The Minnesota Vikings are a trendy pick to shoot up the standings this season.
And why not?
It's a team that boasts a promising young quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater, devastating running back, nice receiving weapons, a good young corps of defensive talent and an underrated coach, Mike Zimmer, in his second season.
The biggest question mark is the offensive line, which has the potential to blow up the entire offensive optimism.
The main culprit to last year's shaky blocking was left tackle Matt Kalil. The fourth-year pro underwent arthroscopic surgery on both knees in January and said he's finally healthy after battling injuries all last year.
"Football is fun again," he said, per ESPN.com. "You can actually work on stuff. You can improve; you can get better. That's what I feel I'm doing right now, especially going against Everson (Griffen). That's making me a lot better."
While watching Bridgewater film for our Making the Leap series, Kalil's poor play leapt off the screen. He wasn't just bad last year. He was horrifyingly terrible. On several plays he was beaten around the edge like a statue frozen to the ground (I was fairly certain he was going to get Teddy killed at one point).
"I'm stronger, bigger. I'm quick again on my feet," he said. "It's about getting that back. It's just a year of bad technique -- you've kind of got to break all those habits. But it's going along well."
If the Vikings shore up their biggest weakness there is no reason they can't snag a wild-card berth.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast features Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo sharing his thoughts on the upcoming season.