Friday mailbag: Rookie reporting edition

Twitter has plenty of questions about the Vikings' rookies, who arrived at camp this week

*Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

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Happy Friday everyone. All of the Vikings’ draft picks have signed so Twitter offered all of its rookie-related questions. Lots of good stuff here…

@J_Fisk Will having no preseason games possibly help the Vikings get a couple decent prospects past waivers and onto the practice squad given they have so many drafted rookies that other teams won't get to see in preseason games?

It doesn’t happen too often because a team has to put the player on their active roster and normally if someone else is cutting them, it’s unlikely they want to make room rather than just rolling with their own guys. It did happen with the Browns and Ifeadi Odenigbo after he was cut out of camp in 2018 (despite having a really good preseason) so even though I would say that it’s fairly rare these days and the impact is generally negligible, we probably won’t see it happen at all without preseason tape for other teams to scout.

Where things will be more different is with an expanded practice squad. I imagine during normal years the battles that go on inside TCO Performance Center when it comes to which players to keep on the practice squad are pretty intense. There have been reports that as many as 16 players will be included on the PS this year, which means you have to be pretty darn far down the depth chart not to land some type of gig.

But even teams with have their own issues evaluating. If there’s only 14 practices, good luck to everyone figuring out whether this or that special teamer should make it. They don’t even do live kick and punt returns with tackling in training camp practices.

@KyeBaxter Do we have a corner who can challenge Jefferson and potentially elevate his game the way Diggs and Rhodes went at each other early on?

Those Diggs/Rhodes battles were really something to watch each summer. I’ll miss that. But the guy who was super valuable to the Vikings in training camp was Terence Newman. The NFL is complicated. Extremely complicated. You will hear people say, “he came from an NFL offense” in college. Nope, nope he didn’t. Nothing whatsoever can simulate the complexity NFL schemes and technique. Newman was the guy that everyone could get answers from — both receivers and corners.

That said, if you watch Jeff Gladney’s college tape, he’s one heck of a competitor. I might say it’s his best trait. He played through injuries and fought like crazy against receivers who were bigger than him and offenses built to spread things out and throw every play. But Gladney might be getting his education over the next month facing off with Adam Thielen more often.

I feel bad for fans not being able to attend camp this year. It’s cool to see young players as rookies getting out there for the first time and it’s amazing to watch one-on-ones between receivers and corners.

@chibucky What is James Lynch’s potential to step in early at the 3T, or to develop over time? I’ve read some articles that say he was a great college player but won’t be able to replicate against NFL OL’s. His tape looks great though.

His 2019 at Baylor was really darn impressive. Some draft analysts had him much higher than where he was picked. One NFL.com analyst mocked him as a first-round pick and PFF ranked him the 99th best player in the draft. So clearly there’s some disagreement between teams and some analysts on what he might become in the NFL.

When he played against good competition, you don’t see him blowing by offensive linemen like you’d see from the elite defensive end prospects. The “quick twitch,” if you will. You see him keep driving toward the quarterback using his strength and hands. Tackles end up on their heels a lot. That could play pretty well for rushing from 3-tech, where it’s not just about blowing by your guy, sometimes it’s about being in the right lane and collapsing the pocket in the correct spot to make the overall rush work.

How all that translates right away is a big question because position changes always take awhile, even when he did play 3-tech and 5-tech (directly over the tackle) pretty often at Baylor. But he has the skillset and size to be pretty good in the Tom Johnson role at some point. Door’s going to be open for that in Year 1.

Here’s all of his sacks, by the way:

@trent_erickson Since Zimmer got an extension do you think any rookies will now get a year to learn the system that may have been pressed into action and which ones?

I don’t think it changes a whole lot about their approach. Maybe if Zimmer was in the final year of his deal there would be a subconscious tendency to play veterans but there really isn’t much of a choice in some spots where there aren’t any veterans. Mike Hughes has the most career snaps of any cornerback on the roster with 744 — about 3/4 of a year. Next after him is Holton Hill with 544. Possible he would have pushed harder for a veteran corner?

The approach would probably be the same because Zimmer won’t be entering this year thinking it’s about rebuilding even with his contract extension. Look at the NFC North. Look at the expanded playoffs. The same good quarterback, good offensive coordinator etc. This isn’t a play-for-the-future mentality, even if it appears the outlook is better for 2021.

@ramseykincannon From your perspective, what was the biggest "take back" draft selection? I would've rather drafted Stenberg, Robinson, or Wallace instead of Wonnum.

