The Minnesota Vikings have been trying to find out where the young blocker fits best on the team’s offensive line this offseason.
Just 25-years-old and only two years of NFL experience under his belt, T.J. Clemmings is still learning what it takes to be a serviceable member of the Minnesota Vikings’ offensive line. Selected by the Vikings in the fourth round of the 2015 draft, the young offensive lineman has certainly experienced his fair share of struggles during his first two seasons in Minnesota.
With the Vikings, Clemmings has spent all of his time on the field as an offensive tackle. First in 2015 as the team’s starting right tackle after veteran Phil Loadholt was lost to an Achilles injury in the preseason and then at both tackle positions in 2016 after multiple players on Minnesota’s offensive line suffered season-ending injuries.
When the Vikings drafted Clemmings in 2015, he was thought to be somewhat of a project that may take a few years to develop into a serviceable blocker. But thanks to a number of unfortunate injuries to other players, Minnesota has been forced to put the offensive lineman out on the field more often than they probably wanted.
Due to his skill set still being in need of development, the Vikings have been trying to figure out if another position on the offensive line would be a better fit for Clemmings this offseason. During Minnesota’s OTA practices this offseason and their first minicamp practice on Tuesday, the offensive lineman has been seen taking snaps as a guard.
Perhaps playing inside the line will be a better use of Clemmings’ skills as a blocker? Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer talked on Tuesday about how the offensive lineman has been handling the idea of a possible position switch this season.
"“It’s a little bit of a work in progress. I felt the best place for him is where it’s a little bit more condensed. So, T.J. is a great kid. He’s going to give you his best everyday and he’s going to come out here and work. He doesn’t really care where he plays. Obviously, he’d like to be comfortable somewhere. But, I think this might be a good spot for him. Obviously, if you’re not starting, you have to play more than one position anyway. But, this is something that we wanted to look at this spring and kind of see how it pans out.”"
So for now, it seems like Minnesota is just doing a bit of experimenting this offseason with Clemmings lining up at a different position. It will be interesting to see where they put him during training camp later this summer, as that will likely be the position he would play during the upcoming season if necessary.
Next: Who will be the Vikings' best offensive player in 2017?
Is this the last hope for Clemmings’ career with the Vikings? Probably not, but another year of struggles could move Minnesota closer to showing the offensive lineman the door.