Image courtesy of Vikings.com
The Minnesota Vikings on Thursday bolstered the depth of the offensive line, signing free agent guard Dakota Dozier. Terms of the deal were not announced. Dozier, 27, spent the first five seasons of his NFL career with the New York Jets, the team that drafted him in the fourth-round of the 2014 draft.
“Bull” Dozier is 6-4, 313 pounds. He played college football at Furman which is located in South Carolina, his home state. As a member of the Jets he started seven games over five seasons, amassing 502 total snaps according to Pro Football Focus. 340 of those snaps were at right guard.
While it’s not a surprise the team added another piece the o-line, the move itself is somewhat unexpected considering the team’s financial situation. With a minuscule amount of salary cap space left it seemed fair to assume the team would remain quiet on the personnel front… At least until the draft. Well, either they’re creating money at TCO or there was a move made behind closed doors, cause they’re not done adding yet.
Dozier isn’t a big name but he’s a value signing with some upside. He’s also familiar with Vikings offensive line coach Rick Dennison. Both were members of the Jets last season. Following the addition of Dozier, here’s a current look at the offensive linemen on Minnesota’s roster:
There were eight offensive linemen on the team’s active roster at the end of the 2018 season. PS — the Vikings begin their offseason workout program in 11 days and the 2019 NFL Draft is three weeks from today.
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I fail to see the logic. I understand he's an experienced (in the sense that he's been in the NFL for 7 seasons) player but he's had a long time to show what he's got and obviously (5 career starts) that ain't much.
This team may as well roll the dice on rookies to go with what they already have. Pick three Olinemen in the draft and invite a few more in to camp. It's all you can do.