Minnesota
Most Valuable Minnesota Vikings Players So Far (Week 5)
The Minnesota Vikings have raced out to a 4-0 start under Kevin O’Connell in 2024. Any talk of early season MVPs must mention both the head coach and the yin to his yang, defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who has every offense in the NFL sweating the moment they have to lineup opposite of the Vikings.
KOC is the odds-on favorite to win coach of the year, everywhere you look, and for good reason. One could argue Flores should be right up there with him. But this is about the guys in between the white lines. There have been several key contributors on the field as well, some more obvious than others.
Of course, certain positions will always generate prominent consideration for individual awards. Given what the Vikings have done this season, and where they came from just a year ago, there should be a level of nuance to this discussion as well. There are a few different players that stand out.
Sam Darnold is obvious choice for Minnesota Vikings MVP through 4 weeks
When the Minnesota Vikings allowed Kirk Cousins to chase the money in Atlanta, they pivoted to a bridge quarterback. Sam Darnold was a guy that O’Connell thought he could make something out of, and it has turned out to be incredibly fruitful.
Three touchdown passes for Sam Darnold 🔥
📺: #HOUvsMIN on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/BMIjnHKWOp— NFL (@NFL) September 22, 2024
Not only has Sam Darnold mostly avoided terminal mistakes, he’s been exceptional. We wanted a guy who wasn’t going to throw away too many games. Instead, we got a guy who’s been throwing the Minnesota Vikings to weekly victories. This is a supporting cast he has never previously worked with before, yet everything has clicked.
- Sam Darnold 2024 Stats: 73-of-106 | 68.9 % | 932 Yds | 11 TD | 10.4 TD% | 3 Int
Darnold’s 11 passing touchdowns lead the league, and he has thrown just three interceptions. His 68.9% completion rate is nearly 10% better than his career average, and he has developed immediate chemistry with his teammates. Darnold is the favorite for Minnesota’s MVP right now, and he’s among the leading candidates across the entire league.
Aaron Jones is so much better than Alexander Mattison
It’s weird to consider a running back as a catalyst for a team in this day and age. That said, Aaron Jones has revitalized a position that was awful for the team just a year ago. After Alexander Mattison went belly-up, Minnesota had few answers. Jones has come over from Green Bay and has been better than expected for a 29-year-old back.
Jones finds himself eighth among leading rushers this season, with 321 yards on the ground. He’s one spot (eight yards) behind Josh Jacobs, who took over for him in Green Bay. Beyond what he provides in the run game, Aaron gives so much everywhere else. He has 143 receiving yards this year, less than 50 yards shy of what Mattison put up all of last season.
He’s also a leader and great human being, just ask his old QB, Aaron Rodgers, or his new head coach (below). The Vikings locker room has loved having Jones, and he has loved being here. It’s been a perfect fit, and his place in the offense has helped Darnold open up options at multiple levels.
Aaron Jones is Awesome and Everyone Knows It
Coach O’Connell talks about the value that Aaron Jones brings to the team pic.twitter.com/o1pfawA2OG
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 2, 2024
Don’t forget about Stephon Gilmore
Coming into the season, there were serious questions about the Minnesota Vikings’ secondary. Depth was going to be an issue, and the veteran presence of Byron Murphy Jr. and Shaq Griffin wasn’t necessarily seen as enough. Stephon Gilmore’s acquisition added to the top and made everyone else better.
Opposing quarterbacks have consistently shied away from him thus far this season. Gilmore has just a single pass deflection, and it’s a byproduct of signal callers not even wanting to mess with him. That’s why the 34-year-old veteran has become the forgotten hero of a shockingly undefeated Minnesota Vikings.
Even in the latter stages of his career, Gilmore has proven to be every bit the shutdown cornerback he promised to be. With or without training camp. The defense is rolling. Much of that is due to Brian Flores and the Vikings’ incredible pass rush. But the secondary has been the most pleasant surprise of this hot start, and that is in large part thanks to Stephon Gilmore.
The biggest difference between the Vikings defense this season versus last season is the CB play.
