The Minnesota Vikings have a lot of players on the roster who they should be excited about in 2020. Who are five that are getting a little too much love?
The Minnesota Vikings added quite a few new faces to their team through the draft and free agency this offseason. The Vikings are clearly very excited about many of these players and what they can bring to their respective side of the ball.
Some of these players are expected to be starters for Minnesota and the team is betting the success of their 2020 season on the performance of these new additions. Others are just expected to make the team and have some sort of role in 2020.
Whether it is justified or not, a few of these new players are probably getting much more hype than they deserve. This could be because of the lull in the sports world due to the COVID-19 pandemic and fans are focusing on the Vikings more than they usually would since they have no other sports to distract them.
Whatever the reason may be, who are some of the Minnesota players who have been getting a little too much hype this offseason?
Michael Pierce – DT
The Vikings signed former Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Michael Pierce this offseason and he was their biggest signing of free agency.
It was a bit of a surprise, as many figured Jaleel Johnson would get a chance to start in 2020 next to Shamar Stephen after Linval Joseph was cut. Minnesota could’ve been betting on him to shine during a contract season and with their cap situation, that seemed like the logical way to go.
Instead, the Vikings went out and signed the “Juggernaut” from Baltimore to be the new primary run-stuffer in Mike Zimmer’s defense. While Pierce is an exciting player with a huge personality, it’s fair to question if Minnesota and their fans are too excited about him and have unrealistic expectations.
While Pierce is definitely younger than Joseph, will he be any better? To best answer that, comparing their stats the last couple of seasons is a good place to start.
Joseph had 58 tackles in 2018 and 44 in 2019. He also had a combined 10 tackles for a loss and four sacks in that span. Pierce had 32 tackles in 2018 and 35 in 2019. He had a combined six tackles for a loss and half a sack. So solely going on production, this move looks to be a downgrade.
Obviously, the scheme and how they are used in each respective defense can skew those numbers. We’ll see how Pierce does in Zimmer’s system and if the change in scheme improves his stats.
Going solely off of production, maybe the Vikings and their fans shouldn’t be as excited about this large new face in the middle of their defensive line as they have been.
Quartney Davis – WR
Many fans were stoked when the Vikings signed rookie receiver Quartney Davis after this year’s NFL Draft concluded. He was projected to go somewhere around the 5th round and the fact he was available after the draft was a major surprise.
After Minnesota signed him, many began to look at the depth chart and figured Davis’ chances of making the team were very good. While it is entirely possible that he does make the Vikings 53-man roster in 2020, the brakes do need to be pumped a bit.
There were plenty of reasons why Davis went undrafted. He ran a pedestrian 40-yard dash time of 4.54 seconds earlier this year. He also struggled in college at getting off of man-to-man coverage and he wasn’t as productive as he probably should’ve been, being the main target for two years in a pass-heavy attack.
Davis also has an injury history, having torn his ACL early in his college career which caused him to miss his first couple of seasons.
The Vikings receiver corps is also much deeper than it was a season ago and it will be difficult to crack. While the team lost Stefon Diggs, it added Tajae Sharpe and Justin Jefferson. These two along with Adam Thielen, Bisi Johnson, and K.J. Osborn should almost all be guaranteed spots on the team’s 2020 roster.
That leaves potentially only one spot available. Davis has already missed time due to the cancellations of mini-camps and OTAs, and he will need to learn extremely quickly if he’s going to surpass a guy like Alexander Hollins.
There’s no denying Davis is an exciting young player, but giving him a spot on Minnesota’s roster in 2020 is some premature thinking.
Dru Samia – G
Who will be the Vikings starting right guard in 2020 remains a mystery at this point in the offseason. If COVID-19 hadn’t canceled OTAs and mini-camps, perhaps we’d have a better idea.
As of now, many are expecting the job to go to second-year man Dru Samia. That does seem like a logical assumption to make, as Minnesota clearly drafted this guy in the fourth round for a reason. But it may also just be wishful thinking.
Samia was inactive almost the entire 2019 season. He was running with the third team all preseason long and it was actually a little shocking when he made the Vikings final-53 man roster.
Samia did see some extensive action in Minnesota’s meaningless season finale against the Chicago Bears, so at least he got his feet wet last year. While he did play well in that game, it was little more than a scrimmage and it is definitely not a game to take too much out of.
Samia has great size and is built like a giant square. He showed some nastiness in that game against the Bears and he will be given every opportunity to win the job. The question is, can he?
After generating a lot of buzz in the preseason last year, Samia couldn’t ascend the depth chart. Either he’s slow to pick up the blocking scheme or the Vikings were purposely waiting on this guy knowing they had Josh Kline on the roster.
Whatever the case is, the fact that Samia couldn’t crack the starting lineup when Kline got hurt a year ago is discouraging. While many are expecting him to be the starter in 2020, he will have to fight for the role and he could lose out to Dakota Dozier just as easily as he could win the job.
Dalvin Cook – RB
News broke recently that Vikings running back Dalvin Cook is planning on holding out if he isn’t offered a reasonable deal by the team. Many news outlets and Twitter accounts immediately began with the “sky is falling” scenarios. They stated that without Cook, Minnesota’s offense is nothing and their season will be a wash without No. 33 carrying the rock.
While some of this is true, as Cook is definitely a dynamic player, the team has proven it can function without him. Cook has missed 22 games in his career. He was out for two games a season ago and he played hurt in a couple of others. While the Vikings missed their star back, they used the next-man-up method and the offense continued to move the ball.
There were also plenty of games last year where Cook was ineffective. After a hot start in 2019, Cook only eclipsed the 100-yard mark just once after Week 6. He had games where he ran for 35, 41, 71, 26, 29, 62, and 27 yards. The Vikings actually went 4-3 in those games and they showed they can win games even when Cook is shut down.
Yes, Cook is an explosive player and a key component of Minnesota’s offense. However, the season isn’t over if he holds out.
The Vikings have plenty of other weapons on offense and they will find other ways to move the ball effectively. The thought that the season is over if he holds out is way off the mark.
Justin Jefferson – WR
The Vikings and their fans should be excited about Justin Jefferson. He was their first pick from this year’s NFL Draft and is coming off a historically productive season at LSU.
For the school last season, he caught 18 touchdowns a season ago with 1,540 yards and 111 receptions. He can be used on the outside, or in the slot, and he plays with a lot of energy and fire.
Minnesota is expecting him to replace at least some of the production they’ll be losing after trading Stefon Diggs and they are hoping he can pick things up quickly. While he could do just that, the Vikings and their fans need to soften their expectations of what Jefferson will do this upcoming season.
They have to remember that Jefferson is already coming in well behind. While he’s certainly been studying the playbook and doing all the virtual stuff he can, he hasn’t had time in the actual offense playing with Kirk Cousins and his fellow receivers. He has absolutely no rapport with Cousins and will have to earn his trust in the preseason.
Jefferson has the talent to definitely prove any naysayers wrong but he could need some time to develop. Anyone who is expecting Jefferson to come in and post Randy Moss-like numbers as a rookie will be sadly and deeply disappointed this fall.