With Pat Elflein on IR and Dru Samia being inactive, the Vikings were left with very few options for the guard spot opposite Dakota Dozier.
Minnesota gave rookie Ezra Cleveland a chance. A second-round pick out of Boise State, Cleveland made his first NFL start, playing right guard for the Vikings in their loss to the Falcons.
Zimmer talked about Cleveland’s performance recently with reporters:
“I think he had some good moments and some moments he’d like to have back.” Zimmer said, via the Vikings’ Twitter account. “He did some impressive things and then he had some poor moments. For the first time out, it wasn’t too bad.”
I think Cleveland performed better than Samia has in the past. However, if Elflein is able to return from IR, I think he’s still probably the starter at right guard, unless Cleveland starts to improve a lot.