Vikings 2022 Training Camp

There was an extra level of energy to the fifth practice of Vikings training camp, and for good reason: this was the first day with pads on. Players still aren't fully tackling — the main goal is to keep everyone healthy — but the pads bring a level of physicality and intensity that otherwise isn't present.

“It’s the next phase of our evaluation when we put the pads on," defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said. "Really, we want to see the strength and power in our players. We also want to see the run-pass conflicts that show up as defensive players — the play-actions, the boots, and so forth. So we’re building reaction, and now we want to see what it looks like when they have to read pad level."

"We’re not taking anybody to the ground," he said. "So just be a little closer to them, a little thud with the pads, the guys feel it, guys be working the football. That’s really the only difference. Get a little closer, just a little more ‘pop’ in there."

There was plenty of pad-popping and punching at the football going on during Monday's practice. The pads being on also allows for the evaluation of offensive and defensive linemen to begin, both during 1-on-1 drills and team periods.

Let's get to the takeaways.

Defense owns (most of) the day

My overarching observation from watching the first padded full-team reps of this year's training camp was that the defense appears to be ahead of the offense, particularly up front. The first-team defensive line of Danielle Hunter, Za'Darius Smith, Harrison Phillips, and Dalvin Tomlinson (and sometimes Armon Watts, too) looked very strong. There were a few plays where the pocket closed down quickly on Kirk Cousins and he had to get rid of the ball or pull it down and take off. If this were real football, several of those would've resulted in sacks.

It was a similar story in the running game. Whether it was the 1s or the 2s, running lanes seemed to close up quickly. The D-line played a big role in that, as did linebackers Eric Kendricks and Jordan Hicks. There were also a few strips by the defense on Monday, although it's sometimes hard to tell if the ballcarrier is still fully engaged when those happen.

Of course, there were some big plays by the offense. Dalvin Cook broke a big run at one point and Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen made plenty of catches, as always. With the second-team, Ihmir Smith-Marsette had a big gain on a screen pass.

But for the most part, the offense struggled to get things done early on. The biggest defensive highlight was Kendricks making an athletic interception against Cousins on a short pass. Cousins and Cook failed to connect on a pitch at one point, and Cousins had several throws that were slightly off.

The more physical atmosphere in one-on-one and team drills hasn’t resulted in any fights, but the Vikings seemed close a few times as both the receiver/cornerback and offensive line/defensive line matchups saw some posturing and yelling after particularly animated reps.

The highlight takeaway from camp Monday might have been the successful two-minute drill from Kirk Cousins. He led the team down the field with passes to Zach Davidson, Bisi Johnson and Thielen before tossing a touchdown to K.J. Osborn. The pass was a dart to the near pylon that flew past the outstretched hands of Parry Nickerson to a diving Osborn for the score.

For the skill players in the passing game, we saw more to cement the top-three receiver group, as Osborn — one drop aside — continued to outperform the receivers below him on the depth chart. Clearly in the fourth receiver spot is Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who saw quite a few targets on the first and second teams. Smith-Marsette found himself open both deep and underneath, and the Vikings seem comfortable using him in a variety of roles that take advantage of his speed, not just as a guy who can reel in 30-yard bombs. That’s not to say Smith-Marsette didn’t have his fair share of deep-ball opportunities, and one of his highlights in one-on-ones saw him beat Hairston deep downfield for a touchdown.

The previous two summers, Jefferson had not been a particularly impressive practice player, instead reserving his best work for the games. This year, his highlights have extended into training camp, where Jefferson has been lighting it up. He has earned and won targets at every level of the field and seems good for at least one highlight catch a day that draws cheers from the offense and applause from the fans.

It has been fun to see, though it has led to some frustrating days for cornerbacks. While Patrick Peterson hasn’t shown up in any receiver highlight reels, to his credit, the rest of the cornerback group has. The worst of it might go to Cameron Dantzler, who is doing well in his non-Jefferson opportunities but has had trouble corralling the young Pro Bowler. Those non-Jefferson reps, though, might be enough to make his case as a starter. Monday, he took full advantage of the physicality and pushed around receivers at the line of scrimmage, earned a pass deflection against Thielen and forced a fumble in team drills.

We saw some highlights from Akayleb Evans, too, who earned an impressive pass deflection on a comeback against Osborn and generally performed well all day. Fellow rookie corner Andrew Booth was back in action after sitting out Saturday, though he might have caught more attention for his confidence than his performance. He didn’t play poorly, but his willingness to continue guarding Jefferson, Osborn and other established receivers is generally seen as a positive among the defensive back group and the coaches.

