(Editor’s note: This is the first in a series during training camp looking at where things stand with the Vikings’ biggest roster competitions.)
Mike Zimmer wore his customary black Vikings shirt and began barking at the young cornerbacks he’s excited to groom. Finally, at long last, he was back on a football field with the full team.
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The Vikings began 11-on-11 practices Friday. They’ll be in full pads for live hitting sessions starting Monday afternoon. But already, Zimmer said, impressions are being made as the Vikings try to sort through a depth chart without preseason games.
With that in mind, here is how things looked through the weekend.
Backup quarterback
I thought at the start of Friday that Jake Browning had a legitimate shot to replace Sean Mannion as Kirk Cousins’ backup. The Vikings professed confidence in Browning after they gave him what they referred to as a redshirt season a year ago, leaving Browning on the practice squad the entire time.
But a few days into camp, I think Browning has a long way to go to unseat Mannion. So far, Mannion has taken all the second-team snaps while Browning has been with the third team throughout. But more troubling is how Browning has performed in those reps. He had two different throws nearly intercepted on Sunday, but lucked into the passes being dropped by defenders.
Mannion certainly hasn’t done anything to blow away the competition. But he knows the offense well and gets the backups into the spots the coaching staff wants them. Cousins trusts him. That’s a lot for Browning to overcome.
Plenty can change over the coming weeks. That sentence holds true for all players discussed here. But Browning’s best case may be to try to play himself onto the 53-man roster as a third quarterback.
And as for seventh-round pick Nate Stanley, he’s a distant fourth on the depth chart and needs a couple big weeks just to earn a practice-squad spot.
Wide receiver
First-round pick Justin Jefferson was basically anointed the team’s No. 2 wide receiver by most everyone, including me, leading into camp. But so far, Bisi Johnson is the team’s No. 2 option. Johnson has had an impressive couple days opposite Adam Thielen and so far has held off Jefferson.
That’s not entirely surprising since rookies tend to have to “prove” they deserve a spot rather than being handed it. But it’s also a sign of what Gary Kubiak, the man who pushed for the Vikings to draft Johnson, thinks of him. Johnson has already made impressive catches through both practices. The thought was that he was going to have to fight for the No. 3 job with Tajae Sharpe, but it’s now clear that Johnson is the No. 3 wide receiver at worst and the No. 2 at best.
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Jefferson will provide plenty of competition though. It’s early and the Vikings have been fooled by strong training camp performances from their first-round wide receivers in the past. But Jefferson makes highlight-reel grabs with ease and has made some cornerbacks look silly with his routes.
“Well, it’s very encouraging,” Kubiak said of Jefferson’s first few practices. “He’s exactly what we drafted. We knew he’s a very talented young man that had a comfort zone in the slot because he did that a lot. I play him a little bit of everywhere, teaching him my offense, understanding schemes and what we’re doing. He’s a very good route runner. When you sit there and talk routes and stuff, this kid’s very knowledgeable. He’s been coached by some good coaches before he got here. And he’s got some great examples around him. He sits there and watches Bisi in front of him every day.”
Behind them is an intriguing battle for the final few spots. And if enough wide receivers play well, that could convince the Vikings to keep six wide receivers instead of five. Sharpe has had a few moments and takes advantage of his height at 6-foot-2.
Chad Beebe has made a few plays, too. He was one of Kubiak’s favorite players through the offseason a year ago and won the team’s No. 3 job last season, but missed most of the campaign due to injury, opening the door for Johnson’s emergence. Now, he stands to benefit from the fact that the Vikings don’t have a lot of depth at the position.
“The routine we’re in right now may help Beebe a little bit,” Kubiak said. “We’re very young, very competitive at the receiver position. I think we can make sure that Beebe comes along and gets back to 100 percent the right way, and don’t overload him. I think he’s going to be a really fine player. I think the key for him is just staying healthy and getting that first season under his belt where he is healthy, and I think you’re going to see his career take off.”
