The Times Group was also in contention but ultimately finished second in the bidding race. 

The franchise is currently owned by Emerging Media Ventures, led by UK-based Manoj Badale, who will step aside once all formalities are completed.

Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Somani is an entrepreneur with diverse business interests spanning education technology, artificial intelligence, data privacy, and sports technology. He is the founder of companies such as IntraEdge, Truyo, Truyo.AI, and Academian.

Beyond cricket, Somani has a keen interest in golf and is a co-founder of Motor City Golf Club, which has associations with legendary golfer Tiger Woods. His son, Arjun Somani, is also emerging as a promising player on the US junior golf circuit.

Dillian Whyte has offered his thoughts on Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois, predicting a mid-late rounds stoppage where the winner is compelled to “take a lot of punishment”.

Their heavyweight contest will take place at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena on May 9, with Wardley making the first defence of his WBO world title.

The 31-year-old was upgraded from ‘interim’ to full champion after Oleksandr Usyk, who still holds the WBC, IBF and WBA titles, decided to vacate his WBO strap.

This occurred following Wardley’s stunning 11th-round finish over Joseph Parker last October, when he cemented himself as the leading contender for Usyk.

Rather than facing the formidable Ukrainian in an undisputed showdown, though, the Ipswich man is gearing up to headline a Queensberry card against former world champion Dubois.

Having not fought since his fifth-round stoppage defeat to Usyk last July, Dubois is eager to prove that he remains a world-class operator, capable of ending any fight with his destructive fists.

The 28-year-old has previously showcased his power in consecutive stoppages over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua, but must now face a hard-hitting champion who boasts the same 95% knockout-to-win ratio.

Speaking with IFL TV, former world title challenger Dillian Whyte, who is also Wardley’s manager, declared that his man should be the last one standing.

“Mid-late [rounds], Fabio will stop him. Fabio’s going to have to take a lot of punishment, though.

“It’ll be a tough fight early. But I ain’t got no problem [seeing] Fabio coming through and knocking him out.

“Fabio likes to get hit. I always say, ‘Bro, stop getting hit early. You don’t need to. You’re very athletic and very fast and very awkward’. But he likes to trade off early.”

Indeed, Wardley has shown tremendous grit to overcome torrid battles with the likes of Frazer Clarke, Justis Huni and Parker, always fighting fire with fire whenever he seems in a spot of bother.

Ahead of the Darby Munro Stakes, Anthony Freedman tempered expectations for Beskar, while dismissing the three-year-old’s “stupid odds” as unwarranted.

Drawing the second-widest price at $81, the gelding upended expectations by sitting handily and repelling the challenge of Agarwood ($19) and Caffe Florian ($12), who closed strongly.

“To be fair, he should never have been that. He did run third in a Group Three last start, so $80 is probably ridiculous,” Freedman said.

“It’s still a bit of a surprise.

“He’s a horse that’s got good talent. He does a lot wrong and makes a mess of a few races, but it all went (well) for him today.

“He ran third in the Kindergarten Stakes here last year, so maybe this works better for him, in Sydney.”

Beskar achieved third in the Kindergarten Stakes (1100m) on his second start, endured variable form in winter and spring, but showed sharpness lately with third to Pallaton in the Zeditave Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield last month.

Freedman always recognised the talent in the gelding, hampered by small setbacks, necessitating a learning curve in his preparation.

“He’s sound now, and we train him very differently,” Freedman said.

“We don’t do any work with him. It takes a while to work some horses out.

“He’s one of those horses who is never one hundred per cent. You get him as good as he can be and keep him happy and don’t work him.”

With victory in Saturday’s Darby Munro Stakes (1200m), Beskar eyes the Group 2 Arrowfield 3YO Sprint (1200m) at Randwick on April 11, as Freedman ponders next steps.

“I hadn’t looked that far. We will think about it,” he said.

Horses like Autumn Glow, successful 12 months back, highlight the quality of Darby Munro Stakes winners.

