6 Vikings in Line for Increased Roles in 2015

It’s fair to say that the Minnesota Vikings were not active early on in free agency. While that’s disappointing from the perspective of an eager fan who is starved for updates, it’s great news for current Vikings who are queued up to have big roles in the upcoming season.

While the draft and the next set of free-agency signings will certainly change things for many of the personnel, the roster as it stands now contains a lot of opportunity and turnover for some of the role players.

We’ll take a look at which characters on the roster are currently set to take on bigger roles for the Vikings this year, which isn’t a judgment of how good they are—merely where the roster is set.

Starters who lost snaps to in-season injury, like Brandon Fusco or Sharrif Floyd, don’t qualify, and neither do players who weren’t on the roster in 2014—after all, an increase implies some original level of involvement, even if it’s only on special teams. That means neither Shaun Hill nor Mike Wallace qualifies.

Andrew Sendejo, S

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Without a safety addition to the roster, the Minnesota Vikings look ready to roll with what they have on the roster. While that would presumably mean Robert Blanton, Andrew Sendejo nudged him out of the starting job late in the season with a solid showing in Detroit.

Though Sendejo finished the season without a stellar performance in the final game, a fully healthy offseason may give him the edge he needs to win the starting job outright from Blanton—after all, Sendejo couldn’t participate in offseason activities last year until training camp because of back surgery.

Sendejo has the advantage of lateral range and better downhill speed than Blanton, and he does a good job of maintaining depth as a deep-coverage safety. He did a better job than Blanton at getting tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage, and though he had some issues missing tackles on occasion, the net effect of Blanton’s inability to tackle runners when he met them—getting dragged for yards after contact—is worse than Sendejo’s occasional misses.

His limited showing on the field won’t be enough to judge him, however, especially as he made more high-profile mistakes than Blanton in coverage, though he made fewer mistakes overall. He could be primed to take over if the Vikings choose not to upgrade here.

Zach Line, FB

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If the Vikings were going to get rid of the fullback position, they would have released Zach Line by now. As it stands, they have him on the roster and look like they intend to use him, as they lost Jerome Felton to free agency after he activated a player option in his contract.

Norv Turner has used fullbacks every year he’s been a coordinator, with Chris Ogbonnaya (converted to halfback partway through 2013 because of injuries there) in Cleveland and a number of fullbacks in San Diego, including Curtis Brinkley, Jacob Hester, Mike Tolbert and Lorenzo Neal.

The Vikings haven’t been connected to a fullback in free agency, and though they may look for one in the draft (or undrafted free agency), there are no current plans to replace the only fullback on the roster.

Line had a highlight moment in the preseason with a 61-yard touchdown, though he hasn’t shown the Felton's blocking prowess. He has tough shoes to fill, but it looks like he may have to.

David Yankey, G

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With no snaps all season, it will be difficult to predict what the coaches think of David Yankey or what his eventual role will be.

It’s not quite the same as defensive end Scott Crichton's absence; substitute offensive linemen don’t see extra snaps in games very often if at all, and particularly not guards—extra snaps are often given to tackles who participate in jumbo packages at tight end.

Still, it’s hard not to question the ability of a player who couldn’t crack the top of a rotation that started the recently departed Vladimir Ducasse and shuffled through eight total offensive linemen due to injury. Because of Ducasse’s poor performance at right guard, he was demoted, while Joe Berger was promoted—until Ducasse stepped in for injury at left guard, a signal that the Vikings weren’t quite ready for Yankey to play.

All is not lost, however. Yankey’s absence would be expected—he was the third-string guard, after all—just like Brandon Fusco was his rookie year. If he’s added the strength that head coach Mike Zimmer wanted him to, then he could be poised to take over the guard spot.

Jarius Wright, WR

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With Greg Jennings gone and Mike Wallace unlikely to take over the slot role given his skill set, it will be up to Jarius Wright to take over the majority of the slot receiver duties for the Vikings. Wright has been underutilized in the past couple of years, and part of that has to do with Jennings simply being the best fit for the slot when the Vikings decided to run with three receivers.

Nevertheless, it’s only logical that the Vikings turn to Wright to fill the void they have in the slot, even though Jennings was a different type of player than Wright. Indeed, Turner said on KFAN that Wright would be expected to carry most of those duties in the slot, which should see him play significantly more than the 526 snaps he played last year, per Pro Football Focus.

Wright still has to work on cuts at the route stem but is otherwise an underrated route-runner with a lot of field speed. He has been impactful on the field and could be poised to break out soon in a big way, especially if the Vikings continue to feature three-receiver sets and focus their offense around Teddy Bridgewater.

Scott Crichton, DE

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Though seeing limited snaps last year, Crichton is poised to take over the primary rotational role from Corey Wootton, whom the Vikings are letting walk away as an unrestricted free agent.

His limited role should not necessarily be seen as a negative; the coaches have been reticent to put rookies out there. Aside from Anthony Barr, rookies Jerick McKinnon and Teddy Bridgewater only saw the field when the starters at their position were no longer available (though in McKinnon’s case, it’s fair to question whether or not he would have seen the field at all, given who was slated to start ahead of him).

Still, it’s not a good sign, and it’s open for questions. Analyses that focus on metrics are friendly to Crichton, as is film study, but he wasn’t stellar in the preseason. Further, the Vikings’ willingness to let Wootton go should be some indication they weren’t satisfied with Wootton’s play—which should have opened up opportunities for Crichton.

The fact that the Vikings are pursuing former defensive end George Selvie and were pursuing Michael Johnson, according to Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune, isn’t a good sign for Crichton, but they weren’t in on other pass-rushers, and their interest in Johnson may have been because of the “unique” opportunities general manager Rick Spielman referred to when discussing free agency.

Regardless, expect Crichton to have more snaps if only because he will need to be evaluated more, if not because they won’t grab a viable substitute.

Audie Cole, LB

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With Jasper Brinkley gone, one of the two linebackers who filled in for Chad Greenway or Anthony Barr when injured—Audie Cole and Gerald Hodges—will have to play the part, and Cole is much more of a middle linebacker. Though Hodges may also be set for a bigger role with the potential absence or demotion of Greenway, Brinkley’s absence is a certainty.

Until the Vikings fill that middle linebacker role in the draft or in the next wave of free agency, it looks like Cole may end up becoming an NFL starter.

Cole has outstanding size (6'5", 239 lbs) and length and pairs it with solid downhill speed. He’s an intelligent linebacker and made all the calls for the front seven at North Carolina State, transitioning well to the middle linebacker role in a different defense for the Vikings in 2013 and both “Sam” and “Will” linebacker roles for the Vikings in 2014. In zone coverage, he reads the quarterback well and general diagnoses the play correctly. His technique in breaking down tackles and tracking ball-carriers is very good, and he can disengage well from blocks.

On the flip side, Cole lacks fluidity and explosiveness, which limits his ability in man coverage and creates problems in zone coverage as he doesn’t jump to the ball well enough to be a threat, even in limited zone responsibility. He doesn’t navigate through traffic well and can get caught up with some strength issues at the point of attack. He also moves late after the snap.

A mixed bag, Cole can provide some upside in a limited middle linebacker role and so far figures to take that spot.