The Minnesota Vikings have a regular season game to play this upcoming Sunday as they take on the New York Giants at Met Life Stadium on Sunday, September 8th. The excitement around the country is palpable and Vikings fans are incredibly excited to see their team take the field.
Leading up to the game, there will be multiple angles to take a look at and the first one has dropped. The Vikings released their first depth chart of the season and there were some intriguing aspects to look at.
Cornerback depth is veteran heavy
The cornerback room is really interesting. After the tragic passing of Khyree Jackson and Mekhi Blackmon suffering a torn ACL in July, the Vikings needed a quick pivot and turned to multiple veterans. Fabian Moreau and Stephon Gilmore were signed to provide depth and support. They didn't just get signed to be on the roster, they are going to play.
Gilmore is listed as a starter and Moreau is on the second team. Due to both of those players coming in and providing support, that dropped Akayleb Evans down to the third team. It's quite the fall for Evans, who was a starter the majority of last season as a second-year cornerback. This isn't the end of the road for Evans, but it is certainly quite a fall.
Tight end has a new starter
This one is interesting. T.J. Hockenson is still on the physically unable to perform list and Josh Oliver is listed as the starter. What's interesting here is that Oliver is listed as the starter and not Johnny Mundt. Why is that interesting? Oliver is still going to be in his role while Mundt is going to play in Hockenson's role.
Will Oliver actually get more reps and usage? After Hockenson went down last year, Mundt just took over for Hockenson and nothing changed with Oliver's role. That element is going to be intriguing to see how head coach Kevin O'Connell utilizes his personnel.
WR3 is still in limbo
We know that Jalen Nailor was the best receiver of those competing for the WR3 job. However, the depth chart doesn't single him out as the WR3. He is listed on the second team with Brandon Powell.
Things are a little bit more interesting because Nailor was spotted at practice on Monday working off to the side and not practicing with the team. Is he injured? That would be a major blow, especially considering that Nailor has dealt with multiple injuries during his short career.
OL depth is situated
The interior of the offensive line was a question mark from the start of training camp. The Vikings signed Dalton Risner with hopes that he would push the interior guys. Due to injure, that didn't happen. Risner is on injured reserve and will miss the first four games at minimum.
Without Risner as a backup, the question was how the interior would stack up with Michael Jurgens and Dan Feeney. The latter ended up being listed as the backup center with Jurgens at left guard. Feeney is probably the first off the bench though as he's the veteran in this offense.
