Week 1 Players, Matchups to Watch for MIN-CIN
Zach Bacon
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The Minnesota Vikings will be playing their opening game this Sunday on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals. This opening week matchup is riddled with storylines to watch. This will be head coach Mike Zimmer’s first game playing in Cincinnati as the opposing head coach. Zimmer spent six seasons as the Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator from 2008 through the 2013 season.
The Bengals young franchise quarterback Joe Burrow and rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase were college teammates with Justin Jefferson, the Viking’s sensational second-year wide receiver. The trio won the 2019 National Championship at LSU. This offseason, the Vikings also signed LSU alum Patrick Peterson who has a strong connection to the three through their alma mater. Both teams have cornerstone players returning from injuries, namely Joe Burrow for the Bengals and Danielle Hunter for the Vikings, and many others. Mackensie Alexander will also be playing his first game against the Bengals since being a member of the team last year. Alexander signed a 1-year contract in Cincinnati in the last offseason before returning to the team that drafted him this year.
The Vikings will also be facing off against a former team captain on Sunday. The Bengals will be starting Riley Reiff at right tackle after signing the former Viking this offseason. Going into this Sunday’s matchup, I wanted to look at a few of the players and matchups that I will have my eye on throughout the game.
Defense
The player I know I will be watching the most on Sunday is Vikings’ edge defender Danielle Hunter. Hunter is returning to the field after missing all of the 2020 season while recovering from neck surgery to repair a herniated disk. Hunter is one of the most dynamic edge defenders in the league, blending a staggering combination of strength and athleticism in a hulking physical package that evokes memories of past athletic freaks such as Jevon Kearse or Julius Peppers. He has destroyed all concerns after falling to the Vikings in the 3rd round of the 2015 NFL Draft due to a lack of production at LSU.
Hunter is the youngest player in NFL history to reach his 50th sack and currently sits at 54.5 for his career this season. Can we talk about that for a second? This dude has over 50 sacks after missing an entire season due to injury and will still somehow enter week 1 as a 26-year-old? Simply insane. Not to mention that the Vikings have done everything possible on the interior of the defensive line to maximize Hunter’s potential this year.
Playing next to monster defensive tackles Michael Pierce and Dalvin Tomlinson with Sheldon Richardson rotating in for pass rush, Hunter should see more 1-on-1 matchups on the outside. Those are not typically matchups that Danielle Hunter loses. Every indicator out of training camp and pre-season is that we are in for a huge season from Danielle Hunter this year, and I personally can’t wait to bear witness to the carnage. Hunter will most likely take most of his snaps lined up across from former Viking captain Riley Reiff on Sunday. I have a ton of respect for Reiff and his game, but he has struggled a little bit on the right side in his past, and like most offensive tackles, he is just completely physically outmatched by Danielle. It should be a fun matchup to keep your eyes on throughout the game. I expect Hunter to be eager to be back on the field, showing what he can do, and I’m sure Reiff will have a little extra motivation to face his former team.
The other Vikings defender I will be paying very close attention to is newly acquired cornerback Patrick Peterson. Pat P enters his eleventh year in the league as one of the most decorated cornerbacks not only of this generation but of all time. Peterson has made First-Team All-Pro three times to go along with eight consecutive pro bowls to start his career. I will be the first to admit that Pat P is no longer the complete athletic freak he was when he came into the league as the fifth overall draft pick in 2011. However, I think that Peterson has quite a bit left to give an NFL team, and a change of scenery could be exactly what he needed.
It doesn’t sound like Peterson will be shadowing any specific receiver this Sunday, telling Bryant McFadden, “I’m just lining up and playing ball,” when asked about the possibility of shadowing Ja’Marr Chase on their podcast “All Things Covered” this week. Peterson seems to be rejuvenated after making a move to the Vikings this offseason and is looking forward to showing the NFL that he’s still one of the top cornerbacks the league has to offer. I think that we are in for a fantastic season of cornerback play from a fresh Pat P, playing under Mike Zimmer and newly added defensive backs coach Karl Scott, who the Vikings brought in from Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide coaching staff.
