The Vikings have won their fight for a new stadium, and that may be one of the few victories the franchise will experience this year.
But coach Leslie Frazier thinks things could be better than they were during last season’s 3-13 debacle. And he believes that better competition within the roster will make the team more competitive when the time comes to play other teams.
“The fact that we’ve created some competition at some key positions, that alone will make us better,” Frazier told Dan Barreiro of KFAN, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. “We haven’t had the kind of competition in the secondary that we have right now. We haven’t had the kind of competition on the offensive line that we have right now. And there’s some other areas we’ve got to improve. Even the wide receiver position we’re better now than we were a year ago.”
And as the team tries to reverse two substandard seasons, Frazier said the key is to identify and get rid of the guys who are getting too used to losing.
“Part of it is creating competition at positions,” Frazier said. “As soon as you see guys getting complacent with winning, you’ve got to get those guys out as fast as possible. . . . It creates that sense of urgency on our football team.”
It’s a smart approach, but the key is to have enough highly talented players. At many positions, the Vikings may have plenty of average-to-good players who can try to get each other to perform better, but the best thing to have is guys who are truly great -- regardless of how hard they’re being pushed in practice by the rest of the depth chart.