I spent the last week in Mankato watching the Vikings training camp closely, and it didn’t take long to notice the changes that have been made from last season to now.
New head coach Mike Zimmer runs no nonsense practices that are quick paced, and to the point. No wasted movement, during the two-hour practices, where Zimmer tries to simulate game like situations and speed to the best of their ability. While I’m not comparing the tempo to something you’ll see in Philadelphia with Chip Kelly. it is a breath of fresh air to watch the unfolding of a new era in Minnesota under Zimmer, with the attitude he’s implemented.
Competition at every position, that’s been the theme written in bold letters and large font throughout the first week. Watching Zimmer shuffle in players with the first, second, and third team has been a bit of a surprise at times, but sticks true to his motto that will help him find the best 53-man roster by the end of camp. Zimmer clearly inherited this team with no previous notions of any players besides the obvious (Adrian Peterson, etc), forcing every player to “re-earn” their spot on the team, and establish their role in different schemes.
This couldn’t have been any more clear when cornerback Marcus Sherels lined up on the outside with the first-team unit, during the teams nickel formation. Last year under Leslie Frazier, Sherels never made it past the fourth-cornerback spot on the depth chart, playing sparingly in the dime package, but under Zimmer every player will be given their chance to prove their worth and carve out a role on the team.
Harry and Who?
After Robert Blanton took a large part of the first-team reps this spring and OTAs, the second safety position opposite of Harrison Smith seemed to be his to lose. However, Blanton suffered a hamstring injury during practice and has forced him out of action.
While the injury isn’t considered too serious, Blanton is likely to be sidelined at least a couple weeks, meaning the position will be wide open again with plenty of players vying for one spot. Last year’s starter Jamarca Sanford played second fiddle to Blanton this spring, but now has seen snaps with the first team again, while his counterpart Mistral Raymond has seen more playing time with the ones than even Sanford.
Confused Yet?
Rookie Antone Exum, who has made the switch form cornerback to safety since being drafted and has also gotten reps with the first team, in the base 4-3 defense. Ziimmer clearly likes Exum’s support in the run game which is why he was seen with the base defense, which is considered more of a run-stopping formation.
Add to the mix free agent signing Kurt Coleman, and Andrew Sendejo who is returning form a back injury, and you’ve got yourself a full blown safety competition with six players competing for one spot. Keep in mind however, Zimmer has deployed packages that have displayed three-safeties on the field at one time, making the value of the position even more important in his defense. I’ve also seen Zimmer work vigorously with the secondary on their man-coverage skills, just another sign telling us that this defense will force the safeties to be versatile in multiple facets.
But, Wait!
34-year old veteran Chris Crocker was added to the mix when the Vikings release defensive-end Rakim Cox. The odd timing of the acquisition tells us the team could know more about how serious Blanton’s hamstring injury really is.
The thing to keep in mind however, is Crocker’s experience with Zimmer and his defense when he played in Cincinnati. Crocker knows this system and will be able to be a vocal cord or communication to everyone in the secondary which is something coach Zimmer wanted all along.
“To be honest we’ve been planning it for awhile now.” Zimmer said in a press conference the day the team released the news regarding Crocker.
While it may be too early to connect-the-dots as too why the team decided to bring in Crocker now, we do know the fight for a limited amount of roster spots in the back of the defense just got a whole lot tighter.
Linebacker Daze
The linebacker position is no more settled than it was when the team started camp, more so even going back to last season when the team shuffled in a slew of players at the position. Like numerous other units, Zimmer has gotten a good look at almost every linebacker, in every position, in every scheme, dating back to spring practices when Chad Greenway saw time at the middle linebacker spot. While that experiment seems to be over, with Greenway lined up as the starting weak-side linebacker in the majority of formations, the rest of the unit continues to be evaluated at multiple positions.
Second-year player Gerald Hodges stepped up in a big way in Saturday nights practice, and helped him self more than any other player at his respective position, setting himself apart from his peers. Hodges played a lot with the second-team during the first-week with Audie Cole, but was plugged into the starting spot in the nickel formation. Hodges was in the backfield early and often during practice under the lights, and displayed the athleticism flying to the ball carrier that intrigued Rick Spielman enough to draft him in the fourth-round of last year’s draft. After Saturdays performance, Zimmer will be hard pressed to keep Hodges off the field, especially in passing situations.
With Hodges excelling in the nickel next to Chad Greenway, one plausible scenario to keep Anthony Barr on the field, will be to put his hand in the dirt on the defensive line. The Vikings first-round pick Barr has gotten snaps with the first, second, and third team throughout camp, with the coaches trying to get him as many reps as possible. Barr has flashed big play ability throughout camp, but is still miles away from his true potential, and being able to play without overthinking too much during the play. Vikings fans can rest easy though, as Zimmer has spent a lot of his time with Barr, making it a priority to help develop the ultra-athletic specimen, and it is already proving dividends on the field.
With Hodges jumping into the nickel-rotation with the first and second team, to my surprise its been Michael Mauti who has has seen his reps diminish thus far. Mauti played briefly last season as a rookie, after suffering three-torn ACL injuries in college at Penn State. With him seemingly fully healthy and recovered, his lack of playing time has been a surprise to many who have followed the position closely. Mauti has even been supplanted behind rookie Brandon Watts, who was seen with the second team units throughout the week, while Mauti spent his time with the third team.
See a theme here? Zimmer has a history for plugging in his most athletic players with less experience, over his less athletic players who may have more knowledge and understanding of the game at this point. Clearly the case here with linebackers like Hodges and Watts leapfrogging Mauti. Of course being just one full week into camp, things are still very fluid, with Zimmer taking this time to simply assess his players at what they do best.
