Tag: Pat Elflein

Report: Vikings to sign OL Brett Jones to 53-man roster

OL Brett Jones will reportedly be signed to the 53-man roster now that Pat Elflein is on IR.

The Vikings had some surprising cuts when the team whittled their roster down to 53 for the NFL season.

Among them was a player many thought to be the team’s backup center: Brett Jones, who played in two games for Minnesota this past season.

He re-signed with the team this offseason. Then, the Vikings waived him, but signed him to the practice squad. Now, according to a report from Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press, Jones will get another chance on the 53-man roster now that Pat Elflein is on IR.

The Vikings placed Elflein on injured reserve Thursday. A player on the IR must miss a minimum of three games. He was the starting right guard this season after the team moved him over from left guard, which he played in 2019.

Elflein reportedly suffered a thumb injury in Wednesday’s practice. Elflein will get surgery on his thumb and is expected to be out longer than three games, per Tomasson.

Vikings RG Pat Elflein placed on IR

The Minnesota Vikings announced that the team has placed RG Pat Elflein on IR.

Minnesota experimented with Pat Elflein this season, moving him from left to right guard. Elflein was inconsistent at left guard last season, but looked better on the right side in the Week 1 loss to the Packers.

However, Elflein’s test at right guard will be put on hold. ESPN’s Field Yates first reported that Elflein has been placed on injured reserve. The Vikings later made the announcement on the team’s Twitter page.

That means that Elflein will have to sit out at least three games. It will be interesting to see who the Vikings go with at right guard with him reportedly being out.

Guard Dru Samia is the probable option. Other possibilities include the rookie Ezra Cleveland and Aviante Collins, the latter of whom is on the practice squad.

Elflein has garnered plenty of scorn for his past performances with the Vikings. But I think he will still be missed on an offensive line that looked promising in the opener. In his place will likely be a player who was unable to take Elflein’s spot in training camp.

Vikings’ Pat Elflein is excited for his move to right guard

Elflein spent last season at left guard. In 2019, he’ll fill the role that Josh Kline started in.

The Vikings are mixing things up on their offensive line heading into the 2020 season.

After releasing Josh Kline in the offseason, the Vikings are moving Pat Elflein from left guard to right guard.

Elflein, a 2017 third-round pick out of Ohio State, is excited about the move.

“I feel good. I’m excited to compete. Versatility is a big thing in this league, so being able to play multiple positions will be good,” Elflein said via Vikings.com. “I’m just excited to get out there and be able to compete at the right guard spot.”

Last season, Elflein finished with a Pro Football Focus grade of 62.3, more than a 20-point increase from a not-so-great 2018 season.

With about three weeks to go before the regular season starts, it appears as if the left guard starting spot will be a competition between Dakota Dozier and Aviante Collins, but second-round pick Ezra Cleveland appears to be in the mix as well.

Who’s in the lead to win the Vikings’ left guard spot?

The Minnesota Vikings terminated RG Josh Kline’s contract, but the team returns four starters from 2019’s offensive line.

With Pat Elflein in his “comfort zone” at right guard, the open position on the Vikings offensive line seems to be at left guard.

Minnesota terminated right guard Josh Kline’s contract earlier this offseason, but other than that, the team returns four starters from 2019’s offensive line. Elflein was the returning starter at left guard before making the switch.

So who’s in line to take the left guard spot? Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press recently said on Twitter that it looks to be Dakota Dozier.

“I really just think that Dakota (Dozier) is in a really good place in his life and his career. He’s always been a good player,” Vikings offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak told reporters. “We played some good football when Dakota was in there (starting).  I just think Dakota is at a point in his career — he is a guy who has battled… and he knows he can do it.”

Dozier started four games for Minnesota this past season after Kline went down with an injury.

Dozier and Aviante Collins were splitting reps with the first team earlier in training camp, according to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.

If Dozier wins that spot, the offensive line would likely be set with the four returners plus him. Besides Collins, there is a chance that someone like Dru Samia or Ezra Cleveland could take one of the guard spots, though.

Vikings OL Pat Elflein back in his ‘comfort zone’ at right guard

“That’s somewhere that Pat has had a comfort zone before in his football life,’’ Vikinga OC Gary Kubiak said.

Pat Elflein started his Vikings career at center. In his second NFL season, Elflein moved to left guard, and was much more inconsistent in that role.

Now, Elflein is in his third season, and he’s been playing a slightly different position in 2020 training camp than he did in 2019. Elflein has moved to right guard so far.

Vikings offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak had positive things to say about Elflein moving over to the right side.

“That’s somewhere that Pat has had a comfort zone before in his football life,’’ Kubiak said, via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. “A decision was made through some talking through the process, talking to Pat.’’

There’s an opening at right guard after Minnesota terminated Josh Kline’s contract this offseason. Maybe that will be filled by Eflein, with a more inexperienced player filling Elflein’s old left guard spot.

There’s also Dru Samia, Dakota Dozier and Ezra Cleveland, all of whom should be nice competition for the two starting guard spots.

Should the Vikings be interested in guard Brian Winters?

The former Jets starting guard was surprisingly released by the team on Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Jets had released Brian Winters.