Offense
There are two main matchups on the offensive side of the ball that I think will be the keys to Vikings performing well. Those matchups are the Vikings interior offensive line vs. the Bengals interior defensive line and the Vikings wide receivers vs. the Bengals cornerbacks. The interior offensive line has been the position group that, without question, has led to the most issues on the offensive side of the ball over the past few seasons. However, there are a few reasons to believe that it will improve this year compared to what we have seen recently, starting first and foremost with the insertion of Oli Udoh into the starting right guard position. Oli has looked good throughout training camp and played extremely well in the reps he received during pre-season action.
One of the biggest issues with the Vikings interior over the past few seasons has been the lack of strength and ability to anchor against a bull-rush. Far too many times last year, in a key situation on offense, the opposing team would merely bull-rush the interior of our line with their strongest two players, and more often than not, it resulted in immediate pressure, completely ending the play before it even began. Oli should bring a huge improvement in this area. He is a solid but still athletic player that has shown the ability to drop his anchor and hold his own against a bull-rush much better than some of the undersized guards that the Vikings have used in past seasons.
In the other guard spot, Ezra Cleveland is expected to look much more comfortable this season for a couple of reasons. Not only is this the first full offseason he’s had knowing that he would be playing inside, but he’s also moving back to the left side of the line where he played offensive tackle throughout college. Many draft scouts and offensive line coaches in the league believe that changing sides of the line is a much harder transition than moving from outside to inside. By moving back to the left side of the line, Cleveland will likely play and move much more naturally than he did at times on the right side when forced into that role last season. As for Garrett Bradbury, I know many people have already given up on the 2019 first-round pick, but I am far from joining that group of thought. As I said earlier, we have definitely struggled anchoring in the middle of the line, and Bradbury does have a lot to do with that. However, strength was never the calling card of Bradbury’s game coming out of N.C. State. He was drafted due to his superb athletic ability and ideal skill-set for running the wide-zone scheme that the Vikings utilize on offense.
And all of the things that made him a great fit, such as his movement ability, ability to get to the second level in zone runs or screens, and great reach-blocks in the run game, have all been on display throughout his time in the league so far. If he can show that he has added a little bit of strength and ability to hold his own against power, Bradbury should have an excellent season and shed some early criticism. I expect this interior offensive line to take a significant step forward this season, and a good showing against a very stout Cincinnati interior would be a great first step.
When it comes to the wide receivers, the Minnesota Vikings have one of the best duos in league with Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson. Between catching fourteen touchdowns in his seventh season and setting the league on fire as a rookie, I don’t think that Thielen and Jefferson have much left to prove this year other than showing that they can sustain and perhaps even surpass that level of play. The real question for the Vikings wide receiver room is how the rest of the depth chart will shake out after those two.
After a solid showing throughout camp and preseason, second-year player K.J. Osborn out of Miami looks poised to step in and size the WR3 role. After struggling as a rookie, Osborn has shown up repeatedly throughout camp, impressing with multiple deep catches and a seemingly greatly improved route tree. It feels like Osborn is one of the players that has benefitted the most from a full, hands-on offseason program after struggling as a rookie last season. Competing with Osborn for that WR3 role all season will be rookie wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette out of Iowa and recently signed veteran Dede Westbrook. Ihmir has shown his electric athletic ability and speed multiple times throughout the pre-season, and every indication is that the locker room has fully embraced him.
Dede Westbrook comes from the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he had played quite well and developed a good relationship with new Vikings wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell. Between Osborn, Smith-Marsette, and Westbrook, I think the Vikings have good, although slightly unproven, depth at wide receiver coming into this matchup against Cincinnati. On the other side of the ball, the Bengals will be entering this game without their projected top cornerback and former Viking Trae Waynes. After letting William Jackson III and Mac Alexander walk this offseason, this means that the Vikings star wide receiver duo of Thielen and Jefferson will most likely play a bulk of their snaps lined up across from either Eli Apple, Chidobe Awuzie, or Mike Hilton. While I really liked Awuzie throughout the draft process and early on in Dallas, that situation would not inspire a lot of confidence in me if I were a Bengals fan.
Now admittedly, it does need to be stated that the Bengals also have one of, if not the, best safety duo in league with Jessie Bates and Vonn Bell. At the same time, playing in front of a good safety duo can greatly help out young or less talented cornerbacks. Even a great pair of safeties can’t mask serious differences in talent between WR and CB groups. This Sunday’s matchup between the Vikings and Bengals should be terrific and will hopefully tell us quite a bit about where both of these rosters currently sit moving into the season.