Monday Morning Mailbag: Training Camp Has Arrived

Viktor

Well-known member
Mar 19, 2019
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What defensive rookie do you think will have the biggest impact this upcoming regular season? Marcus Epps, Kris Boyd, Cameron Smith and Armon Watts all seemed to impress during the offseason, but I'm unsure how many chances they will get to play given how stacked and deep our defense already is!
-- Dan Paulos
Long Island, NY



Dan is correct that the defense is stacked. Essentially, the only starter who isn’t back is Sheldon Richardson, and he’s been replaced by a starting-caliber player in Shamar Stephen. So it will indeed be difficult for a rookie to significantly contribute as long as the starters remain healthy. The place to look, though, is at cornerback. While the Vikings are in good shape with their top three of Mackensie Alexander, Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes, the presumptive fourth and fifth cornerbacks are Mike Hughes and Holton Hill, respectively, and it’s possible Hughes will still be rehabbing early in the season while we already know Hill will miss the first four games of the season due to a suspension. From that standpoint, you have to look at both Boyd and Epps as rookies who have a shot to play on defense. I would also note that Cameron Smith should enter this conversation because he could challenge for playing time at linebacker and it’s likely he’ll be a core special teams player during his rookie season.
 
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