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.
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The outer edges of the Twin Cities are booming with new places to live.
So far this decade, the Twin Cities metro has, on average, added about 17,000 housing units per year, according to data from the Metropolitan Council. That includes homes, condos and apartments.
If you go by total housing units added, at the top of the list is Lakeville, a city growing so fast it put a pause on accepting new building permits. It has added 4,861 units from 2020 to 2025.
It’s followed in order by Woodbury (4,271 units), Maple Grove (3,599 units), Rosemount (3,186 units), Cottage Grove (2,279 units) and Blaine (2,677).
“Those suburban edge communities have the land supply, and they have the infrastructure, and the connection to the metro,” Todd Graham, the Metropolitan Council’s principal forecaster, explained.
Space to add homes and infrastructure to handle the growth, all while staying within the metro bubble, is why developers are targeting those communities.
Cottage Grove has been adding about 287 homes a year this decade, but the mayor tells us of a new trend.
“What’s changing is we are seeing additional multifamily apartments, higher density,” said Myron Bailey. “And then we’re putting a little bit more focus on some affordability options, especially around our business park.”
Which suburbs will grow the most in the future?
If you go by population, Blaine and Maple Grove are forecasted to add about 20,000 people each from 2020 to 2050.
But if you go by percentage, two communities stand out. Corcoran in Hennepin County is expected to more than triple its population from 6,185 in 2020 to 19,600 in 2050. Carver in Carver County will see its population nearly triple from 5,241 in 2020 to 14,900 in 2050.
“We’re planning for it in the City of Carver. We have a long-term financial plan, we have a strategic plan, we have a comprehensive plan,” said Carver Mayor Courtney Johnson.
For example, new builds will push the limits of Carver’s current water treatment plant sometime in the next decade.
“We are already thinking about where and how we’re going to build a new one to expand our capacity to bring fresh water into homes,” she said.
Cottage Grove is building a second water tower right now on the west side of Highway 61, with plans for a third in the future. The city also has ample space to add homes and businesses.
Carver, meanwhile, has a smaller footprint, but it has an agreement in place with the neighboring Dahlgren township.
“When the landowners in that community are approached by developers for homes or commercial, they would then become part of the City of Carver, and then our boundary area would expand,” said Johnson.
Corcoran’s boundaries are the opposite of Carver’s. The town covers just under 36 square miles, making its land size similar to Maple Grove and Plymouth. Most of it still consists of farmland, prairies and wooded areas with home developments spread throughout.
A spokesperson for Corcoran told WCCO that new developments will be focused on the eastern third of the city, where growth can be best supported. That includes a new water tower and water treatment plant in the city’s northeast district.
With more neighborhoods and people come a need for more entertainment, dining and shopping. Bailey said that’s becoming apparent in his community.
“The biggest complaint that I get is we don’t have enough restaurants or retail in our community. So, that’s been frankly one of the things that I’ve been trying to work on,” said Bailey.
One element of growth that is particularly challenging for smaller towns is maintaining their small-town image. Johnson said much of Carver’s development is happening on their western edge, where farmland is plentiful. The downtown area near the Minnesota River, however, will keep its historic charm.
“We have one of the largest contiguous areas on the National Register of Historic Places. That’s never going to change, and we’re working really hard to maintain that area and promote our historic downtown,” she said.
Corcoran is taking a similar approach, balancing the need for growth while preserving the city’s existing character. Being a rural community is part of the city’s identity, meaning growth will have to happen in a “thoughtful and intentional way.”
Closer to the heart of the metro, cities like Edina and Bloomington are projected to add thousands of households over the next several decades. There’s very little space to build new subdivisions and homes, but that’s not where the growth is expected to happen.
“They identify that they have land supply available for transition to either high-density apartments or mixed-use neighborhoods,” said Graham.
That includes rezoning land initially developed for commercial property to allow for apartments and condos.
“In the Southdale area, you’ve seen that there are apartment buildings going up and there are plans for more of that,” Graham said.
To see how your community in the Twin Cities is projected to grow by the year 2050, click here.
Minnesota
Several vehicles damages by large rocks, oil thrown off I-35 bridge near Rush City, sheriff says
Law enforcement in an east-central Minnesota community is asking for the public’s help to find those responsible for throwing large rocks and vehicle oil off an Interstate 35 overpass.
The Chisago County Sheriff’s Office said there have been multiple reports in the past week of vehicles being struck by objects dropped from the bridge by 530th Street near Rush City, about 60 miles northeast of the Twin Cities metro area.
On Sunday night just after 10 p.m., authorities say someone “threw numerous large rocks and a significant amount of oil onto passing vehicles and the roadway itself,” resulting in “multiple vehicles being damaged.”
The sheriff’s office says the Minnesota State Patrol is assisting in the investigation, and anyone with information is asked to call 651-257-4100.
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