An Update on the Vikings Position Battles
Josh Frey
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The Minnesota Vikings have now played two preseason games, and while it hasn’t exactly been pretty football, some answers have surfaced regarding the team’s position battles. Some of these battles could flip-flop depending on performances against the Chiefs this Friday, but the picture is becoming clearer. Following week two of the preseason, it’s time to discuss where things stand at this moment.
Quarterback
The Vikings QB1 will of course be Kirk Cousins. However, I’m sure Vikings fans were hoping it wouldn’t be quite as obvious as it is right now. Both Jake Browning and Kellen Mond have had some major struggles this preseason.
Browning specifically has been extremely indecisive with the ball and has run himself into multiple sacks. When he hasn’t been sacked, some of his throws have been severely off-target. He had two such passes to Ihmir Smith-Marsette this week; one of which occurred on a slant where the rookie receiver was wide open.
Mond has not been very decisive either, but he at least has more capabilities as a scrambler than Browning. Ultimately, he may be walking backwards into a QB2 spot, but there have been some supremely impressive throws along the way.
Mond’s best throw of the day unfortunately did not count, but we can still talk about it. It came with 12 seconds left in the third quarter, and as the Colts blitzed, Mond took a massive hit from behind while still connecting with Ihmir Smith-Marsette in coverage. He undoubtedly has talent in his repertoire; we just need to see more confidence this Friday.
Right Guard
After an underwhelming, injury-hindered training camp, Wyatt Davis has had himself quite a preseason to this point. It got off to a bit of a rocky start with his first couple drives against Denver; however, since then the third-round selection has really shown flashes of greatness.
His skills in pass blocking have been even more evident considering he’s immediately succeeded Dakota Dozier in each of the first two games. There is still some work to be done with some of his techniques, though. His pad level is often too high on his blocks, and while he was often able to simply overpower collegiate defensive lines, this will not be the case in the NFL.
Davis seems to have solidified himself in the RG2 spot, but it seems quite unlikely that he can catch this year’s training camp sensation, Oli Udoh, for the RG1 spot. Udoh was a sixth-round pick in the 2020 draft who got off to a sprint during camp and hasn’t let up.
After sitting out the first preseason game, Udoh started this past Saturday and didn’t allow any pressures in pass protection. Udoh has thrived in both the pass and the run game, and he can keep up with just about anyone coming off of the line of scrimmage. Taking into account Davis’ slow build up, it seems like Udoh will be the starting right guard at Cincinnati for week one.
Wide Receiver
Obviously, the Vikings have yet to see Dede Westbrook play in either preseason game. The recent signee’s presence will certainly have an impact on how this battle shakes out. The potential candidates for WR3 and WR4 have had standout performances too—for both good and bad reasons.
To start, the rookie Ihmir Smith-Marsette had a very disappointing preseason opener in which he dropped two routine passes on slant routes. The second week saw his only reception brought back due to a holding penalty. His other two targets were uncatchable balls from Jake Browning.
Both K.J. Osborne and Chad Beebe have had very nice moments this preseason. Osborne has been a bit of a let down early on in his career, but he has caught all four of his targets this preseason for 42 yards. Beebe was the WR3 last season, but it was clear that the Vikings will need to find him some help, hence the Westbrook signing.
That said, Beebe has been good this preseason, and he had a great performance this Saturday, hauling in two passes for 47 yards. The veteran showed how fluidly he can run routes and was able to escape from coverage twice down the stretch of the first half.
Right End
With Monday’s announcement of Everson Griffen likely returning to the Vikings, right end may have just become even more wide open. Of course, the likely scenario is that the DE spot opposite of Danielle Hunter will operate by committee.
All of Stephen Weatherly, D.J. Wonnum, and Patrick Jones II have had their moments, but none have been able to clearly put themselves atop the list. Jones did not play in this most recent game, but he did have one of the few defensive highlights from week one against Denver. Vikings fans have probably watched this clip on Twitter about 50 times since it happened, but here it is again for your viewing pleasure:
Wonnum does not have quite as flashy a play as this, but he has been much more consistent. Obviously, they have an extra game on Jones, but Jones also had a few missed tackles in the first game that need to be fixed. Wonnum had a bit of a sloppy first game, though like much of the Vikings defense, he bounced back nicely in week two. His game got off to a quick start with a run stop on Minnesota’s first defensive drive.
The addition of Griffen is welcomed as will be another veteran presence at right end who also has plenty of experience in Mike Zimmer’s defense. The 33-year-old was a four-time Pro Bowler for the Vikings in his first 10-year stint with the team from 2010-19 and should feast on third down opportunities.
Cornerback
The cornerback position was not one that many expected to be highly debated, but there may be multiple battles going on here. Most glaringly is the one between Kris Boyd and Cameron Dantzler.
Many figured Dantzler would start opposite of Patrick Peterson after a strong finish to his rookie campaign, but this has been a preseason of horrors for the young corner. As a result, all of Dantzler’s snaps came with the third team this week while Boyd notably got the start across from Bashaud Breeland.
Boyd had a couple miscues in week two, specifically missing tackles, but he made a strong opening argument in week one guarding Jerry Jeudy. The most promising thing to me is that Boyd just feels like he’s playing much looser than Dantzler right now. He’s having fun, and his fun is translating into success.
Not to be overlooked, Breeland had himself a great opener this weekend for the Vikings. He was extremely physical in coverage, and this physicality resulted in a tipped pass that led to Troy Dye’s pick six in the first quarter. Peterson has not seen any snaps yet this preseason, but Breeland is certainly doing his best to make a CB1 choice difficult.
Kicker
For better or worse, it appears that Greg Joseph is the kicker for the Vikings. He performed well enough against Denver to force Minnesota to cut his competitor, Riley Patterson.
Right on cue though, Joseph missed a 51-yard kick this past week that ended up being the difference in the game. He redeemed himself a bit by hitting a 49-yard field goal later in the game, but Vikings fans will surely be uneasy going into his first few attempts of the regular season.
Kick/Punt Returner
This past week, Ihmir Smith-Marsette took the lead for the top return man. He had two explosive returns against the Colts, weaving his way for a 41-yard kick return and 17-yard punt return on Saturday.
The battle is presumably between Ameer Abdullah, K.J. Osborne, and Smith-Marsette, all of whom took punt returns against Indy. However, neither Abdullah nor Osborne were able to do as much as ISM. Abdullah returned two punts for two yards, and Osborne danced around a few tacklers before ultimately gaining just four yards on his sole return of the day.