Vikings Starter in 2020 Added to Roster

Dakota Dozier has had one NFL season as a starter after entering the league in 2014 and spent most of last year on Minnesota's practice squad.

The Bears worked on their depth situation on the offensive line Wednesday  by signing Minnesota Vikings reserve guard Dakota Dozier for one year.

There is a little more at work here than just signing a reserve who was on the Vikings practice squad last year and had to be hospitalized for COVID-19 in November.

Dozier, 30, is very familiar with the wide zone blocking scheme, having been selected in the fourth round of the 2014 draft by the Jets, where he worked under line coach Rick Dennison. Dennison was an assistant under Mike Shanahan when the wide zone scheme and Shanahan-style offense developed.

Dozier also played in Minnesota when Bears quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko was with the Vikings.

The 6-foot-4, 312-pound lineman started one full season at left guard for the Vikings, in 2020. He was cut in August last season and then added back to the practice squad.

Dozier started 20 total games for the Vikings. He was with the Jets four years and started seven games. In all, he made appearances in 76 games.

Dozier experienced a rather unusual year starting for the Vikings in 2020. He did enough that he was able to earn $561.951 inperformance-based bonus, the highest total for a Vikings player that year.

However, Dozier's bonus play was based on availability, not production. He got it for starting all 16 games.

On the field, Pro Football Focus gave him a 36.7 grade as a pass blocker, the lowest mark in the NFL. He had a 44.6 overall grade.

The Bears had Bills restricted free agent guard Ryan Bates in for a visit on Tuesday and his fit would be more as a starting replacement for James Daniels, who left in free agency.

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