7 takeaways from the first three weeks of Vikings OTAs

Rookies might actually play in 2022

For a rookie to get significant playing time in Minnesota during the Mike Zimmer era, they either had to blow the coaching staff out of the water with their skills or hope that a starter needed to miss time due to an injury.

It doesn’t sound like it’s going to be as difficult for the Vikings rookies to get on the field next season with Kevin O’Connell now running the show.

After one of Minnesota’s first OTA practice sessions this spring, O’Connell commented on how the team is “going to put the best 11 guys out there, no matter that situation of offense, defense, and special teams.”

It’s incredibly refreshing to hear something like that from the Vikings head coach after the previous regime basically needed their rookies to be instant All-Pros if they wanted to get any meaningful playing time.

Under Zimmer, someone like rookie safety Lewis Cine might have had the only chance among the first-year players to get significant snaps on the field next season. But with O’Connell as Minnesota’s head coach now, every rookie will be given the opportunity to prove if they can make an impact for the team in 2022.