As of now, the Vikings base 4-3 defense has Barr, Greenway, and Jasper Brinkley lined up, while in the nickel we’ve seen Greenway and both Barr, and Hodges on the outside.
Quarterback Carousel
Don’t expect much to change in terms of the team announcing who their starting quarterback will be week one. A continuing and ongoing process that is sure to stretch out through the first three-preseason games, while Norv Turner continues to work diligently with both Matt Cassel and Teddy Bridgewater in terms of installing his playbook, and the proper mechanics.
As of now, neither quarterback has officially separated himself from the other after a full week of practice, but each quarterback has done things better than his peer, and vice versa. Cassel continued to be a game manager of sorts, being some what cautious with the ball, and making the safe throw, up until tuesday. On my count Cassel only has one interception thus far, and while he showed hesitance to push the ball down the field, the last two practices were by far his best.
On Thursday, Cassel started practice how he finished the day before, rifling balls in-between the hashes with precision and timing. Cassel completed intermediate and deep balls to Corderrelle Patterson, Jerome Simpson, and Kyle Rudolph at some point in practice, giving the fans what they drove down to Mankato to see.
Before then, many of Cassel’s dump offs and check downs may have been by design, while his counterpart had been much more willing to take a shot when he saw one, for good and for bad.
Bridgewater has shown the poise we saw on film from his Louisville days, looking quick and efficient in both his drop backs and reads. His quick decision making has been on display when he steps up in the pocket and pushes the ball downfield. Much like Cassel, Bridgewater is still learning a new playbook, but is also trying to adjust to the speed of the NFL and has already learned how fast his windows close at the next level.
Teddy had thrown five interceptions up until yesterdays practice, when he threw one early on, and then had one bounce off Hodge’s hands in the final red zone drill of the day. This was Teddy’s second interception in the red zone and will need to limit those mistakes if he wants to start by week one.
However, given the fact that Teddy has already showed the confidence to throw the ball down the field, giving his playmakers a chance to work their magic after the catch, is something that should be looked at as an advantage so far over Cassel, and last years starter Christian Ponder.
When asked if he was nervous for his first NFL game Teddy in a calmly manner replied,”No not at all, infact Xavier Rhodes said he was more nervous for me than I was.”
Formation Yahtzee
The amount of different formations, packages, and scheme designs both coaches have ran (but specifically Zimmer on the defensive side of the ball) will make your head spin. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve caught myself in a daydream on the sideline about me running through the dorm rooms to find and snatch the coaches film of practice, like Aladdin stealing a loaf of bread. Getting your hands on that tape would answer a lot of unknown questions, like what the official depth chart actually looks like, and just how many different sub-packages this different defense has ran, just one week into camp.
So far though I have seen everything from a three-safety set in the backfield to a “Nascar” type package upfront on the defensive line. The defense has ran both a four-down lineman look, as well as a three-down lineman that featured Everson Griffen and Brian Robison on the outside, with Linval Joeseph in the middle. That three-down lineman look was in a 3-3-5 package, meaning the team plugged in an extra cornerback, after taking out a defensive tackle.
Im not gutsy enough to guess how far along Zimmer is when it comes to installing his playbook and different packages, but if I were to guess, I think he’s only scratched the surface.
Game Manager
Rick Spileman sat down with Zimmer this week to discuss the importance of crucial game situations, things like calling timeouts, using challenges, and playing common sense football at critical points in the game.
Yesterday, when Spielman watched practice from the opposite end of the field, Zimmer explained the simulated situation with 10 seconds left on the clock, instructed his defensive players to keep the ball carrier inbounds. The attention to detail and tightening of the preverbal screws, is exactly what kind of discipline the team lacked last year under Leslie Frazier.
Nightlife
After the afternoon practice is when I like to catch up with players to get an assessment of how the day went. After our lengthy discussions of football related information I try and get a gage of what their plan is for the rest of the night.
“Eat and sleep, then do it all over again,” was cornerback Xavier Rhodes response with a stern look. However, the majority of players said they like to unwind and try to take their mind off of football for an hour or two before bed, with some Xbox or Netflix.
While “Fifa” seemed to be the clear favorite video game of choice, supported by Blair Walsh and others, “House of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black” was the consensus shows thats been running throughout the dorm rooms.
Early Winners
After one full week in pads some players who have made the most plays and have earned the praise form coaches have been; linebacker Gerald Hodges, cornerbacks Jabari Price, and Derek Cox, and wide receiver Adam Thielen.
Early Losers
Jamarca Sanford was an early loser after the former starter lost his spot to Robert Blanton, however, with Blanton now sidelined he has a big opportunity to gain his spot back again, slapping Blanton back with the “loser” tag.
Michael Mauti seems to be a forgotten man, as the highly instinctual linebacker has plummeted down the depth chart for players like Gerald Hodges and rookie Brandon Watts. If Zimmer’s philosophy continues to keep pace, Mauti will eventually get his opportunity with the first and second-team to show coaches what he can bring to the team. Still surprising to see him have to wait his turn for some of the names in front of him.
Cornerback Josh Robinson was already in a lightly pressured situation heading into this year, as he struggled in the slot last season. When coaches moved him to the outside he responded nicely, until a hamstring injury has now forced him to sit out. In his place has came Marcus Sherels who has filled in admirably, and although undersized always seems to get his job done.
What to Expect Moving Forward
The team’s first game will come this Friday night against the Oakland Raiders at 7pm Central time. Coach Zimmer has been persistent with his approach to the game with the media, saying the games sole purpose will be to continue to create competition and evaluate his players. Sure it would be nice to win, but getting the bottom half of the roster more playing time, and most importantly staying healthy, is what to expect out of the Vikings first preseason game.