This might be the hardest year to play this game since their picks were pretty spot on through the first three rounds and they grabbed a number of late-round guys who are intriguing (and if we’re being honest, who nobody has the darndest clue whether they’ll work out). I can’t argue with Jefferson, Gladney, Cleveland or Dantzler.

If Andre Patterson walked up to me and said, “get me DJ Wonnum,” I would have drafted him too, even if there are red flags with his production. Long-shot edge rushers seem to be a specialty of Patterson’s so I’ll roll with that one too.

The other fourth-round picks were outstanding in Lynch/Dye. Both guys were ranked much higher by draft writers and had terrific careers.

Seems silly to question this one because it’s in the late rounds but I’ll go with receiver James Proche in the fifth instead of KJ Osborn — but instead taking Osborn in the sixth instead of Blake Brendel, if that makes sense. I think Osborn would have been there later based on what analysts said about him (which could be wrong!) and Brendel probably doesn’t have the physical skills. Proche destroyed SMU competition with 111 catches and 15 touchdowns. Taking shots at late-round receivers makes more sense than taking shots at a late-round tackle, especially considering the team’s track record with both positions.

I might have gone with Tyler Huntley over Nate Stanley but, honestly, we’re talking about all these guys being darts thrown at the board once it’s past the fourth.

@alexjjlarsen I'll hit two players - If Troy Dye plays up to his potential, will it move Barr into exclusive pass-rush packages, or push him toward a trade? Do you think D.J. Wonnum could be Danielle Hunter 2.0 under Zimmer?

I don’t think we’ll ever see Barr as an exclusive pass rusher. Of course, with Everson Griffen gone, this would be the year to try him over tackles on third downs and bring in Eric Wilson to play his linebacker spot. But we’re probably two years from knowing what they have in Dye. Remember Wilson played his first entire year on special teams and we only saw him a little in Year 2. Zimmer asks a ton of his linebackers so he would have to be really, really confident in Dye to pull that lever and make him the full-time linebacker.

On the other side of that coin, Barr’s future is up in the air because of his contract. After 2020 it becomes feasible to move him and after 2021 it makes a lot of sense unless he re-works the deal and we don’t know what kind of player he will be at that point. Speed is such a big factor at linebacker so if he loses a step at any point it’s a problem, even though he’s still very much in his prime now.

Part 2 — you never, ever, ever in a million years expect anyone to become Danielle Hunter when they’re picked in the third round. I look at reasonable expectations for Wonnum to become Stephen Weatherly.

@crewbacker Do you think the team feels comfortable with the situation at cornerback? How motivated do you think they are to find a veteran to add to the mix?

Actions over words when it comes to analyzing sports teams. Their actions this offseason have suggested that they like how things look at cornerback with so many guys with talent in the mix. They love Kris Boyd and I get the sense there’s still hope for Holton Hill to become a very good player and Mike Hughes flashed in a few games (Giants, specifically) the reason they' believe in him. So it doesn’t look like a free agent is coming to save the day.

The problem is that the worst-case scenario is really bad here. If Gladney isn’t ready, Hill doesn’t look like the small-sample 2018 version, Hughes can’t stay healthy, Boyd isn’t ready or good at anything beyond special teams, you’re going to have the 20th ranked defense because of the opposing QBs you’re up against.

They should look at it like: How can we be average at corner? If they’re average at corner, they can be a very, very good defense considering they have stars as safety, linebacker and D-line. A proven average player like Logan Ryan or Dre Kirkpatrick might go a long way there. We’ll see if anything changes when teams can actually bring guys in for workouts.

@benjackson0812 Are there any rookies in this class with the “Laquan Treadwell” warning label on them??

I’ll say it: When he was picked I thought Treadwell would be good and the stuff about his 40 time was kinda bogus because he was coming off that injury. Turns out that we can never predict which players will struggle to learn the technical and intellectual parts of the game. Treadwell could have been good if he had any understanding of route-running technique but that’s a very hard thing to know when he physically dominated corners in college.

Jefferson is so much better of an athlete that the fact he isn’t a separation monster doesn’t have anywhere near the warning sign that Treadwell would have. Even if he can’t get off the line of scrimmage, he’ll still make plays with the ball.

Gladney’s on the shorter/smaller side. That could limit his ceiling but it’s not some massive red flag.

Cleveland might be one where the warning sign is just that athleticism does not equal success. It sure helps if you can get down all the other stuff but just because he ran a really darn fast 40 doesn’t mean he’ll become Brian O’Neill.

