Offense
|
QB |
Kirk Cousins |
|
RB |
Dalvin Cook |
|
FB |
C.J. Ham |
|
WR |
Justin Jefferson |
|
WR |
Adam Thielen |
|
TE |
Irv Smith Jr. |
|
LT |
Christian Darrisaw |
|
LG |
Ezra Cleveland |
|
C |
Garrett Bradbury |
|
RG |
Ed Ingram |
|
RT |
Brian O’Neill |
Predicting the offense is easy. It’s pretty much set. Some want Garrett Bradbury catapulted far from the state of Minnesota but he’s the Vikings center. Perhaps new coaches, a new offensive system, and new techniques will bring out a Garrett Bradbury that we’ve yet to see. At least, that’s my hope. He has no hands-on history with the new coaches. That’s good and bad for him. He gets a fresh start. That can be good for him. This group didn’t spend a first-round pick on him. That can be bad for him. Bradbury is the favorite for the Vikings center job. It’s on him to keep the job. The only open offensive line competition is at right guard. It should be a fun, intriguing, critical competition and a lot of players willl be involved.
Ed Ingram
Wyatt Davis
Cris Reed
Jesse Davis
Austin Schlottman
Kyle Hinton
One, or more, might also give Bradbury some competition at center. I have Ed Ingram taking the right guard job. Perhaps it’s a recency thing. Perhaps it’s because the Vikings used a second-round pick in April’s draft to get him on the team.
Defense
|
DE |
Dalvin Tomlinson |
|
NT |
Harrison Phillips |
|
DE |
James Lynch |
|
OLB |
Danielle Hunter |
|
ILB |
Eric Kendricks |
|
ILB |
Jordan Hicks |
|
OLB |
Za’Darius Smith |
|
CB |
Patrick Peterson |
|
CB |
Andrew Booth Jr. |
|
NB |
Chandon Sullivan |
|
S |
Harrison Smith |
|
S |
Lewis Cine |
It’s probably going to take all of the offseason workouts and most of training camp to get a better handle on the new defense of the Vikings. The base will be a 3-4. That’s easy on paper. It’s not so easy in action. Despite the 3-4 starting point, the new coaches have stressed that the defense will be varied. The key is being unpredictable for offenses. It may take several regular season games to know what all of that means. What we do know is that Danielle Hunter and Za’Darius Smith will often be coming off the edges. I can not wait to see that. The defensive line and the roles of each of the players is, at the moment, a mystery. It’s easy to guess that Harrison Phillips and Dalvin Tomlinson will be starters. Who plays the nose in the 3-4? Upon his signing this offseason, Phillips referred to himself as the nose tackle. Tomlinson is closer to having the traditional size for the position. I think that each will play a decent number of snaps over the center. Armon Watts probably will as well. A player that I think will shine in the Vikings new front is James Lynch. I believe that his third season will be one in which his experience, an opportunity, and the right scheme will mesh into a very good thing. I like Lynch as a breakout player.
At the start of the offseason, cornerback was by far the team’s biggest weakness. There were four on the roster and only one had any real NFL starting experience. The re-signing of Patrick Peterson, the signings of Chandon Sullivan and Nate Hairston, and the drafting of Andrew Booth Jr. and Akayleb Evans have brought the group much closer to respectable NFL standards. At the start of on-field offseason workouts, I like the team’s cornerbacks.
Patrick Peterson
Cameron Dantzler
Andrew Booth Jr.
Chandon Sullivan
Akayleb Evans
Kris Boyd
Harrison Hand
Nate Hairston
Tye Smith
Parry Nickerson
The competion between Dantzler and Booth to start opposite Peterson will be a blast. I have Sullivan on the field in nickel. That likely will happen. Perhaps often. I also like the possibility of a three-safety nickel with Camryn Bynum as the extra defensive back. Before Lewis Cine was selected in the first round, I really liked the potential of a Harrison Smith-Camryn Bynum pairing at the back of the Vikings defense. I liked it so much that I never really thought about the possibility of the Vikings selecting a safety in the early rounds. Kyle Hamilton and some later-round depth players were the only safeties that I even studied. All that changed with the selection of Cine. Having now listened to him, read about him, and watched his play, I can’t wait to see this kid on the field for the Vikings. I can’t wait to see him paired with Smith. I can’t wait to see his Vikings career. He just strikes me as a difference-maker as a player and as a person.
There’s excitement in the unknown. The Vikings defense is an unknown. Part of the unknown is the 3-4. It’s been 40 years since the Vikings were a base 3-4. Another part of the unknown is what this defense will be when they aren’t in a 3-4. It’s a mystery and it’s damn exciting.
Special Teams
|
K |
Greg Joseph |
|
P |
Ryan Wright |
|
LS |
Andrew DePaola |
|
KR |
Kene Nwangwu |
|
PR |
Jalen Nailor |
Kicker Greg Joseph, punter Jordan Berry, and long snapper Andrew DePaola enter offseason workouts and training camp as the incumbents. Joseph and Berry may have been re-signed this offseason by the Vikings new decision-makers but they aren’t incumbents in the truest sense of the word. The new coaches inherited their specialists more than they hand-picked them. Joseph and Berry were solid in the first season with the Vikings but they are far from roster locks. Kicker Gabe Brkic and punter Ryan Wright were signed as undrafted free agents to compete for those kicking jobs. “Incumbents” vs Rookies. Seeing as the Vikings have a whole new set of coaches, the “old guys” probably have no edge other than NFL experience. That can be significant. One little reason that I like Wright as the Vikings punter is that he was a highly-rated quarterback in high school. New special teams coordinator Matt Daniels learned under John Fassell. While he was coaching the Rams special teams, Fassel often took advantage of the passing talents of Johnny Hekker. Maybe Daniels sees the potential of doing the same with Wright. Despite missing four extra points and a particular field goal, I thought that Joseph kicked well last year. Despite kicking well, I can easily see the new coaches going with Brkic. For now, in early May, I have Joseph keeping the job.
As a rookie, Kene Nwangwu emerged as one of the most dangerous kick returners in the league. Punt returner is up for grabs. For now, I like sixth-round receiver Jalen Nailor for the job.
I can not wait for September.
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