The Vikings Have a Surprise Candidate for ‘Sleeper’ Potential in 2021
In 2020, Cameron Dantzler emerged as the team’s unsung gem. He hit full stride in the last half of the season, returning from a scary injury at Lambeau Field in November. When the season ended, Dantzler was graded as Pro Football Focus’ 22nd-best cornerback in the NFL (70.9 grade), an impressive designation for a rookie player as around 96 CBs play in a quasi-starting capacity every Sunday in the NFL. And as for rookie corners, Dantzler was the best of the best, scoring ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs L’Jarius Sneed by 2.5 points.
The year before that, 2019, Anthony Harris rose temporarily to superstardom, leading the NFL in interceptions and all qualifying Vikings players for PFF grade (90.5). His stock was high, causing Minnesota’s front office to franchise-tag the safety. Then, in 2020, Harris returned to orbit – along with the rest of the Vikings defense – with a PFF score in the 60s. In one year’s time, his score dipped from 90.5 to 66.2 – a 27% decrease.
Harris now plays for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The pattern even dates back to 2018. Minnesota drafted right tackle Brian O’Neill as a ‘project player,’ only to watch his blossom early on. From 2018 to present, O’Neill remains the Vikings top offensive lineman.
Therefore, a sleeper for the Vikings is close to clockwork status. Who will it be in 2021?
On Friday, Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report named a ‘sleeper’ from each NFL team. That player of the 2021 Vikings, per Davenport, is Ihmir Smith-Marsette, a new wide receiver drafted in the 2021 NFL Draft from the University of Iowa.
Iowa’s Ihmir Smith-Marsette returns a 98-yard kickoff for a touchdown in the second quarter against USC during the Holiday Bowl on Friday, Dec. 27, 2019, at the SDCCU Stadium in San Diego, Calif.
20191227 Holidaybowl
Davenport wrote about Smith-Marsette:
“There’s no question who the top two wide receivers are in Minnesota. Adam Thielen is the team’s veteran leader, while Justin Jefferson is an explosive youngster who’s coming off a record-setting rookie season. However, the WR3 spot in the Twin Cities is another story. Veteran Chad Beebe is a capable slot option, but a challenger is hot on his heels. A fifth-round pick of the Vikings this year, Iowa’s Ihmir Smith-Marsette has caught the eye of coaches. Team play-by-play man Paul Allen said on KFAN FM (h/t Sean Borman of Vikings Territory) that some in the organization believe Smith-Marsette has “untapped talent” and is “being given every opportunity” to beat out Beebe in three-wide sets. An All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2020 as both a wideout and a kick returner, Smith-Marsette told the team’s website after the draft that he was eager to show he’s more than a return man.”
Here’s that tweet mentioned by Bleacher Report:
That’s not a rubber stamp for the Iowa rookie to fill WR3 shoes, but it is a nifty precursor to the idea. If the speedster was just another fast-but-not-that-good commodity, Paul Allen likely wouldn’t speculate like this. Indeed, Allen is an eternally optimistic fan of the Vikings franchise — often to the extreme — but he is not in the business of making stuff up.
Therefore, there is probably something to this Smith-Marsette stuff. If he’s turning heads in Eagan, that is a very good omen for his rookie outlook.
The Vikings need it. Under Mike Zimmer, Minnesota implements an “oh well” strategy at WR3, at least compared to other teams. Zimmer cherishes running the football and playing staunch defense, disabling the requirement for a robust WR3. Players like Dalvin Cook, Kyle Rudolph, and Irv Smith Jr. sometimes feel more like WR3s for the Vikings than Chad Beebe or Bisi Johnson.
Minnesota would lose absolutely nothing with the emergence of a WR3 rookie like Smith-Marsette. It would be a long-awaited perk for quarterback Kirk Cousins. In Washington, Cousins did not have two superstar wide receivers like Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson, but he did usually have about 3-5 men that were decent, creating a sense of depth. Sprinkling in a swift, productive Smith-Marsette would be terrific for a Vikings offense that will be led by first-year offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak.
Be cautious with expectations, though. 5th-Rounders rarely scale depth charts as Stefon Diggs did in 2015. The best case for Smith-Marsette is that his competition is not all that stiff – unless the team signs a free agent like Dede Westbrook, who has been long linked to Minnesota’s rumor mill.
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