Where Do Chris Reed and Jesse Davis Rank in the Vikings' Right Guard Competition?

Reed and Davis join incumbents Wyatt Davis and Oli Udoh in the Vikings' RG battle.

Heading into the beginning of their offseason program next week, the Vikings appear to have just one starting job up for competition on the offensive side of the ball. That would be at right guard, where Oli Udoh struggled last season as the primary starter.

One could argue that the Vikings should also have a competition at center, considering Garrett Bradbury was outright benched at one point last season after a stint on the COVID list. They presumably will, to some extent, but head coach Kevin O'Connell seems to be high on Bradbury's potential in a new offensive scheme.

"With Garrett, there was a lot to love about Garrett coming out (of the draft) a few years ago," O'Connell said at the NFL owners meetings last week. "I watched a ton of his tape coming out. Schematically, what we do may be a little bit different overall from what has been done here, that I think could maybe put some tools in his toolbox to have some success consistently, snap in and snap out. And then we're going to have a nice competition at that right guard spot."

"There's a lot of coaches in this room right now that are talking about two or three or four spots on their offensive line coming together," he continued. "It feels really good to know that we're going to have some real healthy competition there, but we also feel really good about some of those foundational points that we have."

The Vikings currently have seven guards on their roster, one of them being Ezra Cleveland, who is more or less locked in as the starter on the left side. Mason Cole, who started four games at center and three at RG last year, signed a three-year deal with the Steelers. Dakota Dozier, the starting LG in 2020, signed with the Bears. That leaves six potential competitors for the RG job, with the possibility that another could be added in the draft.

Let's rank each of the contenders, starting at the bottom.

6. Kyle Hinton

Hinton earned a little buzz when he was drafted in the seventh round in 2020 out of Washburn University. He's a great athlete, which makes up for his lack of size. But he has been buried on the practice squad for the last two years and faces an uphill battle to make the roster this year under a new regime that had nothing to do with drafting him. If the Vikings draft an offensive lineman on Day 3 (or earlier) this year, Hinton would fall even further down this list.

5. Austin Schlottmann

Early on in free agency, the Vikings signed Schlottmann to a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum. The 26-year-old spent the first four years of his career with the Broncos, starting seven games and playing a total of 581 offensive snaps. Schlottmann has had a few decent starts at RG during his career and is very familiar with new Vikings offensive line coaches Chris Kuper and Justin Rascati, who both came over from Denver this offseason. However, he appears to be more of a Dozier replacement than a potential starter.

4. Oli Udoh

Udoh started 16 of the Vikings' 17 games last season, with 14 of those starts coming at right guard. That's a lot of film that Minnesota's new coaching staff has been able to evaluate this offseason. The 2019 sixth-rounder got off to a strong start last year after beating out Dozier in training camp, giving up four pressures in the season's first three games and playing particularly well against the Cardinals and Seahawks.

Oli Udoh pancaked J.J. Watt. That’s a real sentence pic.twitter.com/qkdoeo6Nyi

— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) September 21, 2021

Then the wheels fell off for Udoh. He gave up eight pressures in Week 4 against the Browns, was flagged four times in Week 6 against the Panthers, and struggled mightily with pass blocking and penalties seemingly every week the rest of the way. Udoh finished with 16 penalties (three of which were declined or offset), second-most among all NFL offensive linemen. After recording PFF pass-blocking grades of at least 66 in Weeks 2 and 3, he didn't do that again until Week 17 in Green Bay.

As a result, a move back to being the Vikings' swing tackle seems far more likely than Udoh winning the job at RG again. He was drafted as a tackle and has the length to play there as the potential top backup for Christian Darrisaw and Brian O'Neill.

"Udoh is one of those guys that I think, we really want to find a spot for him," O'Connell said. "Whether it is at that swing tackle spot or if we're going to have him compete at guard."

3. Wyatt Davis

You could certainly make the argument that this is too high for Davis, who has never played an offensive snap in the NFL and was buried on the depth chart for all of his rookie season. I'm just not ready to give up on the 2021 third-round pick from Ohio State that easily. Davis wasn't a two-time first-team All-American — who once was discussed as a possible first-round pick — for no reason.

Rick Spielman, who drafted Davis, is no longer around. But neither is Mike Zimmer, a head coach who may not have inspired the most confidence in rookies. Davis has spent time this offseason with respected offensive line trainer Duke Manyweather, and he's reportedly working hard to ensure his second NFL season goes better than the first.

I wanted to help contribute and I didn’t have the opportunity to do so, which is why I’m making sure that doesn’t happen again," Davis told Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press in February. “I’m just doing everything I can to put me in a position to help my team win. Once that opportunity comes, I’m going to take it and never look back. So I’m just trying to do everything in my power right now to put me in a spot to do so."

Davis has a clean slate with a new coaching staff in place, but it's not like the previous coaching staff had some vendetta against him. He'll need to show a lot of improvement this offseason to be in position to beat out a couple veterans with starting experience.

2. Jesse Davis

The Vikings signed Davis to a one-year, $3 million deal a week ago, making him briefly the favorite to be their new starter at RG. The 30-year-old has started 72 of a possible 81 games for the Dolphins over the last five years, seeing time at every OL position except center. He also has familiarity with Kuper, who was his coach in Miami several years back.

Davis has had a difficult time when he's been asked to play tackle. Last year was an extreme example of that, as he finished with a whopping 57 pressures allowed (tied for fourth-most in the league) and drew the ire of Dolphins fans on a consistent basis. But Davis may have been dealing with some knee issues last year, and his pass-blocking grades have been better when he's played right guard, like he did for all of 2018 and most of 2020. The Vikings clearly think he can be a potential starter at guard, considering they gave him $2.75 million guaranteed.

Davis is a good athlete who was playing out of position at tackle. Still, I don't think he's the top contender for the Vikings' RG job, considering he has never graded out as more than a passable starting option.

New #Vikings guard Jesse Davis:

- 72 career starts in Miami
- Familiarity with Vikings OL coach Chris Kuper
- Has played every position but C
- Past grades suggest RG is best fit
- Great size and athleticism

Could be a passable option at RG if Wyatt Davis can't earn the job. pic.twitter.com/Enzgf9ppBj

— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) March 28, 2022

1. Chris Reed

Four days after the Vikings signed Davis, they added even more competition to the RG battle by signing Reed to a two-year deal. Based on their recent levels of play, I've got Reed ahead of Davis as the favorite to win this job. The veteran played very well for the Colts last season, filling in at both guard spots and earning a starting role at one point. Indianapolis reporters and fans have had nothing but praise for Reed and the job he did in 2021.

New #Vikings guard Chris Reed has some nasty to him pic.twitter.com/QlwzjRMmbO

— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) April 1, 2022

Before his year with the Colts, Reed spent time with the Panthers, Dolphins, and Jaguars. The Minnesota State Mankato alum has the size, athleticism, and power to be a slightly above-average option for the Vikings at RG in 2022. He'll have to hold off several competitors and earn the job with his play this offseason and into training camp, but I think Reed is the favorite as things stand right now.

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