EAGAN — We have no choice but to overreact during training camp and the preseason. From early February until May/June the front office game with free agency and the draft provides intrigue and discussion and then by the time padded practices and preseason games come along in August everyone is about ready to burst.
But that doesn’t mean everything we see during those dog-day practices or backup-laden preseason games is indicative of what is going to happen in the regular season. So let’s have a look at 10 things that have popped up during Minnesota Vikings camp and how much they will make a difference in the regular season…
Brian Flores has blitzed the heck out of his own offense
In two separate press conferences, Kirk Cousins has mentioned the double-edged nature of DC Brian Flores’s aggressiveness during practice. On one hand, the offense is getting prepared for a lot of different pressures and every day they add more to the “menu” of potential calls when the heat is coming. On the other, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers do not play Flores’s defense and it isn’t helping prepare for Week 1. Cousins mentioned “tense conversations” about whether they should practice the concept they were trying to master or try to beat Flores’s defense during 11-on-11s. There have been some tough days for the Vikings offense because of that.
“If you were playing him for that week, you would run a very different offense, a very different system, have a very different plan to handle the challenges he’s throwing at you, but if you just prepared to play him, are you really getting ready for the Buccaneers week 1 and the rest of your schedule?” Cousins said. “So, we’ve kind of had to live in that world of we’re going to call the plays that we’re going to need for the season that are going to make life very difficult against his scheme and we just have to do out best to find the answers that are there even if it’s a tough answer.”
Does it matter?: It might help a little more than it hurts
Because almost everyone on the Vikings offense was there last season, you would lean toward the offense being able to work through hard days against Flores’s defense and benefitting from practice being harder than the looks they will get from some other defenses. It might not be a bad thing to get more work against pressures considering pass protection on blitzes, stunts and twists last season was underwhelming last season.
Per PFF, Cousins was blitzed 200 total times in 2022 and completed 108 passes, averaging just 6.3 yards per pass attempt. That was way down from the Stefanski/Kubiak era where he gained 8.1 YPA in 2021, 8.1 in 2020 and 8.9 in 2019.
Opposing defenses aren’t likely to let Cousins get too comfortable in an offense that likes to spread its weapons out. More reps that force everyone to get on the same page with pass pro seem helpful, even if they do not seem that way in practice.
However, Cousins dropped back 701 times in 2022. That means the majority of his plays were not blitzed. Are they spending too much time with the rush packages and not enough solving other problems that opponents will throw at them this year?
That feels like a stretch. With the talent the Vikings have and the experience in O’Connell’s system, it’s easier to see it helping or having no impact more than hurting. During one of the last practices of 2022 camp Cousins threw four or five interceptions and then rocked the Packers in Week 1.
If you had to bet, it either comes up again in the regular season when they beat a blitzing team or not at all.
Young starting corners have had a good camp — behind them not as much
It only took a few weeks before Mekhi Blackmon started taking all the first-team reps at practice, which doesn’t often happen for a rookie third-round pick. He is very physical and moves well in staying “in phase” with wide receivers. Even when he got beat in Seattle for a touchdown, he was right there with his receiver and it took a remarkable throw to beat him. Akayleb Evans has been a favorite of the coaches since he was drafted because of his length and movement skill. While both players are inexperienced and likely to show it at times, this is one of the better training camps for the starting corners in recent years when you adjust for the Justin Jefferson factor and add Byron Murphy Jr. fitting into his nickel role seamlessly.
Inexperienced corners are difficult to predict. Heck, experienced corners are hard to predict because circumstances change so much from year to year and sample sizes of target numbers are small but the starting group has at least given the impression that they have a chance to rise to the occasion and turn into an upgrade over previous seasons.
Behind them, the lack of veteran prowess becomes less exciting. Andrew Booth Jr. hasn’t taken any first-team reps this year and Joejuan Williams’s career high snap count is under 300 for a single season. It’s not clear who the next man up after that is going to be. Booth Jr. has played in two preseason games and graded below average by PFF in both. That’s following only 61 coverage snaps in 2022 in which he gave up 13 catches for 152 yards.
Does it matter?: They should be praying it doesn’t
You want to talk about things that are hard to predict? When it comes to injuries, it’s downright impossible in most cases. Blackmon got banged up on a bad-luck 7-on-7 play in practice vs. the Titans and Evans had issues with concussions last year but there’s no way of knowing if they will remain healthy. Last year the Vikings’ starters Patrick Peterson and Chandon Sullivan played the entire year while it was a rotating cast of Cam Dantzler, Evans, Booth Jr. and Duke Shelley on the other side, depending on who was available. In 2021, the corners were totally healthy. In 2020, the Vikings started a different pair of CBs almost every week.
There are a handful of remaining free agents like William Jackson and Greedy Williams with previous NFL experience they could chase if there is a lack of confidence in the backups based on what happened during camp.
