NFL
By: Steve Rogers
August has finally arrived, which means training camps and preseason football are here again. A lot has changed to the Minnesota Vikings over the offseason. With things seemingly growing stale with head coach Mike Zimmer, it was time for a change. So, that’s exactly what the Vikings did they fired Zimmer and GM Rick Spielman. Thus began the non-roster overhaul of the franchise. It began with the search for a new G.M. The process led them to hire Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to become a first-time G.M. After an extensive head coaching search, the Vikings hired Kevin O’Connell. O’Connell will also be taking the role for the first time. Prior to taking over as head coach, he won the Super Bowl with the L.A. Rams as their offensive coordinator. The coaching changes weren’t done there as Zimmer is a defensive-minded head coach and his son Adam Zimmer was a co-defensive coordinator. With wholesale changes across all facets of the coaching system, the key new coaches are offensive coordinator Wes Phillips and the defensive coordinator is now Ed Donatell. In fact, the only coach to remain on the M.N. staff is wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell. Just how different will the Purple and Gold look this year going from a defensive-minded philosophy to a new school with not only offense first but a pass-heavy modern offense? Well, at first glance, not very much, as most of the roster will remain the same. Especially on the offensive side of the ball.
OFFENSE
Starting at the most important position in all of football, Quarterback, where for the fifth year now in Mn, will be Kirk Cousins. Cousins will be looking to put together his best season as a pro and Viking. If chemistry among teammates is considered a key to championship teams, the same can be said for familiarity between players and coaches. O’Connell was previously Cousins QB’s coach when they were both in Washington. Cousins has kind of a tale of two sides. On one side, you have almost eye-popping numbers on paper, and then on the other, you have a Q.B. who doesn’t entirely pass the eye test, meaning he is known for not playing well during primetime and/or “Big” games. He will have plenty of opportunities to work on that this year—week one at home against the Green Bay Packers. Then week two on Monday Night Football on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles. Week ten has them on the road facing the betting favorite to win the Super Bowl Buffalo Bills. Week 12 is a primetime game at home on Thanksgiving against the New England Patriots. Week 16 is a Christmas Eve matchup at home against the New York Giants. The following week is on the road on New Year’s day where they face the Packers in Lambeau Field. It looks as though Kellen Mond will be the backup Q.B. this year.
At running back for the Vikings will, as no surprise, be star Dalvin Cook. Cook is coming into this season in some of the best shape of his life, not just physically but mentally too. During the off-season, Cook had the opportunity to change his jersey number from 33 to four. Why is a number change such a big deal? Because the number four runs in the family as it was Cook’s older brother’s jersey number. So Cook wanted to be like his brother and started playing football too, wearing, you guessed it, number four. Cook wore the number thru college until the Mn Vikings drafted him. To have arguably the team’s best player in the best space mentally and physically heading into the season is possibly the best news for Vikings fans, not so much for opposing defenses. Now the number two R.B. is still Alexander Mattison, who is also making a jersey number change from 25 to 2. The Vikings are likely to carry four R.B.s on the 53 as Rb Kene Nwangwu emerged as the punt returner last year and will likely see a few snaps on offense as a change of pace back. Fifth-round draft pick Ty Chandler also looks to be getting one of the 53 roster spots.
Staying with the skill positions, here’s a look at who will be filling out the Wide Receiver depth chart in 2022. The Vikings are looking strong at wideout this year. Starting with long-time veteran and All-Pro Adam Thielen. He enters the season on the verge of several career marks. He is just one T.D. away from the 50 club, four first downs away from 300, 36 receptions away from 500, and 34 yards away from 6,000 yards. What a great story a local kid undrafted gets signed and plays his way to the Pro-Bowl, and played in the NFC Championship game. Now entering his ninth year, the savvy vet understands being the number two receiver with Super-star Justin Jefferson clearly taking the reigns as the top wideout. After a solid 2021, K.J. Osborn came into training camp needing to prove himself in a crowded W.R. room to claim the number three W.R. spot. So far, he has looked so good there no longer is a competition. Olabisi Johnson is trying to come back from an ACL injury from last year. Also in the mix is Ihmir-Smith Marsette, but he will likely be the number four W.R. Up next is Dan Chisena, in his third year and could be pushing for more than a special teams roll this year. Lastly will be rookie Jalen Nailor. Nailor is six feet tall and weighs 190lbs. he is 23 coming out of Michigan State drafted in the sixth round, he’ll have to work his way up a crowded and highly talented W.R. room. C.J. Ham is back again at full-back. Moving right along on the offense we have the offensive line. At left tackle will be Cristian Darrisaw who is drawing comparisons to Trent Williams, Ezra Cleveland at left guard, at center is Garrett Bradbury, Jesse Davis at right guard, and at right tackle Brian O’Neill. The rookie second-round draft pick Ed Ingram has been backing up Davis.
