Top Vikings Rookies: Divisional round vs. the 49ers

How did the Minnesota Vikings rookies fare in the team’s final game of the season on Saturday against the San Francisco 49ers?

The Minnesota Vikings fought for a while, but they were ultimately outclassed by the San Francisco 49ers in their divisional round playoff matchup on Saturday.

The Vikings had their normal contingent of rookies playing in against the 49ers. So how did they perform in the final game of their rookie seasons?

Defensively, cornerback Kris Boyd was the only rookie who saw action for Minnesota on Saturday. Boyd was the first man down the field on a few of the Vikings’ multiple punts, but he didn’t do anything on the defensive side of the ball.

Offensively, there wasn’t a ton of action in this one for the Vikings either. Rookie running back Alexander Mattison had just one carry for three yards as Minnesota couldn’t move the ball on the ground at all against San Francisco and they had many quick three-and-outs. The lack of drives killed Mattison’s chances at seeing many carries in the matchup.

Vikings rookie receiver Bisi Johnson never saw a target against the 49ers. Johnson usually gets about three a game. But since Kirk Cousins threw for just 172 yards, there wasn’t much to go around.

Minnesota rookie center Garrett Bradbury played alright on Saturday. The sacks and pressures Cousins was getting throughout the day mostly came from the outside over the tackles. Some pressure came through the inside, but they were over the guards for the most part.

The Vikings offensive line as a whole couldn’t open any room for Dalvin Cook to run through and that negatively reflects on Bradbury. The rookie center did have his second catch of the season after Cousins threw a ball that bounced off another player and landed right in Bradbury’s mitts. This time, he was able to advance it and he actually gained a couple of yards.

Bradbury needs to bulk up this season and get stronger so he can better anchor against some of the big old boys he gets paired off against on a week-to-week basis.

That brings us to our Vikings Rookie of the Week and Irv Smith Jr. is who shined the brightest on Saturday. Smith was a little more involved in the offense this week as he caught three passes for 39 yards.

A couple of these were screens and he made the most of these with some shifty moves to pick up some extra yardage despite being surrounded by multiple 49ers defenders. Smith is a prime candidate to bust out for Minnesota next season after flashing plenty of times as a rookie.