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Offensive guard
Perhaps the biggest surprise since camp began is the fact that the Vikings seem content to keep Pat Elflein as one of their starting offensive linemen. Few expected him to retain a starting job. Some (including me in our initial 53-man roster projection) didn’t think he’d make the team.
Instead, it seems Elflein has all but locked up the job at right guard. He struggled his second season in the NFL after injuries plagued his offseason. He struggled last season at left guard and at least partly attributed that to unfamiliarity on the left side. So in the offseason, the Vikings decided to move him to the right side, his preferred guard spot going back to his days at Ohio State.
But it doesn’t seem as if Elflein has to earn the right guard job. It’s his. So the Vikings know that Riley Reiff is at left tackle, Garrett Bradbury is at center, Elflein is at right guard, and Brian O’Neill is at right tackle.
The only remaining question is who plays left guard. So far, Dakota Dozier and Aviante Collins have rotated in that spot with the first-team offense. Second-round pick Ezra Cleveland has been exclusively with the second-team offense at left guard.
But don’t expect this competition to be a drawn-out one. Zimmer said the team could have their five linemen decided by the end of the week. They want to see how the guards fare in full-contact drills starting Monday. And then they want to finalize their starting offensive line as soon as possible so they have time to work together.
“We have a lot of football practices this week, a ton of reps, so everybody is going to get a good hard look,” Kubiak said. “We’ll get our pads on throughout the course of this week. So we should be able to take a look at what’s going on and settle some people down as we get to later in the week.”
That could work against Cleveland, who didn’t have the opportunity to partake in minicamp or organized team activities this summer so has only been on the field for two 11-on-11 practices so far. But he could find himself in a similar situation to O’Neill’s rookie season where he’s the first option off the bench if an injury happens.
Dru Samia has been Elflein’s backup so far at right guard and doesn’t appear to be threatening him for the starting gig. Brett Jones is the backup center and Rashod Hill (on the left) and Oli Udoh (on the right) are the backup offensive tackles.
Defensive tackle
The Shamar Stephen hype train rolls on. After Michael Pierce opted out, Stephen was virtually guaranteed to remain a starter on defense. But what wasn’t expected was all the praise that’s come from coaches. Andre Patterson said Eric Kendricks wouldn’t want another defensive tackle in front of him because Stephen is so good at occupying blocks. Adam Zimmer said Stephen “is as good a nose (tackle) as there is.”
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So it seems clear that Stephen’s a starter. But what’s interesting is that the team seems poised to move him to nose tackle after Michael Pierce opted out. Stephen played three-technique for the Vikings last season.
“I started here my first three years playing nose,” Stephen said. “I played nose in Seattle, so it’s not a big transition for me.”
That leaves a vacant job at three-technique. So far, Armon Watts seems the frontrunner to take that spot, though Jaleel Johnson has occasionally joined Stephen on the first-team defense with the pair rotating between the two defensive tackle spots. Hercules Mata’afa gets the next shot after those three in practices.
Notably, James Lynch, the team’s fourth-round pick, has been with the third-team defense and seems to have a way to go to get elevated up the depth chart. Jalyn Holmes has taken snaps at defensive end, so he may not factor as much in this competition.
Cornerback
While this may be the most important of all these competitions, the cornerback spot remains quite convoluted. Jeff Gladney has played in the slot with the first-team defense and has moved to the outside with the second-team defense. The Vikings have also tried having Mike Hughes play both outside and inside with the starters.
So far, Holton Hill seems destined to be one of the two starting outside corners and his play through a couple of practices has matched that designation. That’s a good sign for the Vikings who badly need him to have a good season. He had an interception on the first day of camp that was the highlight of the day for the defense. Hughes, too, has played well.
Third-round pick Cameron Dantzler is the cornerback who has most surprised so far, both with strong play and plenty of opportunity. He’s already worked into some occasional plays with the starting defense when Hughes or Hill needs a breather and he’s been very good with the second-team often opposite Kris Boyd.
But it could be an entirely different story next week after pads come on.
(Top photo: Brad Rempel / USA Today)
