Vikings Training Camp Recap, Day 10: D.J. Wonnum Steals Show at U.S. Bank Stadium
For their 10th practice of training camp, the Vikings took things away TCO Performance Center and gave the rookies and other newcomers their first experience playing inside U.S. Bank Stadium.
With thousands of fans packing one side of the lower bowl — making it the biggest crowd at this stadium since the final game of the 2019 season — the Vikings went about their normal business. This was just another practice for them, but there's no doubt that the venue and the crowd added a little something extra to wrap up Week 2 of camp.
Anthony Barr was out for the second straight practice, meaning he's missed three of the past four. Not sure what that's about. Justin Jefferson, one day after getting good news on an injury that looked bad in real time, was on the sidelines in a hoodie, smiling and enjoying the afternoon with his teammates. Adam Thielen also didn't do much. With Dede Westbrook still hurt and Myron Mitchell on the COVID-19 list, the Vikings were down to just six available wide receivers.
Christian Darrisaw didn't take any live reps. Every day that he misses increases the odds of Rashod Hill starting the regular season at left tackle.
Here are my takeaways from up in the press box.
D.J. Wonnum makes the play of the day
I've mentioned before in these recaps that the Vikings have been experimenting with lining D.J. Wonnum up as an off-ball linebacker. That allows them to have three defensive ends on the field at once, with Danielle Hunter and Stephen Weatherly typically being the other two. From there, he can drop into coverage, be used as a blitzer, or play the run. Wonnum and other DEs have also been asked to fall back into coverage when lining up at their typical spot on the edge.
This tinkering has seemed to work well for most of camp, particularly with Wonnum. He's able to use his impressive mobility to be in the right position, regardless of what he's asked to do. On Saturday, we saw a perfect example of why the Vikings like getting the second-year South Carolina product out in space.
Lined up at DE with the second-team defense, Wonnum didn't rush the passer, instead dropping into a zone while Cam Smith and Myles Dorn blitzed up the middle. Smith got through to Jake Browning, who forced a quick throw to Blake Proehl out to the left. Except there was Wonnum, in perfect position to jump the route and take it the other way for a pick-six.
It was easily the highlight of Saturday's practice. Not a great throw by Browning obviously, but can you blame him for seeing a defensive end there and thinking he had a window to make the throw? This was just a great defensive play drawn up by Mike Zimmer.
Wonnum has had a really impressive camp. He's done well with the traditional duties of a DE — rushing the passer, maintaining contain in the run game — and this added versatility of being able to make plays in space will only help him see more playing time. When you have a 6'5", 258-pound player with 4.7 speed and good agility, you might as well find creative ways to use him.
Back in his senior year of college, Wonnum came a yard or so away from recording a pick-six.
“If he couldn’t run to stay with tight ends and running backs and receivers, you couldn’t do it," Andre Patterson said about the Vikings experimenting with Wonnum at LB. "So his athleticism. He’s smart, and now you have the opportunity to maybe get some mismatches where you get him on a back coming off the edge instead of having to rush against an offensive tackle."
Keep an eye on No. 98 going forward as the Vikings use him in a variety of ways.
More opportunities for depth receivers to impress
As I mentioned earlier, the Vikings only had six receivers out there for practice after entering camp with 11. On an unofficial depth chart, I'd rank the six in this order: K.J. Osborn, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Chad Beebe, Blake Proehl, Dan Chisena, Whop Philyor.
Osborn and ISM were the two out there with the starters when the live 11-on-11 portion of practice began. Beebe then came in when they needed a third receiver for 11 personnel. Smith-Marsette, the rookie from Iowa, has seemingly jumped the veteran Beebe on the depth chart. He just offers a lot more speed and versatility.
Osborn has been maybe the biggest breakout star of camp, but he didn't do a ton on Saturday. His chance for a big play on a deep ball came up empty when he couldn't quite run down the throw from Kirk Cousins after getting a half-step on Patrick Peterson.
Chisena, Proehl, and Philyor all had their moments too. Chisena probably led all receivers in total catches across 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 action, including a deep ball from Browning in 7s and a great intermediate out route that caused CB Tye Smith to slip. His athleticism is undeniable. However, he also dropped an easy catch on a WR screen and has failed to come up with plenty of catchable passes throughout camp.
I thought Proehl had a pretty solid day; he seems like a guy to keep around on the practice squad. Philyor had a few catches too. Here's a clip of Proehl (maybe) making a great toe-tap catch on the sideline, which I'm mostly including for the humorous Cousins celebration.
Is there finally a kicker competition brewing?
For all of camp up to this point, Greg Joseph has been the Vikings' only available kicker. The journeyman veteran has been decent, but not great. On Saturday, his competition finally showed up in the form of undrafted rookie Riley Patterson, who was activated off the PUP list a couple days ago.
Both kickers went 2 for 2 in live action. Joseph connected from 35 and 47, Patterson from 36 and 49. Prior to practice, Patterson made a couple deep ones, including a 56-yarder that hit the crossbar and bounced through.
That's something to watch over the final four practices of training camp and the three preseason games.
Other observations
- The run defense was much better today than it had been the past couple days. I didn't see any big runs broken, but it's worth noting that I don't think Dalvin Cook took any live reps. Dalvin Tomlinson and Michael Pierce are a tough duo to run on, and Armon Watts made some plays with the 2s. Ameer Abdullah did make some plays as a receiver out of the backfield, though.
- Danielle Hunter continues to be borderline unblockable, which isn't a surprise.
- Danny Etling made his case to be QB4 when Kellen Mond returns. He made a couple nice throws and also showed off his great athleticism on a pair of scrambles. He was better than Nate Stanley today, and his vaccination status might make that an easy choice anyways.
- This Zack Bailey pancake on Janarius Robinson deserves some appreciation.
- Kene Nwangwu got the first live rep at kick returner, which is notable. I think his speed and experience returning kickoffs at Iowa State should make him the best candidate for that job. Osborn and Abdullah took reps at punt returner, but that's Dede Westbrook's job when he gets healthy.
- Irv Smith Jr. and Oli Udoh, two of the better offensive players in camp, continued to impress.
After a day off on Sunday, we'll be back under the Eagan sun Monday through Thursday, with the Broncos in town for the final two practices of camp. Then it's back here for the preseason opener next Saturday at 3 p.m. central.
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