5 Vikings players to watch vs. the Cowboys in Week 10

Jaleel Johnson – DT

It’s official, Linval Joseph is out for the game against the Cowboys. That is horrible news when you’re facing one of the best running backs in the league who has an offensive line that is built for opening up gaping wide running lanes for him to trot through.

In the NFL, teams believe in the “next man up” mentality and for the Vikings, the next man up is Jaleel Johnson. Unfortunately for the Vikings, when Jaleel Johnson has been up, he hasn’t produced. Johnson has been a bust for the team since being taken in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

He has 23 career tackles with one sack. He is supposed to be a big-time run stuffer, but in the preseason when he was starting in order to give Joseph some rest, the run defense was horrible. The Vikings were giving up huge chunks of yardage up the middle, and Johnson was getting pushed around. So having him start against a very strong Cowboys offensive line is a scary thought.

The good news for the Vikings, if there is any, is that Johnson is coming off arguably the best game of his career. He had three tackles and half a sack against the Chiefs. That is something that should give him confidence, and be something he can build on.

Johnson has big shoes to fill stepping in for Linval Joseph. The Vikings will need him to be up to the task, or the Cowboys and Zeke Elliott are going to run up and down the field this Sunday night.