2019 OTA Talk

[bleedspeed]

It will be interesting if we learn anything.

3 things I am curious to see is:
1. How the OL shakes out? Will Dru Samia make a push to see the field? Will Avante Collins burst onto the scene?
2. Who will play behind Thelen and Diggs? Will Treadwell make the team? Badet is the guy I would love to see step up.
3. Will Jalyn Holmes step up into Richardson's spot? .

[bleedspeed]

Elfein playing LG with starters.
Collins playing LT on 2nd unit.
O'Neill is hurt. (WTH)
Dru Samia is playing with 3rd team.
and the big shocker. Bradbury is starting center.

I saw an interview with Elfein. Heis saying all the right things, but he is not excited about the move.

[mrhockey89]

Yep, right after the draft they asked Elflein about his position and he basically said he's a center. (even though he played guard arguably better in college and had a poor statistical year at center last year).

Not surprising to see Samia have to earn his way up the roster. I hope he gets to 2nd team by opening day though, otherwise it probably means he's a bigger project than we're hoping.

My biggest puzzlers are:
1) offensive line (let's face it, if that isn't at least average, this team won't get far with Cousins)
2) Is Everson Griffin back to himself? He was a top 3 DE in the league the year before, and was, along with Danielle Hunter, absolutely terrorizing offensive lines to start the year..then he decided to have a night of coocoo, got treatment, and I'm glad he's finding himself more centered...I just hope the drugs don't also mellow out his play (was tough to tell if that's what it was or just rust when he came back, but he wasn't the same player).
3. Our offensive gameplan. Stefanski + Kubiak can't help but improved over what we saw last year, but I hope they can also be unpredictable (like the Bears were against us as they continually stretched our defense sideline to sideline to tire out our DL).

Oh, and I want to see Cousins be much better in clutch situations. He had great drives at times, but a lot of his stats were in catch-up mode vs prevent defense where he was dumping off vs a soft defense as well. I want meaningful stats, not empty stats.

SKOL

[bleedspeed]

Good points hockey. We have some risks, but I think it will all come down to Kubiak influence.

Here is a good article on week 2.
https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2019/05/takeaways-from-week-2-of-vikings-otas/

Hercules Mata'afa is impressing at three-technique. Ben Leber made a good point. Even though he has bulked up to 275lbs he plays in a fashion that is no disciplined. It can leave gaps. He should be a good factor on 3rd down and special teams. I am really hoping he or Holmes win the starting job.

[bleedspeed]

And more

https://www.dailynorseman.com/2019/5/30/18644300/minnesota-vikings-depth-chart-90-man-roster-2019-jeff-badet-hercules-mataafa

[bleedspeed]

More - Notes below

https://www.dailynorseman.com/2019/5/30/18644608/news-minnesota-vikings-otas

Coaching Staff Mentions
Rather than make a big deal about other comments that aren't terribly insightful beyond, 'he looked good,' I'll just lost some other positive mentions (negative mentions are rare), as a rolling gauge that over time could be more insightful.

-Mike Zimmer had good things to say about Cam Smith, and told him in so many words to work on special teams. That is likely his best route to make the team, and reminds me of a similar conversation Zimmer had with Brandon Zylstra this time last year.
-Zimmer also said safety Marcus Epps looked good, as well as corner Kris Boyd
-Both Zimmer and Kevin Stefanski were asked about Irv Smith Jr. - Cousins was too - and they all had positive things to say. Stefanski went into the most detail, citing his maturity and serious demeanor as he learns his assignments and technique.
-Zimmer and Cousins also had good things to say about Tyler Conklin and Sean Mannion
-Lots of positive comments about Garrett Bradbury

[bleedspeed]

Some details on front 4.

https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2019/06/vikings-d-line-in-need-of-progress-from-johnson-holmes/

I almost lost hope on Jaleel Johnson, but he will likely explode this year like Max Kepler did for the Twins.
Holmes and Mata'afa could be interesting on passing downs.