The Minnesota Vikings released their official depth chart on Tuesday leading into their Sunday afternoon matchup with the visiting San Francisco 49ers. There weren’t many surprises there, but some things to note.
In the Minnesota Vikings first official depth chart of 2018 released on Tuesday, wide receiver Brandon Zylstra is listed above teammate Stacey Coley as the number four receiver. Coley is five.
Considering the Vikings could be playing in a number of situations where four receivers are featured on the field, this is a tremendous opportunity for the young receiver who spent last year in the Canadian league to make a few plays and endear himself to quarterback Kirk Cousins and Vikings’ fans in U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday.
New Vikings addition Brett Jones is listed behind Pat Elflein at the center position, but he is also likely in line to replace starting left guard Tom Compton if he goes out.
Minnesota Vikings
Head coach Mike Zimmer may move to replace Compton with Jones if he proves a superior guard in time, but considering Elflein has just been removed from the PUP list, the position that needs more depth is at center.
At defensive tackle and nose tackle, rookie Jalyn Holmes and second-year man Jaleel Johnson may see playing time as 2018 understudies to Sheldon Richardson and Linval Joseph, and Brian Robison’s departure will allow defensive end Tashawn Bower to see time on the field spelling Danielle Hunter on the left side of the Vikings’ defensive line.
Rookie cornerback Mike Hughes is slotted into the left corner spot behind starter Trae Waynes, while third-year man Mackensie Alexander sits behind All-Pro Xavier Rhodes at right corner. How this alignment plays out in the slot corner position, we won’t know until we see the game on Sunday.
But it’s a good bet that both young players will see strong playing minutes and perhaps be on the field at the same time more than once against 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan’s passing offense.
Marcus Sherels will continue to start at both kick and punt returner, but no one would be shocked to see Mike Hughes also have a chance to field a kick or two, depending on the status of the game.
At the strong safety position, third-year player Jayron Kearse will be behind starter Andrew Sendejo, while new safety George Iloka is third.
No doubt this is a fairly fluid grading, as Mike Zimmer may put Iloka on the field in certain situations considering his great athletic length and history in Zimmer’s defensive packages. Still, it’s nice to see Kearse in the mix out there. It’s obvious he has worked very hard at his game.
Finally, at running back, Dalvin Cook is in the number one spot, and no doubt, ready to play football again. For the Vikings’ ground game, the question will be how much of Cook will be featured as backup Latavius Murray is fully healthy and third-man Mike Boone is also eager to contribute.
No one knows if the reason for Cook’s 2017 ACL tear was overwork or just bad fortune, but one can imagine that Zimmer and offensive coordinator John DeFilippo may proceed with caution and platoon the roster at bit at the tailback position.
Overall, this 2018 Vikings squad has some changes to it from last year. The offensive line has some new veteran faces and the defensive line has some young players being asked to step up. As Minnesota will be missing truly valuable on-the-field leadership by losing players like corner Terrance Newman and the previously mentioned Brian Robinson, they’ll all need to.