Like the Vikings' offense, this season is about to become an absolute roller coaster, with the Bills on deck in Week 9 and the trade deadline to follow . While some Vikings have helped to steady the ship, others are making progress harder.
The Lions handed the Vikings their first loss of the year, and there was plenty of blame to go around. From missed tackles to a dud of a day on offense, it just wasn't in the cards.
So, after the defeat, who is seeing their stock rise, and who might be in for a long season?
Pierre notched his second interception of the season last Sunday and handed Jared Goff his first of the year. After ranking as their No. 2 cornerback in 2025, Pierre is once again a Pro Football Focus darling in 2026. He has an impressive 75.9 grade this season, ranking him 12th out of 102 qualifying cornerbacks.
With Isaiah Rodgers potentially dealing with an ankle injury that could force him to miss time, Pierre may see a spike in snaps this week against Buffalo. That's clearly not going to be an issue for the Vikings' defense, and Pierre has quietly become one of the best offseason additions for Minnesota.
Mason's second game back from injury was lacking, with just 20 yards on eight rushes, and he has yet to bring much juice to the backfield since recovering from a thumb injury. His 3.9 yards per carry and zero catches in the pass game this year are far from what the Vikings had wanted (and needed).
Mason is a solid RB2, but it's becoming clear the Vikings don't have a running back who moves the needle between him and Aaron Jones Sr. A sub-four yards per rush with essentially no impact in the passing game just isn't going to scare opposing defenses.
Van Ginkel will be 32 years old and a free agent next season. The Vikings could understandably be hesitant to offer him a new deal, but Gink just keeps making plays .
Van Ginkel notched another 2.5 sacks against Detroit, upping his season total to 6.5 and good enough for fifth in the NFL. He's got an interception and a forced fumble already as well, for good measure, and while it's reasonable to expect the drop-off to come, Van Ginkel just keeps defying the odds.
Despite plenty of other mouths to feed in 2027, it's just hard to see how the Vikings won't want to bring their star edge rusher back for another year.
Thorson beat out veteran Johnny Hekker for the job this offseason, but hasn't really done much to show he'll be the guy in 2027 and beyond.
Against Detroit, he badly shanked one punt, and his 44.1 punt average ranks 28th in the NFL this season. Hekker wasn't much better when filling in, so it's doubtful the Vikings make another in-season move, especially with the all-important job of holding for Will Reichard on the line.
Punter is clearly the least of the Vikings' worries this year, but expect some competition again in the spring.
Get Vikings On SI straight to your inbox: sign up for our free newsletter here .
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/vikings/onsi as Vikings Week 9 Stock Report: James Pierre Among Risers, Brett Thorson Falls .
