Ready or not, the Minnesota Vikings will have the five offensive line starters it intended starting the season with when they kick off with Atlanta in U.S. Bank Stadium.
The noon game will be heard exclusively in Sioux Falls on KWSN, 98.1 FM and 1230-AM.
Right tackle Brian O’Neill missed the entire preseason — practices and games — with a right elbow injury suffered in practice but claims he is feeling good and ready to go.
O’Neill was drafted by the Vikings in the second round (62nd overall) of the 2018 Draft. He entered the season as a backup tackle behind starters Riley Reiff and Rashod Hill. He made his first career start in Week 6 at right tackle after Rashod Hill was moved to left tackle in place of an injured Riley Reiff. He maintained that starting role the rest of the season over Hill after Reiff returned from injury to play left tackle.
The other four Vikings’ O-Line starters have been healthy and practicing regularly: LT Reiff (from Parkston, SD, and the Iowa Hawkeyes), LG Pat Elflein (moved from center), C Garrett Bradbury (rookie first round draft pick) and RG Josh Kline, an offseason free agent signing who after he was cut by the Titans and who won the Super Bowl with the Patriots in 2014.
The offensive line has been the undoing of a loaded Minnesota Vikings roster, with a talented team missing the playoffs in two of the last three years.
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Brand new Vikings wide receiver is optimistic his reunion with quarterback Kirk Cousins will resurrect his career.
The Vikings signed Doctson earlier in the week after Washington cut the former first-round pick.
In fact, Doctson thought the Vikings would draft him in 2016, but Washington took him at No. 22, one slot ahead of Minnesota, who then picked WR Laquon Treadwell.
The Vikings cut Treadwell on Saturday after a bust of a three-year stint.
Doctson provides the receiver group depth and prior experience with Cousins. He caught 35 receptions for 502 yards and a team-best six touchdowns from Cousins in the 2017 season. The Vikings signed Cousins as a free agent following that season.
“Oh man, that’s probably the most pleasant thing,” Doctson told ESPN of his familiarity with the Vikings’ scheme. “It’s been very easy for me so far. A lot of the same concepts [as Washington’s offense], familiar routes, just kind of different verbiage, so it’s pretty easy.”
How does Cousins remember Doctson?
“I remember one of his elite traits was his vertical jump, his ability to catch the ball at a high point in the air,” Cousins said. “I regret not giving him more opportunities to do that, especially in the red zone. I look forward hopefully to getting a second chance now, but he was a fully developed receiver too. I don’t feel like he was a one-trick pony.
“He caught slants for us, he ran comebacks, he caught go-balls, multiple go-balls, made diving catches, blocked in the run game. If it was just the one thing he could do, I don’t know if I would’ve been as excited, but I think the fact that he can be a full receiver at the Z or the X position for us, I think that’s a great asset.”
