What to watch for in preseason week 3: Minnesota Vikings vs 49ers

An Invigorated Offensive Line

Due to injuries suffered throughout training camp we are yet to see the Vikings expensively revamped offensive line in action. The Vikings new left tackle, Riley Reiff, injured his back on the first day of camp and has missed the first 2 preseason games and after a mundane showing against Buffalo left guard Alex Boone was unavailable for the matchup with Seattle.

Providing the starting line-up comes through the next few days unscathed that should all change on Sunday as both Reiff and Boone have been full practice participants in recent days. Heading into the 49ers game Andrew Kramer reports that the Vikings are expected to start as follows;

After two contrasting showings from an incomplete starting unit thus far, fans will be eager to see what a full strength line-up looks like in extended playing time. The new front 5 will have to be on top of their game to demonstrate that improvements have been made as they go head to head with an underrated 49ers defensive front featuring 3 successive first round drafts picks in Solomon Thomas, Deforest Buckner and Arik Armstead.

As we saw in 2016 if improvements to this positional group don’t materialise it could all but doom the Viking’s playoffs hopes, Sunday should provide us with a realistic view of what to expect.