This season – Stephon Gilmore, Byron Murphy Jr, Shaquil Griffin
Last season – Byron Murphy Jr, Akayleb Evans, Mekhi Blackmon
The veteran presence in the DB room has made a huge…
— Joel Moran (@joelvmoran) September 30, 2024
The Minnesota Vikings MVP Nobody is Talking About
Much of that success can be attributed to the addition of Stephon Gilmore. This is a guy who landed with the Vikings, just before the start of the regular season, because he wanted to play for a winning team where he could make a difference. So far, so good.
Without the breakout performances of the three players above, all of which were free agent additions this offseason, the Minnesota Vikings would not be 4-0. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah deserves credit for an incredible run in free agency, over the spring/summer. He worked with his two superstar coaches for what currently looks like one of the best offseasons in team history.
More About:Minnesota Vikings
With family by his side, Dennis “Bud” Peterson went to be with the Lord on the morning of June 1, 2026.
He was born at Drake, North Dakota on April 2, 1932 in the home of his parents Nick and Helen Peterson. The family moved to Duluth at the beginning of World War II.
After graduation from Duluth Central High School Bud served in the US Army in Korea during the Korean War, and received an Honorable Discharge with the rank of Sergeant. He used his GI Bill benefits to attend UMD receiving an Associate Degree, and also earned his Commercial Instrument Pilot rating.
Bud was a longtime employee of St. Louis County retiring as Supervisor of Roads and Bridges. In retirement he served as Boiler Engineer and a do it all repairman for Duluth Gospel Tabernacle. He generously devoted his time and talents as a consummate do it yourself repairman to all of his family.
Dennis is preceded in death by his parents, Nick & Helen Peterson; brother, Robert Peterson; sister, June (Don) Kruger; and infant brother and sister, James and Delores Peterson.
He is survived by his sister, Carol (Eli) Miletich; and numerous nieces and nephews all of whom he loved dearly.
At Bud’s request, his family will be holding a private funeral service. Arrangements by Dougherty Funeral Home 218-727-3555.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services is reexamining over 5,000 Medicaid service providers across the state in an effort to combat fraud.
The federal government said it would pull $2 billion in annual Medicaid funding from Minnesota in January if the state didn’t make changes.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services set out to revalidate thousands of providers in programs deemed high risk for fraud by asking providers to submit verification paperwork and making unannounced site visits. The deadline passed on Sunday.
The latest data, published on May 27, shows 1,009 providers approved, 1,151 disenrolled and over 3,000 providers with pending applications.
Paige Berland and Camille Heyman run Minnesota Behavioral Specialists, providing autism care to children through two locations in the metro area. The women say that after submitting their paperwork, they received letters from DHS with determinations for both locations: the Bloomington center was terminated and the Eagan office was approved.
“It doesn’t make sense, everything is the same minus the location,” Berland said. “So why was one approved and one wasn’t approved?”
The termination letter said the Bloomington center was denied because they failed to disclose a managing employee during a site visit. Berland disputes that and said she already submitted an appeal.
“We were told to keep running, keep continuing as we are while we go through this process,” she said. “It just means that we don’t have the money coming in.”
Josh Berg with Accessible Space says they’re also in limbo. Berg said they offer integrated community supports, which means caretakers provide in-unit assistance for people with spinal cord injuries and disabilities.
“Most of the folks that we support are wheelchair-bound,” Berg said. “Helping with meals, helping with medications, helping them just live their lives.”
Berg said that of the seven locations where people are housed, the Department of Human Services terminated five and approved two. He believes the timeline to conduct this revalidation process was too aggressive. He said Accessible Space has also submitted an appeal.
“We’re not able to bill for services, we’re not able to start new services for anybody or change any of the supports that they receive,” he said.
Both Berg and Berland say they agree fraud needs to be dealt with, but they hope Minnesotans who truly need services aren’t left without the services they need.
“Not just the clients rely on services, but the families do too, so we can’t stop services; that’s not an option on our plate,” Berland said. “We want to continue to provide these services; they are medically necessary.”
The Minnesota Department of Human Services said a disenrollment letter could be sent for a few reasons, including failure to submit revalidation application after two notification attempts, failure to provide all requested documents within the required timeframe and failure to meet the criteria required during an on-site visit.
A spokesperson for the Department of Human Services said it’s currently in the process of compiling data from the thousands of applications, but didn’t say when the department would share those final numbers.
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