Questions Answered: Dalton Risner’s Return, Best Vikings Decision in Retrospect, Trishton Jackson

dalton risner
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports.

The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by VikingsTerritory. Today is the September 13th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].

Questions Answered: Dalton Risner’s Return, Best Vikings Decision in Retrospect, Trishton Jackson

Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.

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Q: When will Dalton Risner be back, and will he start when he returns?

Dalton Risner
Minnesota Vikings guard Dalton Risner addressed the media from the TCO Performance Center. Dalton Risner: “We All Know We Have A Great Culture But We Came Up Short This Season.”

Answer: After Week 4 — and starting depends on Ed Ingram’s bounceback in the next three games.

Ingram’s pass protection was mind-bogglingly bad against the New York Giants — he produced a Pro Football Focus grade less than 10.0 — and he will need to rebound versus the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Risner will be eligible to return for the Week 5 game in London. If Ingram’s performance does not improve, you can absolutely bet that Risner will grab the starting right guard job. He didn’t get in the starting lineup until that point last year, and everything went smoothly thereafter.

On the whole, however, let’s just hope Ingram improves. That would make life easier for everyone but Risner.

Q: Now that we have one Vikings game in the books, was there an offseason decision that looks a lot better now?

Dale Zanine-Imagn Images.

A: Letting Kirk Cousins walk.

Cousins will probably return to form soon, but at age 36 and with a repaired Achilles, it was wisest for Minnesota to draft J.J. McCarthy and start fresh. For a week, Sam Darnold proved there was no major drop-off between him and Cousins — Darnold looked better, in fact.

It was time to move on from Cousins after six seasons, and Week 1 was an example.

Q: Will Trishton Jackson get playing time with Jordan Addison out on Sunday?

Caean Couto-USA TODAY Sports.

Answer: We think it’s a reasonable possibility. We say yes.

Addison is indeed out for Sunday, canceling any real advantage Minnesota might have because San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is out, too. McCaffrey was placed on injured reserve.

Jackson played tremendously during the preseason, enough to make the 53-man roster. Then, though, he was deactivated for Week 1, along with other preseason standouts like Levi Drake Rodriguez.

The Vikings will likely activate an extra wide receiver with Addison out, and if not Jackson — then who? It won’t guarantee him targets from Sam Darnold, but getting on the field certainly won’t hurt.


Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL. 

All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.