The Vikings are finally about to put something close to a real game on the field this week, and their preseason opener against the Giants on Saturday should offer a first look at a few roster fights worth tracking.
Kevin O’Connell has usually been cautious about putting starters out there in the preseason, but this summer has felt different. Minnesota has been guarded all offseason, despite the nonstop stream of minicamp chatter and the heavy attention on public practices.
The team has even gone as far as removing fans who record parts of sessions for social media. With that backdrop, Week 1 of the preseason should tell us a little more than usual.
The quarterback room remains the headline act, but the deeper battle is for QB3. After weeks of speculation, Kyler Murray was named QB 1 with J.J.
McCarthy serving as QB2. That leaves Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer fighting for the next spot, and Wentz still looks like the safer bet.
He stepped in capably during his spot starts last season, but he is another year older and is coming off another season-ending injury, which only adds to the long injury history that follows him around. Brosmer, meanwhile, looked like an undrafted rookie last season, struggling to move the offense and piling up some borderline comical turnovers.
With Murray and McCarthy both carrying injury histories, this fight matters more than it might first appear.
There’s also a lot to sort out on the edge. After trading Jonathan Greenard on Day 2 of the draft, Minnesota was expected to add another pass rusher, and while Andrew Van Ginkel and Dallas Turner are almost certainly the Week 1 starters, the depth chart behind them is unsettled.
Rookie second-round pick Jake Golday has turned heads in camp by working both as an edge rusher and inside linebacker, while Bo Richter and Chaz Chambliss are also in the mix for backup work. This battle is really about whether Golday can lock down the main reserve role on the edge.
If he can’t, the Vikings may need to dip into the veteran free-agent market for more help. The backups should get plenty of snaps in the opener, which gives them a chance to show the front office the room can stand on its own.
Then there’s RB3, where the Vikings have an intriguing decision to make. Wake Forest back Demond Claiborne, a sixth-round pick, has drawn plenty of attention, and the “Diet Achane” nickname from multiple draft scouts only added to the buzz.
Claiborne brings big-play appeal, but there are real questions about whether his smaller frame and style will translate at the NFL level. On the other side is Zavier Scott, the 27-year-old wideout-turned-running back who earned his way onto the roster picture with an impressive preseason last year.
That run helped Minnesota keep four backs for Week 1, and Scott eventually passed Ty Chandler as the third running back. The Vikings now have to balance Scott’s experience against Claiborne’s upside when they make the call.
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