It’s safe to say that Minnesota Vikings were one of the great surprises of this 2024 NFL season.

Some pundits believed that with the Vikings losing multiple players on both sides of the ball in free agency — notably Kirk Cousins ​​on offense and Danielle Hunter on defense — they might not win more than six or seven games in all season.

But head coach Kevin O’Connell quickly put that notion to bed, starting 5-0. Now 6-2 at the midway point, Minnesota is in prime position to make the postseason for the second time in three years.

And like the Vikings as a whole, several players on the roster were also pleasant surprises, starting with the obvious.

No one expected Sam Darnold to be Kirk Cousins. Truth be told, it was hard to know what to expect given that he was seemingly only brought in to serve as a placeholder and mentor until first round pick JJ McCarthy was ready to roll.

That all changed, of course, when McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury during training camp. But Darnold has undoubtedly risen to the occasion.

Sure, there were a few hiccups here and there. Overall, though, the No. 1 overall pick. 3 of 2018 was solid. Through eight games, Darnold has completed 69.5 percent of his passes for 1,900 yards with 17 touchdowns against seven interceptions for a 107.8 passer rating, fifth-highest in the league. It’s actually the fourth most if you don’t include Russell Wilson, who played just two games for Pittsburgh Steelers.

Quite simply, he’s on pace for the best season of his career and easily surpasses his $10 million salary.

While Justin Jefferson will always draw the most attention from opposing defenses, as he should, running back Aaron Jones has proven to be the Vikings’ biggest offensive weapon thus far.

When he turns 30 in December, the eighth-year veteran should be past his prime. So it is with runners. But Jones must not have gotten the memo because he is on pace to have one of the best years of his career.

Despite dealing with hip and hamstring issues, Jones leads the team in yards from scrimmage with 810, good for ninth among all NFL players. He recorded 565 rushing yards, averaging 4.5 yards per carry, and also racked up 245 yards on 26 receptions.

Jones’ career high in total yards is 1,558, which he set with Green Bay Packers in 2019. But if it stays at the current pace, it will reach 1,721.

While Andrew Van Ginkel wanted to stick with Miami Dolphins following his strong 2023 campaign, the sentiment was not reciprocated, forcing him to test the market.

And Miami’s loss turned out to be Minnesota’s gain as the sixth-year linebacker went all out for Brian Flores’ defense.

What most will remember from this first half is his pair of pick-6s, the first coming against New York Giants in week 1 and second came to london in a week 5 win over New York Jets.

But Van Ginkel also recorded 5.0 sacks — tied for second-most on the team with Patrick Jones II — along with 35 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, nine QB hits, three passes defensed and a forced inflation.

I knew Van Ginkel would be good. But I’m not sure anyone expected it to be this good. Like Darnold, he was an absolute bargain at $10 million.

Okay, so some might think it’s a little weird to say that a guy who makes $19 million a year can ever overperform. But given the circumstances, I think Jonathan Greenard fits the bill.

When the Vikings and Texans basically traded edge rushers, with Danielle Hunter signing with Houston in free agency and Greenard signing with Minnesota, most saw the Texans as the biggest winner.

But so far, that hasn’t been the case. While Hunter played well in Houston, Greenard put up better overall numbers, leading in both sacks (7.0 to 5.5) and total tackles (23 to 20). They have the same number of tackles for loss (seven), passes defensed (two) and forced fumbles (one).

Hunter has one more QB hit (13-for-12), but it’s also important to note that he’s played one more game, which makes Greenard’s upside that much more impressive. For someone who shouldn’t have been able to fully fill Hunter’s shoes, Greenard has done just that and then some. And for good measure, he did it for $5.5 million less.

Since we hit on offense and defense, we thought special teams deserved some love, too, so we’ll wrap things up with kicker Will Reichard.

Sure, the sixth-round pick missed a pair of field goals last Sunday in the Vikings’ win over him. Indianapolis Colts and was just placed on injured reserve with a right quadriceps strain that obviously played into those misses.

Before Sunday, however, Reichard had been perfect, hitting 20-of-20 extra-point attempts and 14-of-14 field goal attempts. Not an easy thing for a novice kicker to do. He hasn’t quite reached the level of Brandon Aubrey from a year ago, which was just absurd, but he still deserves his flowers. Once Reichard returns with a healthy right leg, expect him to get back on track.