The Vikings Will Shake Up Their Offensive Line in Week 7
During Minnesota’s Week 6 victory over the Chicago Bears, they had a couple starters go down with injuries.
Of course, OLB Marcus Davenport left the game with his high ankle sprain which promptly landed him on IR. LG Ezra Cleveland also left the game with a foot injury and was replaced by Dalton Risner.
Since Cleveland’s injury, he has not practiced throughout this week prior to Minnesota’s Monday night game against the San Francisco 49ers. On Saturday, it became official that the Vikings will shake up their offensive line once again as Risner will start in Cleveland’s place.
The Vikings Will Shake Up Their Offensive Line in Week 7
The Vikings released their final injury report of the week on Saturday, and it looked like this:
- LG Ezra Cleveland (Foot, DNP)
- CB Akayleb Evans (Oblique, Limited)
- OLB Pat Jones (Shoulder, Full)
- WR Jalen Nailor (Hamstring, Limited)
With Cleveland unable to practice throughout the week, the Vikings have listed him as out for Monday night while both Evans and Nailor are questionable with their injuries.
Cleveland has been putting a career season together in Minnesota to begin 2023 and currently is the 6th-highest graded guard in the NFL by Pro Football Focus among players with at least 50% of offensive snaps. Most remarkably, his pass blocking grade has jumped up to 72.3, nearly 20 points higher than his career average coming into the year.
Now, Minnesota will rely on Risner to fill the void left behind by their starting left guard. Luckily, Risner has been a starter for each of his first four seasons of the NFL while he was with the Denver Broncos.
Throughout his career with the Broncos, the veteran has been superb in pass protection in this area 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.
As for the questionable Vikings, if Nailor is able to play on Monday, it will be his first action since Minnesota’s Week 2 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The young receiver is yet to play a snap with the offense this season, but that could change if he suits up against the 49ers seeing as Justin Jefferson is no longer above him on the depth chart.
Minnesota selected him in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and he recorded 9 receptions for 179 yards and a touchdown during his rookie season.
Evans on the other hand has been playing through a couple injuries through the first six weeks of the season. Last week, Andrew Booth came in for a portion of the game, presumably to give the starter some rest, and performed rather well.
Hopefully, Evans is able to suit up on Monday, but if not, it likely offers the Vikings to get another look at their 2022 second-round pick.
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.