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There was a scenario in play during draft weekend where the Vikings traded for one of the best tackles of the 2010s, albeit a disgruntled one who turned 32 before the season.
Yes, the Vikings were key players in the Trent Williams sweepstakes, and after many of Williams’ biggest suitors drafted a tackle in Round 1 it seemed preordained that the Vikings would nab Williams on Friday or Saturday at value, setting them up with at least a one-year upgrade at left tackle that potentially kicked Riley Reiff inside to guard.
It was hard to tell who the real villain was in the Williams vs. Washington standoff: An organization with a habit of upsetting its star players, or a tackle that held out for a year and may have been grossly overestimating his future value. After Minnesota and Washington ostensibly went back and forth, the trade discussions ground to a halt as Boise State’s Ezra Cleveland fell into the Vikings’ lap Friday evening. After a run on tackles in Round 1 that saw five go off the board in the first 18 picks, the Vikings watched 25 players get selected in Round 2 without a single tackle being picked. Cleveland, a 21-year-old pass protector, suddenly seemed more appealing than the uncertainty — and price — of Williams.
“I won’t go into things we discussed,” general manager Rick Spielman said of the trade talks. “I won’t get into thinking, but I knew once we start seeing that Ezra Cleveland was going to fall to us, we got a young, talented offensive tackle that we’re going to have under contract for the next four years.”
For now, the Vikings will roll with Reiff until they find out what they have in Cleveland — much like they did with their last second-round tackle Brian O’Neill in 2018. Cleveland has already drawn comparisons to O’Neill, who took the starting job midway through 2018, then transformed into the team’s best offensive lineman in his second season. The two possess athletic builds that make them ideal fits for Minnesota’s wide zone scheme that emphasizes mobility. Spielman made it known last season that the Vikings have one of the lightest offensive lines in the NFL, and Cleveland at 310 pounds would continue that trend if he slots in for Reiff down the road.
Cleveland recorded the best 3-cone and shuttle times of all linemen at the NFL Combine in February, the third-best 40-yard dash time (4.93) and the fifth-most bench reps.
“At Boise, we’re a big zone offense, as well,” Cleveland told reporters. “We do inside zone first, then power, then mid-zone. A bunch of our plays are the zone scheme that you’re talking, and having this offseason where we don’t know what’s going to happen, I think it’s a huge benefit for me to be coming from a zone-type scheme and going right back into one.”
Minnesota had a beat on Cleveland in 2018 when they scouted running back Alexander Mattison, their 2019 third-round pick, against Fresno State. Mattison ran 30 times for 144 yards and two touchdowns that game with Cleveland often paving the way as his left tackle.
Cleveland and Mattison formed a close friendship in their time with the Broncos, bonded by the kinship of their close connection on the offense. Mattison says he and Cleveland are a good pairing off the field because they like to be “goofballs.” But Mattison has a different word for Cleveland on the field: Monster.
“‘He’s extremely smart, he’s extremely talented,” Mattison said Friday night. “If you look at his build, it speaks for itself, and even more than that, he lives up to it. He’s extremely athletic, extremely strong and extremely smart. I think it just comes together very well, and overall, he’s one of those guys that’s just going to get after it. If I had one word to tag on it, it’d probably be ‘monster.'”
Cleveland and Mattison were also high school wrestlers, a quality also shared by Vikings guard Pat Elflein and defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson. Cleveland was a multi-sport athlete in high school, playing baseball in the spring and, of course, football in the fall. He played on the defensive line at his Spanaway, Wash., high school before switching to the offensive side as a freshman at Boise State.
“I came into Boise as a freshman, switched over to offensive line, and once I finally got my kick step and stuff in, this guy’s like, ‘Whoa, I think he’s going to be the next Joe Thomas,’” Cleveland said. “I had never really heard of the guy, so I looked him up and started watching his film. I watched him, David Bakhtiari and all those guys and tried to implement what they do in their pass game and their run game and everything like that into the type of play style that I want to have.”
In nearly 3,000 snaps over the previous three seasons, Cleveland allowed 11 total sacks and less than 20 pressures each season, per Pro Football Focus. In his final five college games, after dealing with an early-season turf toe injury, Cleveland permitted only two pressures as he finished his redshirt junior year with a flourish, enough to push him toward the NFL Draft with one year left of eligibility.
Cleveland will need to add strength as he enters the NFL trenches — a significant step up in class from the Mountain West. But his athleticism, college scheme and personality make him a clear cultural fit with the Vikings, where he’ll be blocking for Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook and his buddy Mattison.
“At Boise, we had a creed above our door that we’d slap every time,” said Cleveland. “It said we do this job even though it’s dirty, and we don’t get the recognition. I always say we do the dirty work so they can shine. I’d say I fit into that introvert offensive line type of profile.”
Check back at Zone Coverage in the coming days for closer looks at other Minnesota Vikings draft picks.
