Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Beyond Cleveland and Dozier, the Vikings also have guards Kyle Hinton, Dru Samia and Zack Bailey, the latter of whom they added to the practice squad in December.
Minnesota also acquired offensive lineman Mason Cole from the Cardinals via trade. Cole has played both guard and center during his NFL career.
Ask the analyst
Brian Baldinger is an analyst for NFL Network and one of the most well-respected voices on offensive line play across the league. He played 143 career games as an offensive lineman from 1982-93 with the Cowboys, Colts and Eagles.
A popular presence on social media for his “Baldy’s Breakdowns,” Baldinger's video cutups can be found at @BaldyNFL on Twitter. Baldinger recently chatted with Vikings.com to give his assessment on where Minnesota stands right now at the guard spot and how this year's group of draft prospects measures up to previous springs.
Contrary to many Vikings fans' opinions, Baldinger believes that Minnesota is in an OK spot with guard, depending on where Cleveland ends up. He opined that tackle could actually be the bigger need come draft day.
"I'm just saying if you leave Ezra [Cleveland] at right guard, then I think tackle is a big issue," Baldinger said. "If you say, 'Ezra is a left tackle and that's what we drafted him for and we're going to put him over there,' then guard can be a need. Dozier looked fine at left guard. If you're fine with putting Ezra at left tackle, I'd have to go see it first. But I'd say guard is not a pressing need at this point."
Asked which guards have the "highest ceiling" of this group, Baldinger emphasized that Trey Smith and Wyatt Davis (more on them later) stand out.
"They look like good football players," Baldinger said. "They're powerful, they're big, they bring their feet with them – they're not on the ground that much. I think both of those guys, and [Alijah] Vera-Tucker probably is going to be a Pro Bowl guard. I think those three guys all have a chance to be really good football players."
Expert rankings
NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah currently has three interior linemen in his overall Top 50: 15. G Alijah Vera-Tucker (USC), 40. OL Landon Dickerson (Alabama) and 44. C Quinn Meinerz (Wisconsin-Whitewater)
ESPN's Mel Kiper, Jr., has just one interior lineman in his overall Top 25: 10. Vera-Tucker