Minnesota Vikings training camp preview: The biggest battles
The Vikings are set to open training camp with the most up-in-the-air defensive outlook since Mike Zimmer's first year as head coach.
That's to be expected for what was a bottom-five defense in 2022. While the defense has undergone a drastic makeover, the offense has stayed remarkably similar, except for a pair of veterans moving on.
With rookies reporting on Sunday and vets reporting Tuesday, we asked Purple Insider's Matthew Coller for a training camp preview. Let's dive in...
Offensive camp storylines
"The quarterback's the same. Justin Jefferson's the same," said Coller. "The offensive line's the same but it is pretty major what is happening in the backfield without Dalvin Cook."
The Vikings and Cook parted ways after six seasons together, opening the door for Alexander Mattison to take over as the lead running back. The question with the new look running back room is just how much of the load will Mattison carry?
In his previous stop, Kevin O'Connell, as Rams offensive coordinator, ran a backfield with Sony Michel and Darrell Henderson splitting carries. Last season with the Vikings there was no split. Cook had 264 attempts to the 74 for Mattison, the lowest total of his career.
"With Alexander Mattison, he has proven over a couple of years to be a solid running back but now is he going to be taking on the load of RB1 or is it going to be a running back rotation with Kene Nwangwu and Ty Chandler," Coller questioned. "Can Dwayne McBride, their seventh round pick, throw his name in the hat here during training camp? I think there's more of a battle between Chandler and Nwangwu for who can carve out some sort of role around Alexander Mattison."
Minnesota has spent a lot of draft capital over the past couple seasons on the running back room.
- Dwayne McBride: 7th round pick (2023)
- Ty Chandler: 5th round pick (2022)
- Kene Nwangwu: 4th round pick (2021)
- Alexander Mattison: 3rd round pick (2019)
Nwangwu has shown flashes of elite speed, returning three kickoffs for touchdowns in his first two seasons, while Chandler was impressive last preseason. McBride's college highlight reel is a lesson in shedding tackles.
Will O'Connell lean on Mattison like he leaned on Cook in 2022 or will there be more of a split between the different types of runners in the backfield in 2023?
"Then of course there's Jordan Addison," continued Coller. "Jordan Addison did not get on the field for OTA's and minicamp so really didn't get a close look at him. How he looks on the field? Where they're using him? Things like that. And of course there's no pads in OTA's and minicamp anyway so it would have been hard to have big takeaways, but once pads come on what does Jordan Addison look like in comparison to NFL talent when he does have those pads on?"
The other big camp question is who will win the job as WR2 now that longtime Viking Adam Thielen has moved on? Minnesota used their first round pick in this year's draft Addison, and it appears that he'll battle KJ Osborn for the No. 2 role.
Osborn caught 60 passes for 650 yards and five touchdowns in 2022.
"There is some knocks on [Addison] coming out about his size but he also has a reputation as being a high football IQ guy, a great route runner and a football junkie," Coller said. "But can he threaten for WR2 or will it be clearly KJ Osborn from the outset of training camp? I think everyone wants to know, did they find their future guy to pair with Justin Jefferson?
Differences for the defense
"I think the biggest difference is just how many new faces there are," said Coller about the new look Vikings defense.
After a disastrous 2022 in which the Vikings defense allowed the third most points in the league (427) and the second most yards (6,608), Kevin O'Connell parted ways with Ed Donatell and brought in former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores to run the defense.
"I mean, yes, Brian Flores is going to run more blitzes and he's going to play differently than Ed Donatell, we know that. But it's really hard until you get into game planning, matchup and all those things to see it on display. You're seeing them practice but I also thought the defense looked pretty good in practice last year during training camp, the offense had the tougher time," said Coller.
"Then they came out in Week 1 and put up all those points against Green Bay and had a top-ten offense but a bottom-five defense. So I don't think we can predict how a defensive coordinator is going to operate. We do know about Flores's playing style, so I guess the biggest question is how do these guys, in Brian Flores's mind, fit into what he wants to do?"
Donatell wasn't the only major personnel change on the defensive side of the ball for the Vikings this offseason.
- LB Eric Kendricks - Cut (1095 snaps in 2022)
- CB Cam Dantzler - Cut (505 snaps)
- CB Patrick Peterson - Free Agency (1105 snaps)
- CB Chandon Sullivan - Free Agency (945 snaps)
- DT Dalvin Tomlinson - Free Agency (551 snaps)
- EDGE Za'Darius Smith - Traded (771 snaps)
The Vikings brought in cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. and edge rusher Marcus Davenport through free agency to help fill in some of the outgoing snaps. Minnesota seems to be hoping that a trio of cornerbacks drafted over the past two years can fill in the gaps in the secondary.
"There are really battles all over the place," Coller said about the defensive changes. "There's a battle at cornerback. There's a battle at safety. Where do people fit in along the defensive line? Marcus Davenport is a guy who is new here and is trying to establish himself as a more consistent pass rusher than he was in New Orleans. I would even say there's a little bit of a linebacker battle, potentially, between Brian Asamoah and Troy Reeder, who is a veteran they brought in. I think it's Asamoah's job but how does he fit in with what Flores wants to do? So it's really all over the field on defense."
Secondary battles
With the departures of Peterson, Dantzler and Sullivan the Vikings are looking at a nearly brand new cornerback room in 2023. Slotting in Murphy alongside Andrew Booth Jr., Akayleb Evans and rookie Mekhi Blackmon means the biggest camp battle to watch this August will be at cornerback.
"At cornerback there's three young corners vying for two positions around Byron Murphy Jr.," Coller explained. "You have Mekhi Blackmon. who was drafted in the third round and this team really liked and seemed to like how he picked up on the defense because he was getting first team reps in minicamp. Blackmon looks like he's going to battle with Andrew Booth Jr., who was a second round draft pick from last year for that position. Booth did not get on the field a whole lot, dealt with some injury issues but he has a lot of talent, for sure. On the other side of the field, it appears, right now, that Akayleb Evans is in a very good spot to win and hold down that job and be starting Week 1."
Booth made a handful of appearances in his rookie season but the injury issues that hampered his college career followed him into the NFL. Evans impressed as a rookie before his season was cut short due to concussions. Blackmon had a 91.1 coverage grade from PFF in his one year at USC.
There is also intrigue with the Vikings safety group heading into camp. Lewis Cine was a first round pick for the Vikings in 2022 but struggled to work his way up the Vikings depth chart, starting the season as the fourth safety behind Harrison Smith, Cam Bynum and Josh Metellus. Cine's rookie season was cut short by a gruesome leg injury he suffered in Week 4 in London.
Bynum had two interceptions in 17 starts in 2022 while Metellus recorded one interception and an 80.7 coverage grade in 2022.
"The safety position is really fascinating, too," Coller said. "You have Lewis Cine, who is a first round pick, but also Cam Bynum was on the field for every snap last year. They clearly like him as an organization. And then I mentioned Metellus. So can Lewis Cine outplay Cam Bynum, who was the starter for all of last year, enough during this training camp to win the job?"