DEFENSE
Now here’s what’s new in the new three-four base defense the Vikings will be running this year. With that probably the biggest change is actually in house. Moving defensive end Danielle Hunter to now playing outside linebacker. Pair him up with new free agent signing and already one of the best outside linebackers in the league Za’Darius Smith. It’s always interesting when players defect across the border. Maybe it’s the “Brett Effect”? Returning for his eighth season after being named an All-Pro last year at middle linebacker Eric Kendricks. Jordan Hicks has been brought in to play inside linebacker with Kendricks. Rookie third-round draft pick Brian Asamoah looks to be a solid backup/ LB depth. On the defensive line returning from last year are Dalvin Tomlinson and Armon Watts. In an effort to keep fresh legs on the field the Vikings acquired James Lynch, Harrison Phillips, Jonathan Bullard, T.Y. McGill, T.J. Smith, and Jaylen Twyman. Then there’s the fifth-round pick from the University of Minnesota Esezi Otomewo who has been raising some eyebrows around camp, and could push for a spot on the roster.
Now the biggest question mark on the roster is the cornerbacks. Patrick Peterson is the gold standard at cornerback. Fellow returning veteran is Cameron Dantzler, and apparently finally out of Mike Zimmer’s dog house. Dantzler is being called the “Secret Superstar” on this defense. Another Green Bay cross-over to watch out for is Chandon Sullivan who is best in the slot and most likely where you’ll see him here. Along with Peterson and Dantzler returning from last year are Harrison Hand and Kris Boyd. With the secondary, the first priority in the draft the Vikings double dipped on quality corners in Andrew Booth Jr. and Akayleb Evans. This might be the biggest swing from one year to the next, at least from a talent and depth perspective.
Here we are the last line of defense the safeties. At strong safety Harrison “Harry The Hittman” Smith. Smith has been so good for so long that the conversations are starting about whether the halls of Canton are going to call his name soon. Mike Brown will be his backup. Free safety is where the Vikings spent their first-round pick this year and got Lewis Cine. Cine has stepped in and is already settling in alongside Smith as the starters. Camryn Bynum will be his backup.
Lastly the special teams unit. handling the kicking duties will again be Greg Joseph. The Punter will be Jordan Berry. The long snapper will be Andrew DePaola. Back again to return kickoffs is the running back Kene Nwangwu. He’ll be looking to build on his exceptional rookie season where he earned All-Pro status as a kick returner. It looks as though K.J. Osborn is going to be the punt returner.
PREDICTION
Even with entirely new management and coaching staff this doesn’t feel like a rebuild, more like a redo or reset. With a great deal of the players on both sides of the ball returning, this feels like maybe the start of something special. The right moves and changes in coaching and scheming combined with the already existing player chemistry and talent might just be catching lightning in a bottle. The Vikings have quietly put together a solid team across the board. Really from top to bottom there really are very few weaknesses on this team. Combine that with the fact that no one knows exactly what they will be running on offense or defense. Which has me surprised why more experts aren’t recognizing the perfect storm of NFL conditions brewing in Minnesota. This offense might be able to put up points in bunches in such a way that even the best show on turf might get dizzy. Along with a strong enough defense to not be in many one-score games. A double-digit win total is well within reach, maybe even the division. I see a record of 12-5. Keep checking in here for all the latest in Viking country. Stay fresh with all your Vikings gear here.
