Vikings OTAs Begin This Week
Josh Frey
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The NFL offseason is all about reaching certain milestones that bring us closer to the beginning of a new year of football. On Monday, the Minnesota Vikings will reach another of those milestones as they begin their 2023 OTAs.
This is just the latest step on Minnesota’s journey towards trying to replicate, as well as exceed, the amount of success that they enjoyed during Kevin O’Connell’s first season as a head coach. In 2022, the Vikings shocked many by going 13-4 and claiming their first NFC North crown since the 2017 season.
This offseason, Minnesota went through a number of changes, both on the roster as well as the coaching staff. They once again have a new defensive coordinator in Brian Flores, who will hope to try and lead the Vikings defense out of the doldrums that they’ve suffered throughout the past three seasons.
Additionally, the team cut ties with longtime starters Eric Kendricks and Adam Thielen while allowing multiple other veterans to leave in free agency such as Patrick Peterson and Dalvin Tomlinson.
The assumption following these events is that the young Vikings will play a much larger role on the team in 2023, particularly defensively, like LB Brian Asamoah, CBs Andrew Booth and Akayleb Evans, and S Lewis Cine. First-round pick Jordan Addison should get many of Thielen’s targets on the offense as well.
In all, the Vikings have nine practices scheduled for their OTA period this year: May 22-23, May 25, May 30-31, June 2, June 5-6, and June 8. These practices will begin to shed some light on how much we can expect from all these young players in 2023.
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.