Could We Finally See Another of the Vikings Rookies in Action This Week?
Josh Frey
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On Sunday night in Green Bay, the Minnesota Vikings fell to the Packers 37-10, thus eliminating any hope of the playoffs this season. With that, their week 18 matchup with the Chicago Bears has been relegated to a meaningless affair on all accounts other than draft position. Because of that, we may see a number of Vikings rookies and other young players that would not normally get playing time.
There’s already a possibility that we see a number of new faces get some developmental playing time this Sunday. It grew exponentially on Monday when the Vikings announced a litany of players headed to the Covid list. Well, maybe that possibility is still a bit lower if your name is Kellen Mond.
Upon first glance at this list, I had one thought immediately cross my mind. That’s a whole lot of offensive linemen. For those counting at home, there are three starters across the line that will not be available at least until Saturday.
This isn’t an entirely unprecedented event for the Vikings though. There was a stretch of time where Christian Darrisaw missed time due to injury. We also saw Garrett Bradbury get benched earlier this season. No doubt, the Vikings have had as much o-line shuffling as anyone. There has been one Vikings rookie noticeably absent from these previous experiments, though.
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That player is of course former Ohio State Buckeye and third-round draft pick, Wyatt Davis. Davis was highly touted going into the 2021 NFL draft as one of the better interior offensive linemen in the class. However, after a summer injury and coming into training camp out of shape, the rookie has struggled to find playing time this year. This has been a common theme for the Vikings rookies in 2021 as Christian Darrisaw is the only player that has earned a consistent starting role.
That said, the duo of the two offensive linemen was hyped through the roof prior to the ceiling. Thus, Wyatt Davis’ absence from any meaningful snaps is most disappointing. Could this string of Covid positives finally push Davis into the rotation?
My answer is probably not. All we have to do is look at how Zimmer approached the Kirk Cousins absence. Starting Sean Mannion rather than Kellen Mond showed the Vikings head coach is not going to give players time on the field just for the sake of seeing them in games. His postgame remarks made that crystal clear.
It will likely take a ‘last resort’ situation for Davis to see playing time, similar to the one that put Mond in the game last night. As it stands right now, Minnesota still has players like Oli Udoh, Mason Cole, Garrett Bradbury, Dakota Dozier, and Rashod Hill. If things remain this way, I expect to see those five starting on Sunday.