Winters has started 79 games for the Jets since 2013 after being drafted in the third round out of Kent St. As Schefter says in his tweet, the move is considered a surprise.

Could the Vikings be a possible landing spot for Winters?

Right now, Pat Elflein and Dakota Dozier will probably be the starters at guard for the Vikings. If rookie Ezra Cleveland were to win the left tackle job, we could see Riley Reiff move to one of the guard spots.

Even so, it seems like Winters could help this team.

Last season, Winters finished with a Pro Football Focus grade of 62.4 which ranked 41st in the NFL. That ranked one spot above Elflein and 28 spots ahead of Dozier.

Of course, the Jets are not a good team so it’s a bit suspect when a not good team releases a player who we think might be good. Or maybe it’s just the Jets being the Jets.

Per Over The Cap, the Vikings have $14.2 million in cap space for the 2020 season.

Winters was due $7.28 million in 2020. The Jets did not have to pay a penalty for the move, per Spotrac.

Left side of Vikings offensive line listed as biggest red flag

Do you think the Vikings’ biggest red flag is the left side of the offensive line?

Minnesota has to rely on new faces in order to repeat last season’s success. Not only that, but even some of the mainstay players are considered to be problem areas.

Vikings fans have panned left guard Pat Elflein for his performance in seasons after his rookie year. There’s also left tackle Riley Reiff, who some think would be better suited for guard due to his average play on the exterior of the offensive line.

Those two players add up to the Vikings’ biggest red flag headed into 2020, according to Bleacher Report.

Brent Sobleski, who writes for Bleacher Report, said that Minnesota “will have to deal with the fact that one of their blockers on the left side may be a hindrance during the ’20 campaign.”

Here’s something else he said:

From this point, two things could happen, and both could be detrimental in the short term. Either the team sticks with Reiff, thus leaving Pat Elflein at guard after another disappointing season, or (Ezra) Cleveland takes over and a rookie will be protecting Kirk Cousins’ blind side.

Overall, if Reiff moves to guard and Cleveland, a rookie tackle, is a quick study, then the Vikings offensive line would be decent.

Pat Elflein listed as Vikings player on the hot seat for 2020

Do you think guard Pat Elflein will be on the Vikings after next season?

Pat Elflein showed that he could be a serviceable offensive lineman in his rookie year, but since then, that hasn’t always been the case.

Bleacher Report thinks Elflein could be in trouble next season. The outlet listed him as a Vikings player who’s on the hot seat. Here’s what it said about Elflein:

“After a solid rookie campaign at center, Elflein struggled through his second term and then moved to left guard while 2019 first-rounder Garrett Bradbury manned the pivot last year. Following the shift, he allowed six sacks, per Pro Football Focus.

If rookie second-rounder Ezra Cleveland shines during training camp at left tackle or left guard, the Vikings could shuffle the offensive line to field their best five-man combination, which may not include Elflein.”

If Cleveland is capable of being a guard, I think it’s worth playing him there. However, there’s always the chance the Vikings move Riley Reiff to guard.

Players the Vikings will have to pay after 2020 season

A look at players set to be unrestricted free agents after the 2020 season.

The Vikings have a decision to make regarding running back Dalvin Cook, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2020 season.

There have been reports that the Pro Bowler will hold out of he does not receive an extension to his liking.

Along with Cook, there are a number of other players who will be unrestricted free agents after the 2020 season with the Vikings.

Here’s that list.

(All info is courtesy of Spotrac.)

QB

Sean Mannion

RB

Cook

Ameer Abdullah

WR

Tajae Sharpe

Offensive Line

Pat Elflein

Rashod Hill

Dakota Dozier

Brett Jones

Defensive Line

Jaleel Johnson

Anthony Zettel

LBs

Eric Wilson

Ben Gedeon

S

Anthony Harris

The good news for the Vikings is that besides Cook and Harris (who the team franchise-tagged this year), there aren’t any players who will be demanding big-time money.

The Vikings have $32 million of cap space for the 2021 season prior to these deals per OverTheCap.

Let’s say Cook gets $14 million per year and Harris agrees to somewhere around $9 million, that takes up a substantial chunk of that cap space.

Ohio State with 8 of 22 players on ESPN’s All-Big Ten NFL starting squad

ESPN drafted an All-Big Ten starting NFL team using current rosters. Ohio State led the way for the conference with eight of the 22 spots.

Here’s the challenge. Take the complete, current rosters of all the NFL teams and draft a starting team using just Big Ten players. We did the same thing with Ohio State players only, and suffice to say, it would still be one whale of a team. But what would it look like if you had Penn State, Iowa, Wisconsin, and yes — even Michigan to choose from?

If you’re wondering what that would look like, ESPN did the work for you and came out with a team that looks awfully dominant. One of the reasons it would be a juggernaut is because over one-third of the starting 22 hail from Ohio State, with eight total. That’s right, Penn State, Michigan and others like to rant and rave about Buckeye bias, but the Big Ten wouldn’t be quite the conference it is without football being played on the banks of the Olentangy. So what players made the cut from the Buckeyes?

Here’s the entire team, with Ohio State players marked with an asterisk.

Next … All Big-Ten NFL starting team according to ESPN

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