The Viking Age
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5 things to know about Vikings rookie Ezra Cleveland

By Dustin Baker

EAGAN, MINNESOTA - AUGUST 18: Blake Brandel #64 and Ezra Cleveland #72 of the Minnesota Vikings run a drill during training camp on August 18, 2020 at TCO Performance Center in Eagan, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
EAGAN, MINNESOTA - AUGUST 18: Blake Brandel #64 and Ezra Cleveland #72 of the Minnesota Vikings run a drill during training camp on August 18, 2020 at TCO Performance Center in Eagan, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images) Ezra Cleveland /

4. A prototypical lineman he is not

You hear or see the headline, “Vikings Select Offensive Lineman in NFL Draft.” You think the team is getting a hoss of a man. Cleveland is indeed a voluminous man, but he is probably not of the stature you have in your head.

Ezra Cleveland is closer to a basketball power forward than he is a round mound of intimidation. He’s 6’6″ and around 311 pounds. Cleveland is not a wide body that you might have seen 25 years ago playing for the Dallas Cowboys. His technique relies more on agility and athleticism that it does a girthy frame. Put simply, Cleveland will out-nimble a defender before he flattens him. He can do both, but agility is his signature.

Think of this way: Ezra Cleveland is about 50 pounds away from playing tight end. He possesses the traits of a tight end rather than the brute-force size of a Jonathan Ogden.

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