Top Minnesota Vikings Rookies: Week 11 vs. the Denver Broncos
By Nik Edlund
Watts, Bradbury, and Mattison
Again, the Vikings had just one rookie on the defensive side of the ball register any stats this week. Armon Watts saw action due to Linval Joseph‘s injury and while he wasn’t as splashy as he was against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 10, he did register a tackle.
Watts is showing he belongs in this league and he’ll get more and more reps if he continues to produce even a little with the opportunities he’s given.
Garrett Bradbury and the entire Minnesota offensive line really struggled against the Broncos this week. They allowed Kirk Cousins to get sacked five times and take numerous hits.
Bradbury really had no answer for Denver defensive lineman Shelby Harris, making him look like the second coming of Aaron Donald, with his five-tackle, three-sack, and two tackles for a loss performance.
Bradbury had issues opening up holes in the running game too. The only silver lining from this game was that he and the rest of the offensive line improved in the second half. Bradbury will need to watch the film and see how he can get better for the Vikings’ final five-game stretch of the season after the bye.
As mentioned above, Minnesota couldn’t get much going on the ground against Denver. Alexander Mattison only carried the ball three times and gained just five yards.
Instead of giving the ball to their short-yardage specialist, the Vikings opted to give it to C.J. Ham once and Kirk Cousins twice in situations where they needed a yard or two. Only once did they convert on those.
It would be nice to see Minnesota offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski roll with his rookie bruiser in these situations. Obviously game flow often dictates how many touches Mattison will get, but he needs more than three a game, that’s for sure.