The Minnesota Vikings come out of the bye week hoping to continue their excellent start to the season. The main point of focus as we head into Week 7 is improvement on offense and the Vikings could be set for a quadruple boost on that front.

Vikings Could Be in for a Quadruple Boost on Offense

A lot has been said about the Vikings’ sluggish offensive start to the season. It’s fair to say that injuries haven’t helped the situation with Kyler Murray, Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hockenson, Josh Oliver, Christian Darrisaw, and Donovan Jackson all missing games through injury.

Jackson and Oliver are long-term injuries and young, inexperienced players are going to have to step into their roles. Murray and Jefferson both returned before their bye, and the Vikings could be getting another four players back. The bye week came at a great time in that regard for Minnesota as they could be about to be as healthy as they’ve been since entering Week 1.

Christian Darrisaw

Darrisaw’s injury history continues to be a cause for concern with a concussion in the Week 4 win over the Miami Dolphins being the latest problem to knock the Vikings left tackle out of action.

When healthy, Darrisaw has proven he is a top-level tackle; the problem is a string of injury issues has slowed his progress and we haven’t seen Darrisaw at his dominant best in some time. He is still the best lineman on the team and his return will be a boost; if he can stay healthy and work back to his best it will be an enormous boost for the team.

TJ Hockenson

There was excitement after Hockenson and Murray appeared to find a connection in Week 4 that helped the Vikings beat the Dolphins. Hockenson caught all 13 of his targets for 119 yards on what was his best game in some time.

Any hopes that he would build on that in Week 5 were quickly extinguished when he suffered a concussion on his first target of the game.

Hockenson did make the catch for a seven-yard gain but he would play no further part in the game. The bye week has given him time to clear concussion protocol, potentially without missing any further game time. The Week 7 game against the Indianapolis Colts will be “take two” to see if the Hockenson/Murray connection was legit or just a flash in the pan.

Jordan Addison

The Vikings could also be set to get Addison back to bolster the pass-catching options.

The team’s main deep threat, Addison is capable of making the big game-changing plays, which was showcased in Week 3 against Tampa Bay when he caught a couple of long passes including the 41-yard touchdown grab that swung the game in the Vikings’ favor. After two weeks’ rest, he was named as a full participant on this week’s first injury report. Hopefully, that will mean what has been described as hamstring soreness has been resolved and Addison can line up opposite Jefferson for the first time since Week 3. That was also the only time this season outside the very beginning of the first game of the season that Murray, Jefferson, and Addison played together. That trio being healthy, along with Hockenson, should make a huge difference to the team’s passing attack.

Jordan Mason

Mason hasn’t played since Week 1 when he picked up a thumb injury that required surgery. After a spell on Injured Reserve, Mason has been designated to return and will hope to be back in the mix against the Colts.

Against the Packers, Mason had 15 rushes for 59 yards and a touchdown. While veteran back Aaron Jones has done a fantastic job of carrying the workload in Mason’s absence, the Vikings need that second option to keep their backs fresh throughout the season. Mason’s power running is also a nice complement to Jones zone running that relies on vision on lateral cuts. It gives opposing defences more to think about rather than one style of runner to deal with.

Mason’s return would be a real boost.