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James McDonald and Chris Waller’s unstoppable Sydney team tied two of Australian racing’s treasured records when Aeliana notched a dramatic win in the Group 1 $1 million Ranvet Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.

Aeliana provided McDonald with his 129th lifetime Group 1 victory, levelling the benchmark for Australian-resident jockeys established by Damien Oliver of the Hall of Fame.

The pair also attained their 54th collaborative Group 1 result, mirroring the feat of fabled partners George Moore and Tommy Smith.

The champion rider and Hall of Fame conditioner outright claimed both marks 35 minutes subsequently via Autumn Boy in the Group 1 $750,000 Rosehill Guineas (2000m).

Although her stablemate Lindermann threatened to dampen the mood by making the mare labour hard, Aeliana orchestrated the perfect start to McDonald and Waller’s big day.

The jockey revealed the short neck score was “not how the script’s supposed to go” regarding his 129th Group 1 record match.

“Aeliana is just incredible, her tenacity to find the line was just superb,” McDonald said.

“She’s been building to something like that and I’ve got to give credit to the second horse because they made us work.

“Nash (Rawiller, rider of Lindermann) is a genius when it comes to race tempo. He got things on his own terms, and Damian (Lane, rider of Trinity College) was just sitting off him the whole way.

“It wasn’t ideal, that’s for sure, because he had a picnic up in front. But I was on a good horse and she deservedly won that one.”

Aeliana, sent off at $1.60, required the full Rosehill straight to collar the resilient front-runner Lindermann ($16), winning by a short neck to deliver Waller a further Group 1 quinella.

Sir Delius ($3) under Craig Williams tracked Aeliana closely and loomed as the danger on the corner but was unable to quicken, beaten by just over a length for third.

Waller hit his 190th Group 1 career milestone and noted Aeliana truly had to “fight for it” as Slipper Day fans erupted watching the barnmates clash thrillingly.

“The crowd was awesome, that’s what racing’s all about,” Waller said.

“These great horses being everyone together to enjoy the sport and that was a great spectacle.

“He’s (Lindermann) a good horse on his day and I think Nash controlled the race really well.

“Aeliana had to be good to win and obviously Sir Delius on our back, that gave me a bit of a scare when he came with us.

“But you could just see, they sort of broke clear of him and then it was a fight between the stablemates.

“It didn’t really matter who won but obviously for James today – it’s a big one.”

Starting with Delectation for their debut Group 1 in 2015, Waller and McDonald’s haul of 54 in 11 years stands as phenomenal.

“I’m just lucky to train lots of good horses and have an association with a terrific young man,” Waller said.

Winless this preparation after her Derby rout entering the Ranvet, Aeliana had filled second in four Group races trailing the likes of Via Sistina and Autumn Glow, making her Group 1 conquest a favourite and rightful outcome.

Denise Martin’s Star Thoroughbreds campaigns Aeliana, furthering the premier syndicator’s Golden Slipper Day legacy.

Martin’s brilliant colt Sebring landed the 2008 Golden Slipper, and now Aeliana joins as her third Ranvet Stakes winner with Theseo doubling up in 2009-10.

A quick turnaround into the Group 1 $1.5 million Tancred Stakes (2400m) at Rosehill next Saturday has not been discounted by Waller.

“I’m not sure about the Tancred but the distance is no problem,” Martin said.”A seven-day back-up isn’t ideal but I will see how a few others go today and then we will try to map it all out tomorrow.”

Rawiller praised Lindermann’s “amazing performance” for his fighting second.

“He picked himself up off the canvas there at the 100m and really rallied,” Rawiller said.

“I thought for a stride we could worry her out of it but she is a top mare in her own right.”

Rider Craig Williams of Sir Delius targets the $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) on April 11 at Royal Randwick.

“Sir Delius is flying,” Williams said.”The winner beat us by three and a bit lengths the other day so we shortened that margin down to about a length.”He felt like he still has more racing improvement to come on and he’s right in line for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes now.”

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