Even if they add a free agent at this point, it won’t be someone who significantly boosts the confidence unless they make a serious trade. So the shortage of a “next step” by Booth Jr. only matters so much as they end up having to rely on anyone not named Blackmon, Evans or Murphy.
So much for that running back depth battle
One of the biggest points of discussion heading into training camp was the fight for RB2. The Vikings made it clear from the moment they brought back Alexander Mattison early in free agency that he was going to be the starter but there was deserved intrigue about two young RBs who run sub 4.40 40-yard dashes. Kene Nwangwu is lightning with the ball in his hands, as has been evidenced by his kick returns for touchdown over the last two years and Ty Chandler gave the Vikings reason to believe they might have something exciting on their hands when he had an explosive 2022 preseason. Nwangwu has been hurt for the majority of camp and Chandler hasn’t repeated his performance from last year. DeWayne McBride, the seventh-rounder with an entertaining highlight reel from college, has been a non-factor.
Two veteran running backs have visited without either signing. It’s increasingly possible after cut-down day they will add someone else to the mix.
Does it matter?: Yes unless…
The league is mostly about backfield pairings these days. The averaged team ran the ball 460 times last season, yet only eight running backs had more than 250 carries. The workhorse backs are a thing of the past. Alexander Mattison has never been asked to take on anything like that in his career, topping out at 134 carries in 2021. He’s likely capable of increasing that number without falling off but he isn’t prepared to take on an Adrian Peterson-like rush total either.
The plus side to the conundrum is that there’s always competent running backs around. Last year Latavius Murray played for two teams and averaged 4.4 yards per carry and gained over 700 total yards. D’Onte Foreman went from getting 22 rushes two years ago with Tennessee to over 200 and gained 4.5 YPC last year in Carolina. There were 30 running backs who had over 4.3 YPC. Former Ram Darrell Henderson is only one year removed from picking up 4.6 YPC and he’s presently a free agent.
Most positions can’t be fixed late in the summer but running back can. Whether they do might depend on how much trust for Chandler has been earned recently and whether Nwangwu can return to practice soon.
The Risner visit brought uncertainty about interior O-line progress
Everyone perked up when the Vikings brought guard Dalton Risner to town for a visit. It was fair to wonder why the veteran guard, who has posted solid PFF pass blocking grades during his tenure, would be under consideration with the starting five returning from last year. Left guard? Right guard? The backup situation?
When Ed Ingram played in the first preseason game, that raised the level of speculation about the second-round guard taking the next step in his development.
There hasn’t been any movement on the O-line since then but practices vs. Tennessee brought some expected pressured reps up the middle against their strong DTs.
Does it matter?: Probably
No QB faced a higher percentage of his total pressure from the right guard position than Kirk Cousins (27.5%). He was sixth in pressure that came from the left guard spot. With stars at left and right tackle, the Vikings are improved guard play away from a very solid offensive line. If that doesn’t happen, plenty of drives will be stunted by pressure again.
Even if all signs pointed to a big year ahead in the interior of the offensive line there would still be questions about what happens when they go against Vita Vea, Chris Jones and Kenny Clark. The fact that there are any questions about the development of the guards is enough to strike terror into Vikings fans. That is made worse by the fact there is no backup option if things go sideways. Chris Reed hasn’t practiced, nor did the team seem to trust him to take the spot of the struggling rookie last year. Blake Brandel is just starting to play guard and Austin Schlottman is more of a true center even if he could handle guard duties in a pinch. If anyone gets banged up on the interior, it’s going to be a tough ride.
Jordan Addison flashed pretty much every day
The Vikings’ first-round pick came in with a college resume that suggested he could run sharp routes and make eye-popping catches. He’s done just that against pro competition in camp and during his single preseason game. Since Day 2, he’s done nothing but run with the first team and appears in line to start and take on a heavy workload from the outset.
Does it matter?: Yes
The history of Vikings first-round receivers is extremely boom or bust. Are you Moss or Williamson? Treadwell or Jefferson? It’s possible that for once a receiver lands somewhere in the middle but Addison has all that ability of a difference-making player right out of the gate. Before he arrived, it was absolutely zero sure thing that he could compliment Jefferson and KJ Osborn. Now it appears very likely.
That doesn’t guarantee anything because injuries have been an issue this offseason and playing on Sundays if different from training camp but his usage in camp suggests the first-rounder from USC will be ready to go right away and that might be the single biggest development of camp. One of the most significant questions of 2023 is whether the Vikings can either find ways to continue getting Jefferson open despite all the coverage he’s going to face or if they can make opponents pay in ways they didn’t last year. Addison is central to the latter part.
