Purple Headlines of the Week: Dalton Risner Hubbub, Roster Moves, James Lynch Out for the Season
The Minnesota Vikings concluded their second week of training camp on Sunday, and this week, we learned a lot about this team.
In particular, this week featured a number of roster moves to hopefully create more competition throughout the rest of camp. Here are all the purple headlines to know heading into the third week of camp.
Dalton Risner Visits Vikings
One of the big happenings in Eagan this week involved free agent guard Dalton Risner. The former Denver Bronco visited the Vikings this week, and according to head coach Kevin O’Connell the visit went very well.
If the Vikings were to decide to bring Risner to the team, it would be a signing that goes against the grain of many Vikings guards in recent history. He is very proficient in pass protection whereas players like Garrett Bradbury, Ezra Cleveland, and Ed Ingram have been better as run-blockers.
Throughout his career with the Broncos, the four-year veteran has been strong in pass protection with PFF grading him at 73.6 in 2021 and 72.6 in 2022 for Denver. Last season, he allowed just 29 pressures in 598 pass-blocking snaps.
With the league continuing to trend pass-heavy, this would be a key addition to the offense, especially since Kirk Cousins is entering his age-35 season. A year ago, he was hit a career-high 84 times. This number must go down not only to ensure an efficient offense but also to keep Cousins healthy and on the field.
No such signing has happened yet, but this is certainly something to keep an eye on throughout camp.
Vikings Make Multiple Roster Moves
While the Vikings didn’t bring in Risner, they did make multiple moves on the offensive line this week. Here’s a look at a few of the notable moves made by Minnesota over the past few days:
- Signing Christian DiLauro
- Waiving Sam Schlueter
- Signing Jarrid Williams, waiving Bobby Evans
- Signing RB Abram Smith
- Waiving FB Zach Ojile
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah stated at the beginning of training camp that he was excited to get a chance to learn more about his team throughout camp. Apparently, that learning process has revealed some things about the Vikings offensive line competition. It will be interesting to see if the Vikings continue to make more moves in this department, including potentially bringing in Risner.
James Lynch Tears ACL
The Vikings got some very unfortunate injury news this week. DT James Lynch tore his ACL during Thursday night’s practice, and he will be out for the entirety of the 2023 season.
Lynch has been a rotational piece on the Vikings defensive line over his first three NFL seasons, taking on over 270 defensive snaps in both 2021 and 2022 for Minnesota. The expectation was that he’d be in the thick of Minnesota’s battle for a spot on the defensive line this year, but obviously, that possibility is out the window with his injury. He started two games for the Vikings last season.
Unless Minnesota decides to add another player, it seems that the Vikings will be relying on either Jonathan Bullard, Ross Blacklock, or Khyiris Tonga to take a starting spot next to Dean Lowry and Harrison Phillips.
In Case You Missed It…
As usual we have a list of extra headlines for the particularly studious Vikings fans. Here are some of the other headlines that may have been missed throughout the week. Happy reading!
- Vikings Corner Responds to Praise
- Remembering Korey Stringer, 22 Years Later
- The Overlooked Impact of Byron Murphy
- The Road to 53: DT Calvin Avery Is a Behemoth
- Kirk Cousins Identifies the “Curve Ball” of Vikings Training Camp
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.