By Matthew Coller
On Saturday afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings will be playing a football game for the first time since January. When they face the Denver Broncos in Downtown Minneapolis, we’ll get our first look in game action at the lineup and a number of key position battles that have played out over the last two weeks of camp.
Which of the storylines from Saturday’s game matter and which are overrated?
Will the 1s look good?
Prior to Kirk Cousins’s COVID-list absence, the Vikings’ first-team offense looked like it was going to put on a show for fans at TCO Performance Center on a daily basis. But missing their starting quarterback for a week and then seeing Justin Jefferson go down with a sprained AC joint seemed to throw the starters for a loop. They struggled to get back on track in Cousins’s first few days back and then had a tough time moving the ball against the Broncos’s starting defense in two days of practice.
Assuming Cousins plays, we can safely assume that fans would be happier if they were able to cheer a touchdown drive or two but preseason action is so meaningless for first-teamers that many teams aren’t even playing their key players in the preseason anymore. There’s no correlation between preseason and regular season performance for the Vikings in recent years. In 2018, Cousins led a marvelous first preseason drive in Denver and the season ultimately stalled because of offensive struggles. In 2019, Cousins said he’d get benched if the team played in the regular season like they did against Arizona in the preseason. He went on to have a career year. No matter how much the 1s play and no matter how they play, it won’t tell you anything about what’s going to happen in 2021.
Verdict: Overrated
Jake Browning, all-time QB
The emergence of Jake Browning as the Vikings’ backup has been one of the top stories of camp. After being relatively unknown for his first two years, Browning suddenly got his chance to work with the stars when Cousins went on the COVID list. His teammates celebrated a strong Saturday Night practice and then continued to at least work effectively around him during Cousins’s time away. Against Denver in practice, he led a “game-winning” drive that was capped by a touchdown to Ihmir Smith-Marsette. It was the most energy we saw from the team in practice all week.
Mike Zimmer has been very complimentary of Browning — and not just because he’s vaccinated. He said on Thursday that Browning has earned the respect of his teammates.
“I was really impressed with him in the 2-minute drill here that he did,” Zimmer said. “He’s been impressive when Kirk was out. He’s just a get-it-done guy, a leader, players fight for him.”
We’ve seen that there’s no such thing as “coach speak” from Zimmer during this year’s camp, so it’s worth watching Browning closely as he gets a chance to play a lot during these preseason games. With Kellen Mond unlikely to play as he continues to recover from COVID and Nate Stanley hurt, Browning could end up playing most of the game.
While it might not matter what Cousins does in preseason games, a strong showing from Browning would give confidence to the idea that he could provide Case Keenum-like backup play if called upon during the regular season. And with at least some weekly uncertainty surrounding Cousins’s availability, that could be important.
Verdict: Underrated
The receiver battle takes the next step
The competition for WR3 has been mostly cleared up by injuries. With Bisi Johnson out for the year after tearing his ACL, Blake Proehl severely injuring his leg, Dede Westbrook still recovering from ACL surgery last year and Justin Jefferson missing practices, KJ Osborn, Chad Beebe and Ihmir Smith-Marsette have become the clear-cut depth receivers. The competition that we expected to be fierce never happened.
That doesn’t mean the receiving group isn’t worth watching though. Osborn and Smith-Marsette have a chance to unseat Beebe as Next Man Up if they put on a show during the preseason. And that might matter. Any of these three jockeying for positing could end up being called upon if Jefferson isn’t 100% to start the season and Westbrook isn’t ready to return.
Verdict: Underrated
How does the offensive line look?
The one constant of the Mike Zimmer era in Minnesota is that offensive line shuffling is a big story during training camp. The projected starting line has Rashod Hill and Oli Udoh as new starters (or at least it appears based on the unofficial depth chart that Udoh will start Saturday’s over Dakota Dozier) and Ezra Cleveland switching positions from right to left guard. We could see Udoh get a lot of work as the team attempts to assess whether he’s ready to lock down the right guard role.
Aside from that, we won’t get many other answers from watching the offensive line closely. Without Christian Darrisaw playing, the only other point of intrigue is rookie Wyatt Davis, who has been relegated to the third team recently. With only two right guards being of interest for Saturday afternoon, this isn’t one of the more compelling position groups despite being the center of interest in camp.
Verdict: Overrated
Who’s kicking?
Well, Greg Joseph. Earlier this week Zimmer said that Joseph would be the only one kicking, meaning that UDFA Riley Patterson will have to wait for his chance. Joseph’s fate as Vikings kicker will be determined by whether he makes his preseason kicks. There isn’t much more to it.
Verdict: Overrated
Linebacker positions for rent
Both Mike and Adam Zimmer had messages for the depth linebackers this week. Mike said they have to “pick it up” and Adam said the “train’s leaving the station.” That type of attention being put on the depth linebackers makes the usage and performance very interesting. The battle largely exists between last year’s fourth-round pick Troy Dye, 2019 fifth-rounder Cam Smith, rookie Chazz Surratt, Blake Lynch and Ryan Connelly.
It would be surprising if Anthony Barr played considering he’s been given off days of practice in recent weeks, so we should have pretty much the entire game to see everyone else. The reason this year’s linebacker competition is more interesting than years past is that Eric Wilson signed elsewhere. He might have been the NFL’s best backup linebacker for three years. Now it feels a lot more like flying without a parachute at that position.
Verdict: Underrated
The depth corner and safety shuffle
The starting five are set in the secondary with Patrick Peterson, Bashaud Breeland and Mackensie Alexander at corner and Harrison Smith and Xavier Woods at safety. Behind the first team, there’s a lot to watch. Rookie Cam Bynum, who is moving from playing corner in college to safety with the Vikings, has spent the majority of camp with the second team. Myles Dorn, Josh Metellus and Luther Kirk might be fighting for one job.
Harrison Hand, second-year corner, has put himself in position to win a job in a crowded room. Kris Boyd may be playing for his Viking career. Dylan Mabin, Amari Henderson, Parry Nickerson and Tye Smith are pushing for jobs.
The Vikings’ depth at corner was abused in 2020. They’ll be looking for signs of life when the current crop goes against receivers that they haven’t been practicing against for weeks. The Broncos specifically have a deep group of talented players to challenge the Vikings’ DBs.
Verdict: Underrated
The unproven defensive linemen
On Saturday we can expect to see a lot of the younger players along the defensive line. Rookies Janarius Robinson and Patrick Jones should see a good number of snaps and players like Kenny Willekes and James Lynch have an opportunity to show they belong in Year 2. There’s also veterans Jalyn Holmes and Hercules Mata’afa fighting for roster spots.
While these are worth tracking throughout the offseason, if they end up being needed too much in the regular season, things will have gone sideways.
Verdict: Overrated
Fans will be back
The Vikings were without fans last season, leaving them to play in an echoy, lifeless stadium. This will be their first time seeing fans since Week 16 of 2019 against the Green Bay Packers. US Bank Stadium offers one of the best home field advantages in the NFL but it’ll take some getting used to for the players who haven’t been in a loud environment in awhile.
Verdict: Underrated
Support the businesses that support Purple Insider by clicking below to check out Sotastick’s Minnesota sports inspired merchandise:
Great article Mathew