Ivan Pace Jr. won Mr. Mankato by a landslide
Mr. Mankato was invented as a way to honor someone who wasn’t highly touted coming out and camp and suddenly emerged. Well, that has been Ivan Pace Jr. to the letter. The undrafted linebacker shot up the depth chart with his aggressive playing style and grasp of Flores’s defense.
“Ivan is doing a lot of good things,” Flores said. “In the meetings, walk-through, practice and he played well in the game last week. Our message to him is to just string good days together. His ability to pick up the playbook, he did the green dot last week and did a good job communicating the calls out to the defense and that’s continued this week. He’s fast, he’s tough, he plays a physical style…we’re excited about him.”
Pace Jr.’s case has been helped by Brian Asamoah’s absence. He was participating in walk-through the last two days, which means we could get a better look during joint practices at how they are used when both available and whether it’s Pace Jr.’s job to start the year or if Asamoah didn’t lose as much ground as it appeared.
Does it matter?: Yes but how much is yet to be seen
What’s better than one young linebacker whose skillet and playing style would seem to fit with Brian Flores? Two young linebackers who fit that description. Heading into camp, veterans Troy Reeder and Troy Dye would have been the break-glass-in-case-of-emergency linebackers, which would be tough for the thin defense if they had a long-term injury. Of course, neither Pace Jr. or Dye has proven they can play 17 games in the NFL but it does give Flores some options to potentially mix and match or if one struggles he can put the other alongside Jordan Hicks.
We don’t know yet if the next Eric Kendricks is running around TCO Performance Center but at least there’s two players who could be starters.
TJ Hockenson missed a lot of full-team reps
Whether it’s medically related or not, the fact of the matter is that TJ Hockenson hasn’t had the opportunity to have a full, uninterrupted offseason to master the offense in ways he didn’t get to do last year after being acquired midway through 2022. He hasn’t appeared in an 11-on-11 rep in several weeks and it would be surprising if he did this week against Arizona.
Does it matter?: Not toward the 2023 season. The future though…
Assuming there isn’t a lingering problem from his ear infection, Hockenson’s absence shouldn’t be any problem at all. He had instant chemistry with Kirk Cousins when he arrived and that won’t disappear because he only took part in walk-throughs.
If some of the missed reps are due to frustration over his contract, it might mean reaching Week 1 without a Hockenson extension. That could matter a lot. Not locking him up would mean a franchise tag or letting him hit the market next season.
There wasn’t really a kicking competition
Jack Podlesny, we hardly knew ye. The Vikings re-signed Greg Joseph after an up-and-down 2023 season and then brought in Podlesny, a UDFA from Georgia with a big leg. He kicked only a handful of times during practice and then was released.
Does it matter?: This is the Vikings we’re talking about here, right?
For a kicker with a career 83% field goal percentage and sub-90% extra point percentage, you wouldn’t think he would have much job security but this is his third largely uncontested camp in a row. His misses last year did not prove costly and he made the biggest kicks (i.e. 61-yard winner vs. NYG) but it’s still surprising that the larger sample didn’t lead to a little stiffer competition in the form of a veteran. If he struggles, it will certainly be a question why there wasn’t a legitimate battle.
Using big people on offense now?
TJ Hockenson’s lost reps have been Josh Oliver’s gain and he’s proven why the Vikings were interested in him in free agency. He’s massive, a good blocker and makes catches that no man his size should make. Oliver could end up on the field quite a bit after his impressive camp, giving the Vikings a new look that teams didn’t see last year.
Does it matter?: Definitely
Even if Oliver only plays 25% of snaps, he could have a big impact on sustaining drives with the run game and setting up explosive plays in play-action. Defenses all saw how O’Connell was going to run things last year and Oliver gives him a bit of a counterpunch. Also if Hockenson gets injured, the Vikings have a starting caliber tight end behind him.
Everybody seems comfortable with Kirk Cousins’s contract situation
Cousins’s contract hasn’t come up outside of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s first press conference, in which he talked about the team’s timeline and mentioned staying in touch with Cousins’s agent. There didn’t appear to be much urgency about getting a deal done and Cousins talked at length in the spring about being OK with going year to year. During camp, the veteran QB has seemed as loose as ever, creating theme days within the locker room and joking around with teammates
Does it matter?: Not toward the result of this season but it’s everything for the future
Cousins has an incredible knack for not letting things from the outside change the way he plays. He’s going to be the same QB with a 10-year extension or no contract for next year.
His situation does leave room for a lot of scenarios to play out. How many wins would it take to return to the negotiating table? How many wins takes them out of the first-round QB conversation because they aren’t picking high enough?
The fact that we’ve gone the entire camp without a shred of contract talk is a pretty clear indication that the Vikings are ready to play chicken with the quarterback position, opening the doors for all sorts of scenarios in the future. What happens next there will shape the direction for many years to come.