Dantzler’s frame and 40 are an issue but we’re also talking about a third-round pick so there’s bound to be concerns no matter who the prospect is.

@JonOien56 What is Ezra Cleveland’s role going to be this year?

My guess is that his role is going to be playing the best darn scout team left tackle that he possibly can. From watching him at Boise State, there’s a lot to like but he hasn’t faced anyone in the stratosphere of Za’Darius Smith. Imagine playing Little League baseball and then they move you up to varsity. That’s what it’s like in terms of Boise State’s competition vs. the Minnesota Vikings.

There’s nothing wrong with letting him get his feet wet here or there when someone is dinged up but even then the fact that they brought back Rashod Hill probably means Cleveland won’t even be the swing tackle. That’s a good thing. Practice against NFL’ers every day for a year, spent next offseason getting stronger and go forth as the starting left tackle.

@GeofftheJohnson Say that the Vikings view Ezra Cleveland as their best option at left guard, but only marginally more so than whoever is behind him. And ultimately they really want him at left tackle. Do you play him at guard or try to let him sit for a year and play the other guy?

I say sit him unless he’s shockingly far better than anyone else they can put in there. They should give it a shot but with only a handful of real practices it’s going to be hard for him to get any real work at guard and learn the ropes.

The problem, of course, is that the Vikings don’t really have many options with experience aside from Pat Elflein. He might end up in there again, which I’m sure won’t may anyone happy. But at least he will know the Kubiak offense. Cleveland learning all new technique and an NFL offense at once plus facing Akiem Hicks on the inside could destroy the guy.

@elihartskin I’m curious about the safety position— are both drafted guys basically safe from the jump? Can either of them play a Jayron Kearse roll or could a guy like Troy Dye step into that?

I think mostly safe. Myles Dorn from North Carolina was an undrafted free agent, which isn’t all that different from being a seventh-rounder, so he’ll get a shot to compete with Metellus and Cole. I’m a little more skeptical of Cole because he has the “great athlete” label but doesn’t have the experience playing all over the field that Metellus does.

We might not have a great feeling for battles like this because I’m guessing the key practices will be all about the first team getting ready and very little fiddling around. Either way, Vikings fans best pray to the football gods for Anthony Harris and Harrison Smith to stay healthy.

I do think Metellus has a chance to play the role they wanted for Jayron Kearse. He did it all in college. It will take awhile though. It wasn’t until Year 3 that Kearse really knew how to handle that job (and probably should have played more).

@Ragnarskingdom When I listened to Kiper his take on Kenny W was that he "peaked" in college based on pure effort, but that probably wont take him far in the league... 1.) Do you agree? explain 2) % chance he makes the team?

Clearly there was a reason that the NFL wasn’t as high on Kenny Willekes as draft folks were but PFF had him as the 83rd ranked player. People treat him as if he’s just some unathletic try-hard… that’s not really the case. He ran a 64th percentile 40-yard dash, 84th percentile broad jump (which has been shown to correlate to DE success) and benched 32 reps (88th percentile). His Relative Athletic Score is 7.26 (out of 10).

I think teams look for guys who have freakish length (Willekes has very short arms) and crazy burst. He has bend and strength. The “pure effort” thing is bogus but teams also generally know when someone isn’t great prospect. It’s not like we see seventh-rounders blowing away competition left and right.

So I can’t say I agree with the assessment that he’s all effort but he’s still a bubble guy. Decent shot to make the team though. Worst case he’s on the practice squad and they get more time to figure out if there’s anything there. That means someone like Eddie Yarbrough or Anthony Zettel showed up.

@KrisKUSTRADIO My 10 year HS reunion was this year so let's do a yearbook theme This years rookies: Who is the class clown? Who is the class president? Most likely to succeed? Who is the best athlete? Who does the most volunteer work? Who would be most likely to win in a fight against a bear?

This makes me even happier that I didn’t go to my 10-year high school reunion. Well, let’s give it a whirl.

Class clown: Kenny Willekes seemed to have a pretty good sense of humor on his conference call so I’ll go with him. I’m not going to take this one in a mean direction — until I see them on the field, at least.

Most likely to succeed: Am I being captain obvious going with Justin Jefferson? He just checks off so many boxes with athleticism, hands, smarts, versatility, playmaking skill and has a really good situation for a receiver with a consistently accurate QB and great OC. If I’m picking one late-round pick to succeed, I like a lot of what I saw from Josh Metellus’s Michigan tape.

