A Brief Minnesota Vikings Viewer’s Guide
K. Joudry
|
Over at The Vikings Gazette, I published a piece where I outlined the three things I’m most interested in watching in today’s game between the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos. As it stands, I’m most interested in:
- How Oli Udoh does in pass protection
- If a young DE can generate pressure
- What Greg Joseph will do with his opportunity
At Vikings Territory, Dustin Baker published a similar piece. Like myself (and probably every Vikings fan, for that matter), Dustin wants to see Udoh and Joseph. He also lists Rashod Hill at LT (someone who I’m high on) and then the K.J. Osborn vs. Dede Westbrook situation at WR3. Allow me to add on to what has already been put down in digital ink.
Fans should be supremely interested in seeing what Osborn can do to help our Minnesota Vikings. So far, Minnesota has lost both Bisi Johnson and Blake Proehl to injury, depleting their receiver depth. Westbrook is still working his way back from injury. Ihmir Smith-Marsette has made some impressive plays on offense, but his coach’s press conferences suggest he has to significantly improve on special teams.
In other words, Osborn is looking more important than ever.
After being chosen 176th to be Minnesota’s returner, Osborn struggled mightily. He didn’t factor into the offense at all as a rookie. Worse yet, he was awful on special teams. His lack of vision and ball security made his 4.48 speed essentially useless.
That being said, Osborn has looked like a different player so far. You’ve got to admire his determination, resilience, and work ethic. Osborn, quite evidently, put in a lot of time refining his game during the offseason. He now finds himself in a position to make a meaningful contribution on the Minnesota Vikings offense.
Any purple fan can tell you about the wisdom of refusing to count chickens before they’re hatched. We’ve been subject to all kinds of preseason hype that never comes to fruition. Fans should therefore be cautious in their optimism.
If Osborn does shine in these preseason games, though, it’ll be hard to convince fans that we haven’t found yet another late-round receiver who really helps our squad.