Who are the strongest players on the Minnesota Vikings current roster?
Every year at the NFL Combine, NFLers-to-be are asked to bench press 225 pounds, and each man is graded on how many repetitions he puts up. This, of course, is not the end-all of strength much like a 40-yard dash is the not one-and-only determinant of speed.
But the “bench reps” measurement is a decent barometer to evaluate, generally-speaking, how strong of a player the drafting team is adding to its roster.
The all-time combine record was recorded in 2011 when a meaty defensive tackle out of Oregon State put up 51 reps. His name was Stephen Paea, and he was selected by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. The New Zealander would go on to play in 83 NFL games but never became a household name.
In recent memory, nose tackle Linval Joseph is the strongest man via the bench press metric to play for the Vikings. Linval threw up 39 bench press reps at the 2010 NFL Combine. Of players that the Vikings drafted, defensive tackle Chris Hovan can be classified as the strongest of the last two decades with his 35 reps at the 2000 NFL Combine.
As for the 2020 roster, here are the six strongest men ranked from strong-to-strongest. Additionally, this is comprised of players that will most likely make the 53-man roster.
Disclaimer: This is intended to be informative and fun; this is not an endorsement to reorganize the depth chart.
Anthony Zettel – EDGE
On March 20, 2020, longtime defensive end Everson Griffen penned a goodbye letter to Vikings faithful via Instagram as he opted to splash into the free agent market. He’s still wading in the pool.
About five days later, the Vikings procured the services of young journeyman Anthony Zettel on a one-year agreement. Zettel spent the bulk of his career with enemy Detroit Lions and notched 7.5 sacks in 29 games with the franchise. The new Viking will probably get a chance to compete for the starting defensive end job but faces an uphill battle as incumbent Ifeadi Odeingbo seems to be the preordained starter. And that’s if the departed Everson Griffen doesn’t reverse course and rejoin the team.
As for strength, Zettel was the 11th-strongest man taken in the 2016 NFL Draft when he put up 28 bench press reps at that year’s combine. Notably, this is three more reps than now-teammate Danielle Hunter accounted for at the 2015 NFL Combine.
Dru Samia – Right Guard
You had to know the one they say is “nasty” and “mean” would make the cut, right?
At the 2019 NFL Combine, Oklahoma Sooner also threw up 28 repetitions of 225 pounds by the way of bench press. This was good enough for ninth-strongest among all offensive linemen at said combine.
The offensive-line needy Minnesota Vikings scooped him out of the fourth round of the draft and appear to have optimistic plans for the young guard. On March 18, 2020, the team released veteran right guard Josh Kline–a move that was a confounding head-scratcher to most Vikings loyalists. Kline played admirably in 2019, but the Vikings evidently sought a new approach.
Insert upcoming camp battle between seven-year veteran Dakota Dozier and newcomer Dru Samia.
The two are on a [hopefully] friendly collision course for the 2020 right guard spot. Head coach Mike Zimmer and offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak will have a decision to make that is one of journeyman experience versus youthful nastiness.
Michael Pierce, Nose Tackle
What do you do when your 330-pound nose tackle for the purple team bolts (pun intended) in free agency?
You go out and get a 340-pound nose tackle from the other purple team.
His name is Michael Pierce.
The undrafted nose tackle from Samford University signed on with the Vikings less than a week after the team parted ways with defensive line stalwart Linval Joseph. At 3 years and $27 million for Pierce, the Vikings will save $4 million per season and effectively get a younger version of Linval Joseph in terms of style and build.
On strength, Linval is next to impossible to top anywhere ever, but Pierce is no string bean. At his Pro Day in 2016, Pierce did 28 reps of the 225-pound bench press. He’s also said to squat a Herculean 750 pounds–which is, like, true-blue bodybuilder stuff.
And he can do cartwheels.
Ezra Cleveland, Left Tackle
The 22-year-old offensive lineman from Boise State University aspires to do something the Minnesota Vikings have not done in ten years: stabilize the left tackle position for good.
In the last decade, the Vikings had afforded audition after audition to the likes of Riley Reiff, T.J. Clemmings, Matt Kalil, and Charlie Johnson. Not all of these suitors were atrocious all of the time, but none of these men have locked the position down with solidarity.
A new decade brings a new candidate. And the new guy is a brawny son of a gun. Cleveland is a skyscraping 6’6″ tall with 310 pounds to fill it out. When Ezra eventually lands the starting gig, the Vikings offensive line will have twin towers at Brian O’Neill at 6-foot-7 and Cleveland at just an inch shorter.
At this year’s combine, Cleveland lifted a cool 30 bench press reps which instantly made him the ninth-strongest player in the 2020 draft class–and now the third-strongest man on the Minnesota Vikings.
Aviante Collins – Left Guard
Another undrafted find by general manager Rick Spielman, Aviante Collins joined the Vikings in 2017 out of Texas Christian University. To date, Collins has been primarily a practice squad guy. Yet in 2020, he seems to be on a path to back up left guard Pat Elflein.
Elflein showed immense promise in his rookie campaign but has since regressed. If the team opted not to move Riley Reiff to left guard in a scenario where Ezra Cleveland emerged as starter and Elflein struggled, Collins would, in theory, be the next man up.
Aviante Collins had the body beef for the gig. At the 2017 NFL Combine, Collins showed off a thunderous 34 bench press reps thus awarding him the next designation of third-strongest man in the entire 2017 NFL Draft. We’re talking stronger than Myles Garrett.
If called upon, he certainly has the biceps for the task.
Garrett Bradbury, Center
The Minnesota Vikings current version of Gjallarhorn-blowing strongman Thor Bjornsson is none other than Garrett Bradbury. Bjornsson is from Iceland, Bradbury is from North Carolina.
The Vikings selected Bradbury with the 18th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. At age 24, he was the oldest player ever that the Vikings have used with its first-round selection.
Bradbury was not otherworldly in his rookie slate of games, but he did display incremental improvement as the season progressed. His development in 2020 and beyond will be a pivotal indicator as to the future of the offensive line. The stakes are mainly so high for Bradbury because of the immense draft capital spent on the pick.
The man has the muscle for the job, or so it seems. He put forth 34 bench press reps at the 2019 NFL combine. By that metric, he was the fourth-strongest man in the 2019 NFL Draft.