2021 O-Lineman Vikings Basically Forgotten
May 26, 2021; Eagan, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Jake Browning (3) and offensive lineman Wyatt Davis (51) during OTA drills at the TCO Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
The Minnesota Vikings RG spot was so confusing in 2021 that a Round 3 rookie couldn’t even feel the starting attention.
The Vikings relied on veteran tackle Oli Udoh with right guard last season, an experiment that fell through as Udoh finished second in the NFL in shots on goal, plus a 54.4 score of Focus on professional football to start.
Udoh is not slated to play RG in 2022 with a new coaching staff in charge of the Vikings, but is instead likely to return to an OT reserve role.
The aforementioned 3rd round that couldn’t get a real look in 2021 was Wyatt Davis. And now, thanks to the multiple possible solutions for the RG fix, Davis is basically a forgotten man in the summer of 2022.
Davis came to the Vikings via trade after former general manager Rick Spielman sent the 23rd overall pick in 2021 to the New York Jets for Christian Darrisaw, Kellen Mond and Davis. The Jets used the selection on guard Alijah Vera-Tucker.
While the trade was defended at the time, the Mond and Davis facets of the deal didn’t amount to much in 2021, thanks to the former coaching staff’s reluctance to play either man . Now, as a result, Davis may not be on the Vikings’ September roster of 53 players.
New boss Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has signed two veteran offensive linemen to potentially fill RG’s spot, Jesse Davis from the Miami Dolphins and Chris Reed from the Indianapolis Colts. And according to the clues from the June minicamp, Jesse Davis is the favorite to win the job.
After that, Adofo-Mensah drafted OG Ed Ingram from LSU in the 2nd round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and 2nd-round inside offensive linemen have an obligation to start as soon as possible. In all likelihood, one of those three – Jesse Davis, Chris Reed or Ed Ingram – will likely start in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers.
It’s almost a lost conclusion in the middle of summer. This renders any enthusiasm for Wyatt Davis almost null and void.
To be fair to Zimmer and his coaches, Wyatt Davis didn’t look too exciting last summer, so it’s not quite a “grudge” deal like it was for Kellen Mond. Wyatt Davis, too, may have been out of shape by NFL standards.
There’s a chance the Ohio State alum will impress this summer and look like he’s grown a year ago. If that happens, he can reasonably fill a backup guard role in 2022. But for the man theorized as the long-awaited RG cure for a few weeks in 2021, Wyatt Davis is poised to become just a story project of the Spielman era.
Davis’ mini-rise and fall is particularly odd because some draft pundits predicted him as a possible 1st-round talent about two years ago.
No cigar.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube channel, VikesNow. He host a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, airing every Wednesday with Raun Saw and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Guilty pleasures listed: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, “The Sopranos” and The Doors (the band).
