Dalton Risner visited the Minnesota Vikings on August 1 but left without a contract. Fans pleaded with him to return, and the Vikings signed him on September 19. The fans got their wish, but Risner faced a learning curve. Fortunately, the Vikings run a similar system to the Denver Broncos, and Risner had also previously worked with offensive line coach Chris Kuper and assistant offensive line coach Justin Rascati.
“I know the system really well,” Risner said in mid-October. “It is something that I was familiar with in Denver, with my first three years with Koop, and of course, there’s differences and different names for plays and a lot of different lingo, stuff like that. Getting acquainted with the offensive line. But for me, after two, three weeks, you start to get it down.”
Risner had played four seasons for his hometown Broncos before joining the Vikings. He grew up 65 miles northeast of Denver in Wiggins, Colo., a city of 1,400 off I-76 100 miles from the Kansas border. Risner grew up in a family of five boys playing for his father, Mitch, a disciplinarian, blue-collar coach. Risner grew to appreciate intense coaching, crediting Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, former Denver offensive line coach Mike Munchak, and head coach Vic Fangio for his development.
“I’m hard on myself. I’m used to having coaches like my dad growing up,” says Risner. “So being self-critical is very important.”
Risner has constantly had to balance being self-critical and giving himself the grace to make mistakes. He obsesses over the details. Risner sits next to Rascati in team meetings and constantly asks him about Minnesota’s offense, trying to make up for lost time.
“You can’t play this game at a high level and be not coachable,” he says. “My coaches aren’t scared to talk to me. Coaches here with the Minnesota Vikings aren’t scared to tell me what I need to do better. At the same time, if I have a question about any little thing, I’m a question guy, man. I’m OCD; I’m over the top. I want to know every little detail. I want to know exactly how I’m supposed to do it.”
O’Connell has noticed how detail-oriented Risner was in his Vikings debut last week.
“He was incredibly detailed for a guy that’s really progressing towards getting that opportunity in there, and he’s very physical,” O’Connell said. “You can tell the game makes sense to him when he’s in there. No matter kind of the post-snap movement or kind of the defense, he can adapt and get the job done, regardless of what the circumstances were going into the game like that.”
Risner paced along the sidelines in Soldier Field, staying ready, waiting for his moment. He’d occasionally stretch. Then he’d check the tablets, trying to track the game as closely as possible. Occasionally, Risner would pull Kuper or Rascati aside and ask them for further details. Sometimes, he’d pause and watch the game to understand the flow.
“Stay in tune with the game. Make sure I’m paying attention to what’s going on,” Risner said. “Just trying to get on those Microsoft Surfaces and look at the fronts and ask the guys what they’re doing and get a feel for it. Plus, watch the game. Just watching, you can get a good feel for what’s going on.”
Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said that Risner fit in right away at practice despite joining the Vikings after their Week 2 loss in Philadelphia. “It’s been pretty seamless, really,” he said in early October. “Sometimes you’re kinda focused on different areas depending on what plays you’re calling at practice, and then go back and watch the tape and didn’t realize, really, that Dalton was in there.”
Risner felt prepared to sub in for Ezra Cleveland after the right guard suffered a foot injury in Chicago. He had stayed in shape before the Vikings signed him, grilled the coaching staff for details in meetings, and pored over the tablets on the sideline. But there was nothing like entering the game and hitting someone.
“I felt back from the moment I got out there,” he said. “For me, those ten plays that I had, I felt back right away. And I just had a mentality of gratefulness and thankfulness, like man, I’m on the football field, I got cleats. I’m on the Minnesota Vikings, and I’m out here playing at Soldier Field.
“So I just kinda take it from a grateful standpoint. Things haven’t worked out the way I’ve wanted it to ever since I left Denver and the whole free agency process regardless, but just grateful for where I’m at now.”
Risner will make his first start against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night. He says he doesn’t feel nervous. “This is start 63 of my career,” he said. “So there’s an anticipation, of course. But I’ve been here, I’ve done this. I’ve done this at a high level for four years, so I’m excited for the opportunity. No nerves, man. Let’s go have some fun.”
He’s only been in Minnesota since late September. But it’s like Risner has been here all along.
