Daily Norseman
Position battles to keep an eye on
Training camp for the Minnesota Vikings begins July 20th for rookies and July 22nd for the rest of the team. And as always, there will be plenty of competition for the 53 coveted roster spots. It’s a sign of the Vikings’ improved roster that there will be some tough competition between quality players to make the back end of the depth chart at every position group.
But within that roster spot competition are a bunch of position group depth chart battles to keep an eye on. Here is a list of the top ten.
J.J. McCarthy and Sam Howell are set as QB1 and QB2, but who will be QB3? Rookie Max Brosmer who Kevin O’Connell says asks good questions is competing with long-time veteran Brett Rypien who KOC calls a pro’s pro. My bet is with the rookie Brosmer who KOC has been impressed with since attending the Gopher pro day two years ago. He may not contribute as much in the meeting room initially as Rypien, but he may have a more viable skillset on the field with the development potential Rypien is lacking at this stage in his career.
Incumbent Ryan Wright is competing against rookie UDFA Oscar Chapman, who hails from Adelaide, Australia and punted for Auburn the last five seasons. Wright has the better net average and hangtime on his punts compared to Chapman last season, but accuracy and consistency matter too. Wright is averaging 50% of his punts being returned, which is high relative to league average. Initially my bet was with Wright, but I’m leaning more toward the wily Australian with a wicked banana punt in his arsenal first introduced to the NFL by Johnny Hekker.
Gavin Bartholomew, Giovanni Ricci, Bryson Nesbit, and Ben Yurosek will be competing for one or possibly two spots at the backend of the tight end depth chart. My guess is they’ll only keep three tight ends because they should have trouble getting others to the practice squad. It’s a fairly even competition that may come down to special teams ability as much as anything else.
My guess is that they’ll only keep five wide receivers but maybe a temporary extrad if Addison is suspended. Jefferson, Addison, Nailor, and Felton seem like locks, so that leaves Rondale Moore, Silas Boldin, Myles Price, Tim Jones, Lucky Jackson, Dontae Fleming, Thayer Thomas, Zavier Scott, Robert Lewis, and Jeshaun Jones competing for one spot and maybe a temporary second. The winner is likely based on who wins the returner competition.
This seems like a competition between Mekhi Blackmon and Jeff Okudah, with Dwight McGlothern a dark horse candidate. I thought this would be Blackmon, but apparently Okudah is being given an opportunity to win the spot. Both may end up getting reps.
The addition of Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave make this depth chart a difficult...
