The Vikings drafted a tackle in the second round this year, despite having incumbent starters Riley Reiff and Brian O’Neill.
O’Neill has given up just two sacks in two NFL seasons, as reported by PFF. That stat ranks him tied for second among tackles who have played more than 500 pass-blocking snaps. He’s probably safe, barring anything very unexpected.
But what about Reiff? Reiff received a grade of 69.7 from PFF for his performances this past season. Also, cutting him would save the Vikings $8.8 million in cap space for 2020, and the team would accrue a dead money hit of $4.4 million.
So a lot of people started to speculate that Cleveland could possibly start right away and Reiff would be on his way out.
However, Vikings offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak said Wednesday that the team will stick with Reiff at tackle, per Chad Graff of The Athletic. As reported by Graff, Kubiak said that Cleveland is playing guard during walk-throughs right now.
In addition to Cleveland playing there, Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press said that Kubiak indicated moving Reiff to guard isn’t on the table.
“I’m a big Riley Reiff fan,” Kubiak said, via Tomasson.
Asked about having no preseason games affecting the possibility of Cleveland starting at right guard, Kubiak said that wouldn’t dissuade him, according to Tomasson.
He might have played tackle in college, but it will be interesting to see how Cleveland fits into this Vikings team in the future.