Looking ahead at the 2019 season, which teams will return to the NFL playoffs, which will miss the postseason and which will make an appearance after missing the cut in 2018?
Two seasons ago, the Vikings advanced all the way to the 2017 NFC Championship but fell short of the 2018 playoffs when they suffered a home loss to the Bears the regular-season finale.
ESPN's Dan Graziano recently made **10 “bold NFL predictions” for the 2019 campaign**, including that "new playoff teams" will be the Vikings, Titans and 49ers. He wrote:
Minnesota's offense clicks better in Kirk Cousins' second season there. The AFC South starts to look like the league's new power division, with Tennessee pushing the Colts and Texans. And assuming Jimmy Garoppolo gets through the season healthy, another busy and productive offseason should put San Francisco in position to make some noise.
The 2018 playoff teams whose places these three take are the Bears, Colts and Cowboys, respectively. The Eagles reassert themselves atop a once-again-weak NFC East.
Other predictions by Graziano included that four quarterbacks will be first-round draft picks in April, the Browns will win the AFC North, Steelers WR Antonio Brown will sign with the 49ers and lead the league in catches, and Super Bowl LIV will be between the Saints and the Texans.
View pictures of the Vikings players, coaches and staff in the community throughout the 2018 season.
An image from December 18, 2018 of the Stefon Diggs Hospital Visit at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
An image from August 3, 2018 of the Make A Wish surprise at TCO Performance Center in Eagan, MN.
An image from September 7, 2018 of the Fan Rally held at U.S. Bank Plaza in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
An image from November 20, 2018 of the Social Justice School Visit at Franklin Middle School in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
An image from September 18, 2018 of the special olympics flag football event held at TCOPC in Eagan, MN.
An image from September 18, 2018 of the official Thielen Foundation launch at the Masonic Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, MN.
An image from July 18, 2018 of the Kyle Rudolph Pro Camp held at Providence Academy in Plymouth, MN.
An image from September 11, 2018 of the St. Paul Police Station Visit at the Eastern District Police Station in St. Paul, Minnesota.
An image from July 14, 2018 of the Gatorade Prep Elite camp held at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center.
An image from July 30, 2018 of the Tottenham Hotspur visit and skills challenge at TCO Performance Center in Eagan, MN.
An image from July 30, 2018 of the Tottenham Hotspur visit and skills challenge at TCO Performance Center in Eagan, MN.
An image from July 31, 2018 of the high school press conference held at TCO Performance Center in Eagan, MN.
An image from October 30, 2018 of the Halloween Holiday Huddle at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
An image from October 29, 2018 of the Veterans Voyage Surprise at TCOPC in Eagan, Minnesota.
An image from October 2, 2018 of the Weight Equipment Donation visit at Highland Park Senior High School in St. Paul, Minnesota
An image from October 28, 2018 of the Feed My Starving Children food packing in Eagan, Minnesota. An image from October 2, 2018 of the Feed My Starving Children food packing at Feed My Starving Children in Eagan, Minnesota.
An image from October 30, 2018 of the visit at Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
An image from September 18, 2018 of the special olympics flag football event held at TCOPC in Eagan, MN.
An image from September 10, 2018 of Mike Hughes throwing out the first pitch at the Minnesota Twins game against the New York Yankees at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
An image from December 18, 2018 of the Christmas Holiday Huddle at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
An image from December 4th, 2018 of the visit at the Boys and Girls Club in West St. Paul, Minnesota.
An image from December 4th, 2018 of the visit at the Boys and Girls Club in West St. Paul, Minnesota.
An image from November 27, 2018 of Rashod Hill and his family's visit to Starkey Hearing Technologies in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
An image taken on November 10, 2018 of the Veterans Voyage held in Washington, D.C.
An image from July 19th 2018 from the player's visit to camp ripley in Little Falls, MN.
An image from December 18, 2018 of the Xavier Rhodes Boys and Girls Club Christmas shopping and delivery held at Mall of America in Minneapolis, MN.
An image from December 18, 2018 of the Christmas Holiday Huddle at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
An image from July 19th 2018 from the player's visit to camp ripley in Little Falls, MN.
An image from December 4, 2018 of the Anthony Barr Jeremiah Program event during the holidays.
An image from December 18, 2018 of the Christmas Holiday Huddle at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
7 Vikings in Fabiano's top 200 fantasy players for 2019
While several media members and analysts are releasing their early power rankings for the 2019 season, NFL.com's Michael Fabiano recently **ranked his top 200 fantasy players** for the upcoming season.
Three Vikings made Fabiano's list in the top 30. He placed wide receiver Adam Thielen at No. 19 overall and as the eighth receiver ranked. Running back Dalvin Cook, who is entering his third NFL season, was tabbed at No. 22, and receiver Stefon Diggs made the list at No. 28.
Four other Vikings also were in Fabiano's top 200: QB Kirk Cousins (140), TE Kyle Rudolph (165), RB Latavius Murray (172) and the Vikings defense (185). It is worth noting that Minnesota's defense was the fourth defense ranked on Fabiano's list behind Chicago (181), Baltimore (183) and the Rams (184).
The front end of Fabiano's list of fantasy players was running back-heavy. Here are the top 10, starting from the top: Giants RB Saquon Barkley, Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott, Rams RB Todd Gurley, Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey, Saints RB Alvin Kamara, Chargers RB Melvin Gordon, Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell, Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins, Steelers WR Antonio Brown and Packers WR Davante Adams.
Kendricks provides cheer for patients at children's hospital
Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks is enjoying some respite from the Minnesota winter and recently still found time to give back to the community, this time in his home state of California.
Starlight, an organization that works to bring comfort to hospitalized children in the U.S., tweeted Tuesday that Kendricks, a UCLA alum, made a special visit to UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, where he spent time talking with and doing activities with the young patients.
