6 new NFC North rivalries for the Vikings that will start in 2020

Jeff Gladney Vs. Kenny Golladay

The Lions have three exciting new rivalries with the Vikings that have come out of the 2020 offseason and this is the third of the bunch.

Detroit’s receivers have given Minnesota’s defense headaches at times. The combination of Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones has found great success in their recent matchups with the Vikings, as they’ve combined for 35 receptions for 380 yards and five touchdowns during the last two seasons.

With Golladay being the younger of the two, the Lions will likely commit to him for the longterm and make him their No. 1 target moving forward.

During the first round of this year’s NFL Draft, Minnesota added former TCU corner Jeff Gladney and he could eventually emerge as the Vikings’ top cornerback down the road. This would make these two talented players faceoff twice per year and it could be quite the battle.

Golladay has a huge advantage over Gladney when it comes to size as he’s 6-foot-4 compared to Gladney’s 5-foot-10 frame. Despite the huge height advantage, Gladney has great ball skills and he knows when to go up and after the football. He’s also aggressive in coverage and he won’t back down to the intimidating presence of Golladay.

It’s unclear how much of this potential future battle we will see in 2020. Gladney could potentially begin the upcoming season as Minnesota’s nickel corner and the Vikings will probably try to put a bigger cornerback like Holton Hill on Golladay.

However, Detroit will likely want to exploit the size advantage Golladay has and they could move him around so he ends up going against the rookie in some formations.

While we may not get a lot of one-on-one battles this season, we may get a couple. Going against the huge and talented Golladay should give Minnesota an idea of what their young rookie corner is made of.