It took until Aug. 14, but reporters were finally allowed a glimpse at the tentative Minnesota Vikings depth chart as they took the field for their first full-team, mostly-full-speed practice.
The big questions coming in were: Who would start at guard? Who would start at corner? And who would start at defensive tackle after the opt-out of Michael Pierce? Two of those answers were muddled by possible injuries that kept two key players out of practice. Rookie CB Jeff Gladney, presumed to be in the mix as a starter, and DT Shamar Stephen, who is likely locked in as a starter at one of the two tackle spots, did not participate Friday.
All the guards were healthy, however, and the Vikings rolled out on a first-team look of Dakota Dozier at left guard and Pat Elflein at right guard. That represents another potential change for Elflein, who struggled at left guard last year. Ezra Cleveland took second-team snaps at left guard, and Dru Samia took second-team snaps at right guard. Both have been thought to be in the mix for starting jobs.
The Vikings did plenty of rotating later in practice, including moving Aviante Collins from third-team left guard up to the first team for a handful of reps, and Zimmer told reporters earlier in the day that the team wouldn’t settle on any decisions until they’d seen the players in pads for a few days. Monday is the first padded practice and can be watched live locally on FOX 9.
“After a few days we’re going to settle in and start getting going with where we’re at,” Zimmer said. “But some of the backups have to play both sides anyway, so they’re going to have to be traveling to different spots. But we’re going to try to make a quick decision with some of these offensive linemen. Probably after three days in pads or something like that.”
At corners the Vikings went with the expected pairing of Mike Hughes and Holton Hill on the outside. With Gladney out, Cameron Dantzler stepped in as third corner in nickel packages with Hughes moving inside, which relegated second-year man Kris Boyd to the second team. It’s unknown where Gladney will fit in once he returns.
The defensive lines seemed to rotate more than any position, and understandably so. Without much established depth, the Vikings are going to look at as many permutations as possible. Friday’s practice started with Jaleel Johnson and Armon Watts (NT) taking defensive tackle reps with Stephen absent. Hercules Mata’afa also worked his way into the top unit. Notably, DT Jalyn Holmes — a former defensive end in college — took reps at his old position with the second team. And in a mild surprise, he was joined by Eddie Yarbrough on several occasions as the right defensive end. Veteran DE Anthony Zettel stayed on the field with the third-team for much of practice.
Here are some other depth chart nuggets after Day 1 of practice, all of which could change when the Vikings retake the field on Sunday:
- Bisi Johnson was the preferred WR2 opposite Adam Thielen and made a pair of contested leaping grabs during 1-on-1 work. Chad Beebe worked from the slot in three-receiver packages, while first-round pick Justin Jefferson got most of his reps with the second team.
- Rookie Josh Metellus got lots of work with the second team at safety. The team also claimed safety Steven Parker off waivers from Miami for additional depth.
- Brett Jones took a handful of reps as the first-team center, though Garrett Bradbury‘s job is not expected to be in any danger.
- Dalvin Cook appeared to be full-go at practice despite his lack of a new contract. Cook told reporters earlier in the day that he had no plans to hold out and isn’t worried about the potential risk of playing in Week 1 without a deal in hand. “I’ve been playing football since I was four years old,” he said. “It’s a game that I love. I never let me getting into the business side change how I look at the game. I’m going to go out there and play football, and whatever comes from it, I’m going to live with the results.”
