Vikings Training Camp Notes: Dantzler Continues to Impress on Day 4
Another day, another Vikings training camp practice in the books. The weather remains beautiful out at TCO Performance Center in Eagan, and there were plenty of interesting developments during the second padded practice of this year's camp.
If you haven't done so yet, make sure to get caught up on my takeaways from the first three days of practice.
Here's what stood out on Tuesday.
Dalvin Cook gets some reps in with the starters
Everyone has been curious to see how much work Dalvin Cook would do during camp while his agent and the Vikings continue to negotiate a potential contract extension. Early on, the answer was not a whole lot. Cook was seen off to the side a lot, working individually with a coach.
“We’re going to be smart with him," Mike Zimmer said. "We’re just trying to make sure that we continue to give him what he needs and get him ready for [September] 13th.”
Cook was a little bit more active on Tuesday than he had been in previous days. He began the first 11-on-11 period by taking a handoff and bursting through a hole on the left side. He only took one carry at a time, but ended up finishing with three carries and a reception during the entire session. When the running backs were doing individual drills, he was a full participant with the rest of his teammates.
There hasn't been any recent news on the extension front.
Cameron Dantzler continues to impress
Third-round pick Cameron Dantzler was the star of Monday's practice with his full-extension deflection of a Kirk Cousins deep ball. Co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson said he liked seeing that play, but now wants Dantzler to do it consistently.
“That’s exciting," he said. "Now the key is, ‘Can you keep doing it? Can you be consistent?’ All of those young corners are working hard and they’ve all got talent. The key now is, can they do it play after play after play?"
Well, apparently Dantzler can, because he got Cousins again on Tuesday. The Vikings' star quarterback dropped back on play-action and saw Bisi Johnson running open on a deep post down the field. But at the last minute, Dantzler ranged back and high-pointed the ball for an interception, causing his teammates to go crazy.
The hype train for the man known as 'The Needle' is almost starting to get out of control. But it's well-deserved; his length, ball skills, and instincts have all translated to the practice field.
It is worth noting that he got beat on a double-move by speedy wideout Alexander Hollins here. Still, that's nothing to be too concerned about. Hollins is a burner and there arguably should've been safety help over the top.
Lineman 1-on-1s were fun to watch, even with Hunter still out
Danielle Hunter got his third straight day off on Tuesday. Zimmer recently said he has a "little tweak." It doesn't sound like anything serious, but there's no reason to risk any aggravations; Hunter doesn't need much work in training camp to be able to dominate on Sundays.
Even with Hunter not out there, one of the most fascinating portions of practice were the 1-on-1s between the offensive and defensive linemen. A marquee matchup came between two starters: Ifeadi Odenigbo and Riley Reiff. It was won pretty handily by Odenigbo, who beat Reiff twice in a row – once on a spin move and once on an inside rush.
On the other side, Jalyn Holmes continued to replace Hunter with the first team. He struggled with Brian O'Neill, as can be expected.
Another interesting matchup was between Anthony Zettel and Ezra Cleveland. Zettel is listed as a defensive end, but appears to be working at three-technique defensive tackle. He easily got past Cleveland – who is still learning how to play guard – on the first rep, but the rookie impressively bounced back and stopped Zettel in his tracks on the following rep.
The Vikings' backup tackles, Rashod Hill and Oli Udoh, both looked quite good in 1-on-1s against the likes of Eddie Yarbrough and Stacy Keely. The rookies got some work in too, with Blake Brandel and D.J. Wonnum splitting wins and losses on a pair of reps. Wonnum had a very impressive spin move on the second rep to blow by Brandel.
On the interior, Pat Elflein got the best of Hercules Mata'afa a couple times and Garrett Bradbury was impressive. That's encouraging to see.
Additional notes
- Outside of Hunter, the only other players not practicing were G Dru Samia, TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart, and LB Ben Gedeon, who remains on the PUP list. Samia doesn't seem to be a factor in the competition at guard at all.
- The newest Viking, Hardy Nickerson Jr., was at practice wearing No. 47. Also in number news, D.J. Wonnum has switched from 57 to 98 (which was going to be Michael Pierce's number until he opted out).
- Dan Bailey is 7 for 7 on field goals in camp so far, which is always good.
- Third-string RB Mike Boone continues to impress me. His burst and decisiveness are excellent, and he's added some muscle this offseason.
- Justin Jefferson still looks good, although he did drop one catchable ball. He had a big play on a pass from Cousins during the team period.
- Rookie QB Nate Stanley made an excellent throw to Tyler Conklin, but also overthrew multiple receivers on deep balls. He seems to still be down at No. 4 on the QB depth chart.
- Chad Beebe made a few nice catches from the slot with the second team. He's super shifty over the middle of the field.
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