Xs & Os: Baldinger Says Wyatt Davis 'Looks the Part' in College Film

[Viktor]

Baldinger enjoyed what he saw from Davis back in 2019 when he was opening holes for J.K. Dobbins, who rushed for a whopping 2,003 yards and 21 scores on 301 rushes (6.7 yards per carry). Baltimore drafted Dobbins in the second round last year, and he delivered 805 yards and nine scores on 134 rushes as a rookie.


"Dobbins is excellent between the tackles … I watched him run behind No. 52, and he looks like he's running behind a Pro Bowl right guard," Baldinger said. "That's where I think [Davis] has the potential to go to, a Pro Bowl guard, right side or left side, depending on where the Vikings play him. That's what he looks like to me.


"He gets to the second level fine, moves people off the ball, manhandles people physically," Baldinger continued. "There's not a whole lot not to like about him, maybe, 'Can he run with guys as well as you'd like him to run with them?' Sometimes against elite quickness in athletes that he's going to see inside, you don't see those guys every Saturday in college football, so at some point he's going to have to get coached up and work on his steps just like everybody, but there's ways to improve that."


We asked Baldinger what "homework" he'd assign Davis to advance his development.


"With Wyatt, I think the really good guards in the league, if you're looking at a Joel Bitonio or a Quenton Nelson, you look at the elite guards in the league, they're pulling guards, they run power," Baldinger said. "I think Minnesota wants to be a power football team, pull [its] guards, so if I was Wyatt, I would learn how to pull right and left without giving anything away. I would have the same stance and depth without giving up my pull.


"He's in Minnesota, so you're going to go up against some elite defensive tackles like [Chicago's] Akiem Hicks," Baldinger added. "If [Hicks] sees you leaning or changing your body weight, he's going to read all of that and know what you're doing before you know what you're doing, so I'd really work on just having one stance and being able to do everything out of it."


Coachspeak: "Wyatt's got terrific size, he's got good movement, seems to be catching on really well with footwork and the things that we're doing, and he looks good in there so far."


— Zimmer during rookie minicamp


Film Breakdown: Former Vikings player and coach Pete Bercich, now a Vikings Radio Network analyst, looked at some of Davis' tape from Ohio State.