First impressions of Vikings rookies.
Simon Bruus
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As the summer progresses we near Minnesota Vikings Training camp which is once again taking place at the Mavericks facility in Mankato Minnesota, every year beat-writers from far and apart to cover the entire spectacle and at the end crown a worthy player, usually a rookie or young player, as the years Mr. Mankato aka the Training Camp MVP. It’s still much to early to start speculating on a Mr. Mankato for 2017, however, as OTA’s are quickly ending it may be appropriate to take a look at first impressions for some of the key Vikings rookies.
There’s various rookies to watch this year of course with the the most exciting and discussed being the new Vikings glory boy second round pick Dalvin Cook. Cook has through OTA’s and rookie minicamp drawn praise from numerous Vikings staff as well as beat-writers on his quickness and vision.
Kyle Rudolph on Dalvin Cook “Really fun to watch..A special runner and he's a guy who has great vision & always seems to make the right cut"
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) May 31, 2017
Cook is likely to keep impressing through the remainder of OTA’s and into training camp as his highly coveted skill set seems to be a great fit early with the still less than desirable Vikings offensive live.
Pat Elflein was the second rookie the Vikings drafted and the third round pick has a tall task in front of him trying to lift the quality of one of the worst offensive lines in football. Early impressions from beat writers and staff on the quality of Elflein has been limited but it seems that Elflein is coming along as expected.
On offense, Nick Easton and Pat Elflein split snaps at center. The other first-team linemen were Reiff, Boone, Berger and Remmers. #Vikings
— Matt Vensel (@mattvensel) May 24, 2017
With the two big rookie signings out of the way it’s time to look at some of the later picks who’ve been impressing early. Rodney Adams, Bucky Hodges and Stacy Coley have all turned heads early on at OTA’s.
Especially Rodney Adams seems to be transitioning well to the next level, at least if you’re to believe Vikings announce Paul Allen who hinted that Adams reminded him of Diggs early on in his career.
"Rodney Adams absolutely stood out to me at rookie camp. He caught everything. He was drafted in the same round as Diggs."
— Jordan Reid (@Jordan_Reid) May 8, 2017
Bucky Hodges and Stacy Coley have both also drawn praise, especially from GM Rick Spielman who’ve called them both great players with unique athletic traits.
OTA’s will conclude on June the 8th.