Given that cornerback is a position where embarrassment is always on the docket, an enormous degree of unearned confidence is almost a job requirement. After an impressive opening day of camp, Booth will have to do more to prove his play can match his talk — but it’s not a bad thing to see out of the gate.

Right now, Evans and Booth are running with the second team, and Harrison Hand seems to be the next cornerback on the depth chart. Given how the rookies have played so far, the Vikings may have more cornerback depth than we anticipated.

Along the trenches, we saw some real pass-rush reps in the one-on-ones. We saw Christian Darrisaw split reps against Hunter and Brian O’Neill handle Za’Darius Smith. When Hunter played against Oli Udoh in team drills, Hunter earned a clear set of wins, especially in the run game. That bodes well for the tackles likely to start for the Vikings, but the interior is concerning. Jesse Davis lost reps to Dalvin Tomlinson, and Garrett Bradbury was bowled over on consecutive reps by Harrison Phillips.

Armon Watts looked impressive in team reps but split individual reps with Ezra Cleveland. Among the backups on both lines, D.J. Wonnum and T.J. Smith impressed against Udoh and Austin Schlottmann, respectively.

Centers like Schlottmann and Bradbury are at a disadvantage in these drills because they are not typically tasked with one-on-one blocks while defending a large area of space without guard help, but it’s still concerning.

At linebacker, Kendricks had another impressive interception, while Troy Dye forced and scooped up a fumble. Tight end Johnny Mundt wasn’t as impressive as in previous practices, but we did see Davidson show out in the two-minute drill with two catches on the sideline for big gains that stopped the clock.

Defensively, the Vikings put together some interesting wrinkles, including a tight front look with a nose tackle directly over the center and both defensive ends on the inside shoulders of the opposing guards. They also showcased a look with one defensive lineman and two edges on the field, all crowded between the tackles. On the back end, they showed a look with six defensive backs with two linebackers in front of them.

This meant a look with Tomlinson, Za’Darius Smith and Hunter up front, linebackers Hicks and Kendricks in the middle and Dantzler, Peterson, Chandon Sullivan, Harrison Smith, Camryn Bynum and Josh Metellus in the secondary. Metellus and Sullivan played both slot roles in man coverage.

There are a number of ways to get three safeties on the field, and it looks like this is going to be a continued experiment for defensive coordinator Ed Donatell. On plays like this, we might see someone like Hicks blitz in order to send four rushers, and we’ve even seen Hicks and Za’Darius Smith exchange on blitzes, with Hicks rushing up the middle and Smith manning a middle zone in coverage.

While there is a valid concern that the defense might try to simplify coverages in its first year to account for the talent problems at cornerback, it seems like the coaches might make up for it by complicating things for the opposing offense with what they do up front.

As for the specialist battle, we didn’t get to see much from returners — only Osborn and Smith-Marsette participated in return drills — but we did get to see the punters duke it out. When asked about the punting battle, Daniels was enthusiastic about the team’s metrics.

“We’re charting every single punt, so at the end of this thing, for a guy we decided to keep versus the guy we decide to cut, we have the statistics to show the why behind what we’re doing,” he said.

From what we saw in Monday’s practice, Jordan Berry was more consistent in matching hang time, location and distance, while Ryan Wright punted short and out of bounds or deep without hang time. Given how few punts there are in practice and how much time there is left to go, this doesn’t tell us much, but it likely gives Berry the edge he needs to keep the job for now.

At kicker, Vikings fans can rest comfortably knowing that Daniels is confident in Greg Joseph, who has gone 33-of-35 in his field goal opportunities in camp. Daniels says Joseph is poised for the best year of his career. After all, when have Vikings fans ever been burned by a kicker having a banner year?

1. The battles up front

The Vikings boosted their defense early in free agency and the draft.

Veteran newcomers showed up in pass rush drills, with outside linebacker Za'Darius Smith and defensive lineman Harrison Phillips coming off the line quickly on their 1-on-1 pass rush reps. Dalvin Tomlinson, a 2021 addition in free agency, also showed power during the period.

The group created some havoc up front during the team period, clogging running lanes and pressuring the pocket but maintaining the discipline needed to protect teammates at the quarterback position.

2. Kendricks is pretty special in this defense, too

One of the best catches of the day was turned in by linebacker Eric Kendricks.

The linebacker dropped into coverage, read the play and reacted by stepping in front of tight end Johnny Mundt for an interception of Kirk Cousins.

Kendricks closed on the ball with lightning quickness and secured the catch as he went to the ground.

It was a sign that the instincts he's shown as a 4-3 middle linebacker have carried over to Minnesota's new system under Defensive Coordinator Ed Donatell.

