Vikings at Rams Depth Chart Preview
Oct 23, 2024 21:42:59 GMT -6
Reignman, Funkytown, and 3 more like this
Post by Danchat on Oct 23, 2024 21:42:59 GMT -6
Only 4 days after barely losing their first game, the Vikings have to face a middling Rams squad who are the first in a line of mediocre teams they face the next month. Will they topple the Rams or get handed their first "trap" loss of the season?
Injury Report
Vikings
ILB Cashman - Out
CB Evans - Questionable
TE Hockenson* - Questionable
G Risner* - Questionable
Rams
ILB Reeder - Out
DT Fiske - Questionable
WR Whittington - Out
DT Gallimore - Questionable
T Noteboom - Out
WR Nacua* - Questionable
Point Spread: MIN -3
SuperSim Calculated Point Spread: MIN -2.5
* My Thoughts
* The Rams O-line is out of depth and down to a UDFA rookie and a 5th rookie at LG/C, but they can still run block well. Kyren Williams is getting 99% of the RB touches and shutting him down has to be the primary mission of the defense. If they can get them to be one dimensional, the pass rushers will feast as this OL sucks at pass blocking.
* Kupp is the only difficult weapon to cover, but McVay is good at scheming his no-name WRs open. Whittington was playing incredibly well for a 7th rounder, but is out. I highly doubt Nacua plays. Parkinson is a nice blocker but only a safety valve in the passing game.
* The Rams run defense has been a bottom 3 unit, and their plan at ILB has been one of the strangest I've ever seen. They traded away Ernest Jones for a 5th rounder despite being a quality player in his prime and turned to two special teamers to play ILB and it has spectacularly failed. Reeder wasn't good enough to make the Vikings roster a year ago as a special teamer. Hummel and Speights haven't played a single snap this year so I have no idea what their plan is.
* LA's secondary is passable, but shouldn't be able to cover the WRs plus Hockenson. Their pass rush is fine and has some up-and-coming young players, but they sorely miss Aaron Donald.
* As an aside, the Rams seem willing to bench players more than other teams. LG Bruss was benched for a UDFA despite being a former 2nd rounder (looking at you, Vikings!
), and former All-Pro CB Tre'Davious White was benched for Witherspoon.
* The Rams also took a kicker in the 6th round this year, but Karty has missed 4 kicks to Reichard's 0.
* Also, having 16 rookies on a 53 man roster is wild. Can't remember the last time I saw so many rookies on a roster.
Prediction: Vikings 26, Rams 20
This past weekend's loss to the Lions doesn't change my views on the Vikings, and I think they should be able to overpower the Rams with the talent differential as it is. Weird things can happen on Thursday night (usually more injuries...), but I like the defense's matchup against this offensive line. While Cashman still being out hurts, their run game isn't on the same level as Detroit and shutting that down will cause their passing game to suffer. Offensively, this is the perfect game to let Jones loose and watch him go for 100+ yards against a bad run defense, and then take advantage of their middling DBs with decisive strikes to our WRs. McVay is liable to pull a rabbit out of his hat, but I expect the better team to win.
Any thoughts?
Injury Report
Vikings
ILB Cashman - Out
CB Evans - Questionable
TE Hockenson* - Questionable
G Risner* - Questionable
Rams
ILB Reeder - Out
DT Fiske - Questionable
WR Whittington - Out
DT Gallimore - Questionable
T Noteboom - Out
WR Nacua* - Questionable
Point Spread: MIN -3
SuperSim Calculated Point Spread: MIN -2.5
* My Thoughts
* The Rams O-line is out of depth and down to a UDFA rookie and a 5th rookie at LG/C, but they can still run block well. Kyren Williams is getting 99% of the RB touches and shutting him down has to be the primary mission of the defense. If they can get them to be one dimensional, the pass rushers will feast as this OL sucks at pass blocking.
* Kupp is the only difficult weapon to cover, but McVay is good at scheming his no-name WRs open. Whittington was playing incredibly well for a 7th rounder, but is out. I highly doubt Nacua plays. Parkinson is a nice blocker but only a safety valve in the passing game.
* The Rams run defense has been a bottom 3 unit, and their plan at ILB has been one of the strangest I've ever seen. They traded away Ernest Jones for a 5th rounder despite being a quality player in his prime and turned to two special teamers to play ILB and it has spectacularly failed. Reeder wasn't good enough to make the Vikings roster a year ago as a special teamer. Hummel and Speights haven't played a single snap this year so I have no idea what their plan is.
* LA's secondary is passable, but shouldn't be able to cover the WRs plus Hockenson. Their pass rush is fine and has some up-and-coming young players, but they sorely miss Aaron Donald.
* As an aside, the Rams seem willing to bench players more than other teams. LG Bruss was benched for a UDFA despite being a former 2nd rounder (looking at you, Vikings!
), and former All-Pro CB Tre'Davious White was benched for Witherspoon. * The Rams also took a kicker in the 6th round this year, but Karty has missed 4 kicks to Reichard's 0.
* Also, having 16 rookies on a 53 man roster is wild. Can't remember the last time I saw so many rookies on a roster.
Prediction: Vikings 26, Rams 20
This past weekend's loss to the Lions doesn't change my views on the Vikings, and I think they should be able to overpower the Rams with the talent differential as it is. Weird things can happen on Thursday night (usually more injuries...), but I like the defense's matchup against this offensive line. While Cashman still being out hurts, their run game isn't on the same level as Detroit and shutting that down will cause their passing game to suffer. Offensively, this is the perfect game to let Jones loose and watch him go for 100+ yards against a bad run defense, and then take advantage of their middling DBs with decisive strikes to our WRs. McVay is liable to pull a rabbit out of his hat, but I expect the better team to win.
Any thoughts?
