Vikings Territory: Position Battles To Watch At Vikings Training Camp

Press release from Vikings Territory:

July 27, 2021

Football is almost here folks, just a little more until a football flies across Canton for the Hall of Fame game. Besides that, training camp is just around the corner. With that, conversations now turn into position battles, and the Vikings have some good ones. Without further ado, let’s get into it.

the team signed Dede Westbrook

After the departure of Kyle Rudolph, Irv Smith Jr. looks poised for a breakout season. Even though the TE group wasn’t properly utilized this past few seasons, I firmly believe Klint Kubiak will find plenty of ways to put the ball on Irv’s hands. Besides Smith, the winner of the battle between Chad Beebe, Bisi Johnson, and Westbrook will have his fair amount of touches as well. If Dede manages to play as he did before his ACL injury, he’s the favorite. Also, how quickly he learns the offense and develops solid chemistry with the other players will be really important. At the start of the season, we’ll probably have Irv and Dede sharing this role. Also keep an eye on KJ Osborn, as he received a lot of praise during OTAs and minicamp.

Dantzler had a very good rookie season but also battled with some injuries. Breeland also lost some games last year. These two are the ones getting more attention, but Hand did really well earlier in the offseason. If he can build on that, Zimmer will have a tough decision to make and I think he will be happy with that. Healthy, this should be Dantzler’s job to lose, and this will be a last-second decision by the coaching staff.

After losing Marcus Sherels in 2019, the Vikings have tried to find a replacement. The first was Ameer Abdullah, but it didn’t pan out. During last year’s Draft, they selected KJ Osborn, but it also didn’t work and he lost the returner job during the season. Beebe replaced him and – you got it – it was also a no. For this season, the rookies Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Kene Nwangwu are the ones with a chance. Nwangwu should claim the kickoffs, whilst Ihmir returns punts. However, the front office also brought players with returning experience. You can debate it it’s a good idea, but Pat Pete was an excellent returner back in the day, and, if all goes wrong (we’re talking about the Vikings, so there’s always a chance), he can return a punt occasionally. Breeland also had some returns earlier in his career.

This press release was produced by Vikings Territory. The views expressed here are the author’s own.