3. Red zone work and a long drive

The Vikings pitted their second-team offense against their first-team defense for a bit of work in the red zone.

Kellen Mond lined up at quarterback for two plays before Sean Mannion took two with the second team.

The first play for each QB in the sequence was a handoff.

Mond's completed a pass to Ihmir Smith-Marsette on his next snap, a third-and-4 from the 12. It appeared safety Camryn Bynum might have been able to tackle Smith-Marsette shy of the sticks.

Mannion completed a 7-yard touchdown to Albert Wilson on third-and-goal from the 7 with his opportunity.

Cousins did well with the first-team offense during the red zone period.

He calmly navigated the pocket on a first-and-goal from the 7 to allow Adam Thielen to break free for a touchdown that Cousins expertly lofted with great accuracy. Cousins then put another pass on the money for a catch by K.J. Osborn on third-and-goal from the 4.

Minnesota closed the practice with an end-of-half situation.

Zach Davidson stepped in and caught three passes for gains of 10, 7 and 3, and Thielen peppered in an 11-yard reception between Davidson's first two catches of the drive.

Eric Kendricks has played in exactly 100 games over his seven years in the NFL. Anthony Barr was alongside him for 86 of those. During that time, the two UCLA products formed a remarkable bond. They had the football version of friends who have been close for so long that they finish each other’s sentences. Adding to their chemistry was the fact that they had the same coach and same system each year, which eventually made training camp a formality.

This year Kendricks is being asked to adjust to a different linebacking partner and adapt to a new system for the first time in his career.

The Vikings could have gone with a player who has been on the roster in recent years to keep continuity — after all, they have drafted three linebackers within the first four rounds since 2020 and Blake Lynch played 218 snaps last year. Instead they elected to sign veteran Jordan Hicks rather than leaving Kendricks with an inexperienced player next to him.

“We were in the middle of a meeting when we found out [about Hicks signing],” GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said when Hicks was introduced. “We literally stopped the meeting and KO turned to me and said, ‘I didn’t like playing against that guy.’ Sometimes it’s really not more difficult than that. He’s an incredible player, great in space.”

Nothing will replicate the Barr-Kendricks relationship. In fact, there might not be anything like it in the entire league where any combo of players is together for that long outside of maybe receivers and QBs. But Kendricks has to make new friends in this refreshed environment.

“We definitely see things the same way,” Kendricks said following Monday’s practice. “We both were playing 4-3 for a while so… we see the gap exchanges the same ways. Our progression reads are very like-minded. Things that make sense to us, they make sense to both of us. Things that don’t make sense usually we can agree on that as well.”

Hicks and Kendricks came into the league the same year and the 2015 third-round pick of the Eagles has played a ton of football since then. Per PFF, 5,600 snaps worth. He’s been one of the healthiest players in the NFL with over 1,000 snaps in each of the last three seasons and he’s been in multiple defensive schemes after starting with Philly and signing with Arizona in 2019.

There have been years where he blitzed often and years where he covered more. There have been years where he played on great defenses and other years where it was a struggle. At a position where offenses are constantly trying to create coverage conflicts and confusion for the linebackers, having seen it all is worth its weight.

“You don’t often get to play next to somebody who has the experience, the talent and the ability to see things the same way,” Hicks said. “To have all three for both of us is a lot of fun…we’re trying to get a feel for each other and how we play, how our instincts play a role in what we see and as the season comes it’ll be good.”

Hicks said that Kevin O’Connell’s offense in particular acts as great preparation for what’s to come. With its roots in Sean McVay’s L.A. Rams system, there’s a great deal of motion and lots of tricky formations.

“Being put in tough positions that our offense puts us in… we’re lucky to be able to go against this offense,” Hicks said.

In previous years, there were times during training camp in which the defense was so familiar with Mike Zimmer’s system and the personnel that the offense would get frustrated. Now Kendricks and Hicks are figuring out how to learn and grow within the system through the times they have success and failure.

“Maybe we get beat on something but we both know at the same time why we got beat and then we get another chance and we get a different look at it and it’s like OK let’s talk about that now,” Kendricks said. “Each day we’re out here we’re getting beat but we’re also making plays and they are all things to talk about regardless and that communication off the field as well as adjustments on the field is very important. We both have the same lingo, we are both eight years in the league so we know what’s going on.”

The Vikings participated in their first day of padded practices on Monday. Those will be particularly big for the Kendricks-Hicks relationship. With veterans unlikely to see much time (if any) in preseason games, the next few weeks of work with the pads on will be where the new Vikings linebacker bond is formed.

“We can’t effectively do our job if pads aren’t on and it’s not real football,” Hicks said.