After the first round of walkthroughs with the veterans, we’ve seen our first glimpse of the depth chart at training camp, and it may give us clues into what the coaches are thinking, as well as giving us an update on where players stand right now. First, the offense:

I’ve slotted Latavius Murray into the third running back spot despite the fact he didn’t take any reps because that seems like the most appropriate solution to dealing with his temporary injury problems.

Notably, Dalvin Cook isn’t starting at running back quite yet, but he and Jerick McKinnon traded snaps on the first team — so it’s not McKinnon’s job by any means.

Nick Easton is taking the first-team center snaps, and I can’t help but think the issues Elflein has had with bad snaps thus far has given Easton a slight edge. I imagine this will rotate day by day, as it did last year with John Sullivan and Joe Berger.

Receiver depth charts are a bit more difficult to figure out given how often the receivers rotate independent of the rest of the offense, but it seems pretty clear that Laquon Treadwell at this point has the inside track to the third receiver spot — perhaps helped by Michael Floyd’s upcoming suspension, but potentially earned of his own merit.

The Vikings’ lack of tackle depth is obvious here as Willie Beavers, a player who was converted to guard last year, is being placed back at tackle. It could also be the case that the Vikings have eight candidates for guard and only five candidates for tackle and that this was the best way to resolve that problem. Either way, it’s not great news.

Taylor Heinicke outplayed Case Keenum in rookie camp, so hopefully he’ll end up supplanting Keenum as the second quarterback.

One last note: Stacy Coley, despite being injured throughout much of OTAs, is firmly ahead of Rodney Adams on the receiver depth chart. Depending on how things go in special teams play, this is a pretty intriguing development.

With Tom Johnson starting at the three-technique position, it seems likely that none of the potential replacements have really established themselves as clear every-down linemen. Johnson will probably only play 40 percent of the snaps (if that), so seeing if Datone Jones, Will Sutton or even Jaleel Johnson can take that spot will be critical. At the moment, it seems to be Jones in the best spot to compete for the position.

The weakside linebacker spot is up for competition too, and I had hoped that by now Edmond Robinson would have secured the spot from Emmanuel Lamur. If there isn’t much rotation here for the next week, it may be Lamur’s spot to lose. Ben Gedeon is still behind Kentrell Brothers and it should be instructive to see whether or not he can compete for the backup middle linebacker spot.

As expected, Trae Waynes and Andrew Sendejo are beginning camp as the starters, and that likely will not change. Terence Newman took very few reps, but it’s safe to assume he’s the primary backup corner for all three cornerback spots. It seems as if Mackensie Alexander has solidified his hold on the nickel corner spot.

Antone Exum has played nickel corner and safety on different reps, and I split some differences to figure out where on the depth chart either appearance puts him at. Marcus Sherels is likely higher on an in-game depth chart than he is here, but like Newman, did not take many reps at all.

We also have some special teams depth charts, courtesy of Daniel House at Vikings Corner.

Taylor Symmank and Ryan Quigley traded off every other punt, but Symmank went first.

Adams as one of the primary gunners is great news for his potential spot on the roster, and if he’s competing for a fifth receiver spot instead of a sixth receiver spot, this kind of exposure will be critical to his long-term prospects.

Sherels is the primary punt returner, but after him are players whose ability to provide depth as a returner could be critical to their ability to make the team. In this case, Adams took punt return reps before Coley, though I doubt that will continue to be the case going forward given how much he has struggled catching punts.

The fact that there aren’t many bubble players competing as jammers is disappointing, and it means that someone might be missing out on a critical opportunity if they can earn it.

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Arif Hasan

Arif Hasan has written for sites all across the internet and his work has been featured in the Athletic, Pro Football Network, Star Tribune, LA Times, Forbes, SB Nation, the Bleacher Report and MSNBC. He currently also writes for the Wide Left Substack. You can find him on twitter at @ArifHasanNFL.

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