Who does the most volunteer work: That’s a hard one because NFL players do a TON. Let’s go with KJ Osborn. Captain at Miami despite only playing there for one year as a transfer.

Win a fight with a bear: James Lynch. Easy pick. He is bear-like and played for the Bears.

@WarleyOwl Danztler outperforms Gladney to jump ahead on the depth chart, ending the season (whenever that is) as starting outside CB. How big a surprise would this be?

Pretty big surprise.

One huge difference between Gladney and Dantzler is that Gladney saw way more action in college than Dantzler. He’s far more experienced. Started for three years, played as a freshman and played in a conference where they throw the ball like crazy. Dantzler was only targeted 96 times in three years while Gladney saw 187 throws his way.

You might say that meant teams were avoiding Dantzler and you’d be right but Gladney was great when they threw against him. Do you think teams in the NFL are going to stay away from Dantzler? Nahhh. Odds are that he will need more time to acclimate than Gladney.

@vike_you Two years from now, could we be saying Cam Dantzler is a better corner than Jeff Gladney? I feel like Dantzler has a ton of upside.

Adam Thielen is a superstar and Laquon Treadwell got cut. Anything is possible when it comes to the draft.

I’m as intrigued as anyone with Dantzler. He was the guy opponents didn’t want to target in the SEC, which really says something. He tracked Ja’Marr Chase, which was impressive. My understanding is that he’s a very high IQ player, too. That always plays with Zimmer. Really like the draft pick.

But I don’t see him as a “ton of upside” prospect. I see a guy that’s going to have to make up for physical shortcomings in order to be a good player and would have a low percentage chance of being a great player. He’s a 30th percentile athlete (per Relative Athletic Scores).

To put that in context, Xavier Rhodes was 83rd, Trae Waynes 84th, Terence Newman 97th (!!!), Mackensie Alexander 53rd, Holton Hill 75th, Mike Hughes 77th, Jeff Gladney 62nd.

It’s going to take near perfect technical skill and IQ for Dantzler to become a great player with those numbers. Not impossible but I’d bet on Gladney as the better player.

@PalpatinesRobes If the salary cap is reduced, I would think a lot of veterans will be released, how many rookies make the squad? I would say nine or ten.

No matter what happens with the cap, there’s going to be a lot of rookies on the club. I’ll be doing a 53-man roster next week (eyeball emoji) but preview here the door is open for Jefferson, Gladney, Cleveland, Dantzler, Wonnum, Lynch, Dye, Osborn Metellus, Willekes, Cole and Hinton all make it. Harrison Hand, Blake Brandel and Nate Stanley will have a tougher time based on the depth chart.

If the cap is reduced, the Vikings probably re-work some contracts. Riley Reiff has no leverage to say no, for example.

@BIG_dannn With the additions of Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler does the broncos young offense have the potential to great (top 12) this year or have growing pains instead ?

John Elway can’t draft quarterbacks to save his life but he certainly can pick some exciting receivers. Their group of weapons has the potential to be in the top five if some of these guys click, especially Noah Fant. Already Courtland Sutton is a tremendous receiver and I thought Jeudy was the best in the draft.

If Drew Lock isn’t good with these guys, back to the drawing board. Guess on Drew Lock is that he’s like Ryan Fitzpatrick: A ton of fun to watch the highs but the lows are frustrating even with good talent around him.

@sunstreaker79 Do you expect Zimmer to implement any of Caper’s 3-4 Eagle package?

Eagle package is so football that I want to run through a wall like the Kool Aid guy. Here’s what that looks like (via Matt Bowen’s amazing Football 101 series for Bleacher Report)

I have no idea if they’ll run the Eagle front but isn’t it beautiful?

Everything in the NFL is about situations. If the Vikings think some of these 3-4 fronts will work versus, say, a team that uses a fullback or power running scheme, then they’ll put it in. If they think 3-4 pressures will work on third downs, they’ll use them. They didn’t bring Dom Capers here for nothing.

@vikesfan1930 Matt : what do you think of the Washington Football Team? Which name would you choose if you could be king for a day ? What is one rule or thing you would change ?

I always liked the idea of calling them Washington Football Club because it sounds kind of like something they’d have in the early days of the sport. But if I have to pick a more traditional name, the Red Tails works for me. I’m not clever with these things and all the names like Warriors are just meeehhhh.

I like Pat McAfee’s idea to make holding a 5-yard penalty. I’d put in a sky cam referee. Ban punting when teams cross the 50-yard line maybe?

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