The Minnesota Vikings are going into their seventh full practice of training camp on Thursday night, with their first night practice at TCO Stadium.
These practices are more of a scrimmage than anything, giving the fans something fun and unique to watch. There will be fireworks and concert after the players leave the field, but what should you be watching for while the Vikings are practicing?
While watching practice, here are the six things that are worth keeping your eye on.
1. Jaren Hall in 11-on-11
The Vikings selected Jaren Hall in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft and he has shown the ability to throw the ball well in practice, but how he handles team drills is important for his development. How does he stay composed? Will he falter against Brian Flores’ blitz packages? Can he carve up the intermediate areas? This will show a lot about Hall’s progress throughout camp.
2. Wide receiver battle
The wide receiver battle for WR2 and WR3 is hotly contested, but the back end of the position group is also hotly contested.
K.J. Osborn and Jordan Addison have seemingly locked up WR2 and WR3, but the next 2-3 spots are going to be fascinating to see. Jalen Reagor has had a good camp and Brandon Powell has as well. If Trishton Jackson comes back from his injury and continues to perform well, it’s going to be a tough choice.
During practice, watching how these players perform is going to be key in how the depth chart ends up.
3. Mekhi Blackmon as the nickel
Early on in training camp, Joejuan Williams was getting the first-team nickel snaps. Once padded practices began, they went to Mekhi Blackmon. A third-round pick in April’s NFL draft, he possesses the skill set that Brian Flores wants to have in a man coverage cornerback. He has shown to be a really good prospect during training camp, but continuing that is important to give us confidence that he can do it during games.
4. Lewis Cine
The Vikings first-round pick in 2022, Lewis Cine only played two defensive snaps in his rookie season before breaking his leg against the New Orleans Saints. The plan was to start integrating him into the offense before the injury, but it never came to fruition. Cine has been firmly planted with the twos, but he has shown the ability to be the guy everyone believed he could be. How Cine performs and gets used will be really intriguing to watch.
5. Battle for RB2
Alexander Mattison is the top running back in this group, but how things shake out behind him has a lot of intrigue. Ty Chandler is my pick to win the job with his elite quickness and speed, but Kene Nwangwu has been getting the majority of second-team running back snaps and DeWayne McBride is arguably the best pure runner of the three. Seeing these three perform on all units of the offense is going to give us a good sense of what the Vikings have in these three.
6. Brian Flores' personnel groupings
The Vikings’ offense has struggled against Brian Flores’ defense, more specifically with his blitzes. They have been all over the place and attacked the offense from all angles, including Harrison Smith getting multiple sacks during Thursday’s practice. The defense always has the leg up early in training camp so it shouldn’t be a big surprise or concern, but the packages that Flores deploys is going to be a really fun aspect of practice.
