Vikings Training Camp Notes: Holton Hill Shines on Day 5
The Vikings were back at it on Wednesday with their fifth full practice of training camp, the third session with pads on. Things were a bit sloppy at times with dropped balls and missed assignments, but there were also plenty of encouraging moments from both the offense and defense.
Here are a few major takeaways.
Holton Hill looks like the Vikings' best cornerback
Holton Hill has always had talent.
As an 18-year-old true freshman at Texas playing in the first Big 12 game of his career, he took an interception 41 yards to the house. He had two pick-sixes, a blocked field goal touchdown, and six pass breakups as a junior. During his rookie year with the Vikings, he played in all 16 games, recorded a pick and seven breakups, and had an excellent PFF coverage grade of 75.9.
The issue has been with off-the-field stuff that has limited his ability to showcase that talent. Hill was benched for most of his sophomore year at Texas and saw his standout junior year cut short because of a suspension for violating team rules. Last year, looking to build off of a strong rookie campaign, Hill was hit with an eight-game suspension from the NFL (four for performance-enhancing substances, four for substances of abuse). It's no secret that marijuana has caused some problems for Hill in his football career.
If Hill can stay focused and out of trouble in 2020, he's got a chance to have a big-time breakout season. He had a very strong day on Wednesday, making two impressive, physical plays in coverage. First, Tajae Sharpe went up and caught a ball over him, but Hill was in perfect position and ripped the ball away as the two were falling to the ground. He was out of the back of the end zone, otherwise it would've been an interception. Not long after, Hill made another strong play with a breakup against Adam Thielen in the end zone.
Hill has great size at 6'2", 200 pounds with long arms. He also has 4.5 speed and good agility. He's a tough, physical corner who can be really sticky in man coverage. If he can put it all together, he has all the tools to be this team's No. 1 corner. Hill has been a starter at outside corner during all of camp.
It's well-known that Hill has been in Mike Zimmer's doghouse at times over the past couple seasons, so this recent quote from the Vikings' head coach was encouraging:
"He's done a good job," Zimmer said on Monday. "He's come back, seems to be a lot more mature this year. A lot more business-like. I told him the other day, his deal is that he has to prove he can be the same guy every day. He's done a pretty good job of that so far. As it starts getting longer into camp that will be the key. Holton has all the attributes you need at corner. Hopefully he'll continue to progress each and every day."
Irv Smith Jr. has up-and-down day
One of the most popular breakout candidates for the Vikings in 2020 is second-year tight end Irv Smith Jr. He's mostly been good throughout camp this year, but Smith had a slightly shaky day on Wednesday. He dropped a very catchable ball during a drill and then fumbled after a catch during one of the full team periods.
However, Smith bounced back immediately after the fumble by making a nice leaping grab in the end zone over safety Steven Parker. It's also worth noting that Smith was far from the only player to drop a ball or two on the day, as Brandon Dillon, Chad Beebe, and a few others let passes hit the grass.
Practice ended with a 1-minute drill that the offense couldn't convert
Throughout Wednesday's practice, the Vikings were continuing to try to create some game scenarios. They pumped in artificial crowd noise for 11-on-11s, and ended practice by setting up a 1-minute drill for the starting offense against the starting defense.
The situation: 1:05 on the clock, offense down 21-13 with two timeouts and 80 yards away from the end zone. Cousins hit Thielen and spiked the ball, then found Kyle Rudolph over the middle and called a timeout. Roughly half of the time had come off the clock and the offense had only gotten to about midfield. After two more short throws to Rudolph that Eric Kendricks seemed happy to concede, the Vikings were forced to go for a Hail Mary. Cousins' pass went out of the back of the end zone. The offense had only gotten to the 30-yard line and appeared to have wasted one of its timeouts. Better to get clock management issues out of the way in training camp, I suppose.
Additional notes
- Four players missed practice, not counting Ben Gedeon (PUP list): Danielle Hunter, Armon Watts, Nate Meadors, and Quartney Davis. Hunter and Watts were present but without helmets, while Meadors and Davis were not on the field at all. Dru Samia and Nakia Griffin-Stewart returned to action after missing Tuesday's session.
- Mike Hughes had another solid day, continuing a good camp for him. He intercepted Cousins at one point and almost always appears to be in good position.
- Right now, Jeff Gladney might be the odd man out of the starting lineup in the Vikings' nickel package. On Wednesday, it was Hill and Cameron Dantzler on the outside with Hughes in the slot. Gladney missed Friday's practice with a "flare-up" and might not be 100 percent as he continues recovering from offseason meniscus surgery.
- Kyle Rudolph was heavily involved in the 1-minute drill to end practice, and earlier caught a touchdown from Cousins at one point.
- Jalyn Holmes had a nice pressure off the edge during 11-on-11s. He has moved to defensive end this year, but interestingly also took a couple reps inside at DT.
- Dalvin Cook had a similar workload on Wednesday. News of his extensions talks breaking down didn't change anything in terms of his routine. He participated in RB drills, did some individual work off to the side like he's done every day so far, and took a couple carries during team periods.
- The UDFA highlight of the day was backup fullback Jake Bargas making a leaping grab on a wheel route against Blake Lynch. It was a heck of a play for the former North Carolina tight end.
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