There are a couple of ways to look at the two significant moves made by the Vikings in the past three days.
The positive approach would be to credit them for signing veteran free agent guard Dalton Risner on Monday and trading for running back Cam Akers on Wednesday. But with the Vikings sitting at 0-2, and facing a must-win on Sunday against the 0-2 Chargers, it’s also fair to wonder how flawed the Vikings’ offseason plan was when it came to the interior of their offensive line and run game?
It’s not as if Risner and Akers are guaranteed solutions for problems that aren’t a shock to anyone who follows the Vikings and certainly shouldn’t have caught general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O’Connell by surprise.
Akers, 24, comes to the Vikings after three-plus seasons with the Rams. He rushed for 29 yards on 22 carries, yes, it was that bad, in Los Angeles’ 30-13 victory over Seattle in Week 1. The lack of production earned Akers a spot on the Rams’ inactive list last Sunday and coach Sean McVay confirmed afterward the Rams were looking to move the veteran.
O’Connell knows Akers, having served as the offensive coordinator for the Rams before joining the Vikings in 2022, and must think whatever flaws Akers has in his game are worth taking on considering the Vikings’ rushing offense is last in the NFL with 69 yards on 26 carries (a 2.6 average) in two games.
Alexander Mattison, who has replaced Dalvin Cook as the Vikings’ starting running back, has 62 of those yards on 19 carries. It’s unclear when Akers will make his Vikings’ debut or whether he will be the primary back or part of a committee that includes Mattison.
So where did the Vikings go wrong?
It wasn’t in releasing the 28-year-old Cook, who is with the New York Jets and is averaging 2.4 yards on 17 carries in two games. (Mattison is averaging 3.3 yards.) Cook’s best days are behind him and the Vikings saved at least $9.9 million by making the move. But that where any credit to Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell ends.
The assumption was that the Vikings would go from having a featured back in Cook to a committee that would be led by Mattison but also include Ty Chandler, Kene Nwangwu and, perhaps, seventh-round pick DeWayne McBride. None of this has happened and you have to wonder if the Vikings’ decision-makers ever considered the worst-case scenario, which is something every team has to do. Especially when it unfolds in front of them.
Mattison hasn’t been the threat the Vikings expected through two games, the offensive line has had issues in run blocking and Chandler has four carries and hasn’t gained a yard. McBride is on the Vikings’ practice squad after proving he wasn’t yet ready for a spot on the 53-man roster. Nwangwu, who was impressive in offseason workouts, suffered a lower back injury early in training camp and was placed on injured reserve to start the season. It’s unclear when he will be back.
Mattison, who stayed with the Vikings by signing a two-year, $7 million contract in March, isn’t Cook in his prime and to expect him to carry the workload was a bad decision.
Akers’ arrival should lesson the expectations from Mattison, but it’s fair to wonder why this wasn’t addressed in camp when it became clear that McBride wasn’t ready to play in games, Nwangwu was on the sideline and Chandler clearly didn’t have the trust of the coaching staff.
The same is true when it comes to Risner, who was brought in for a visit in early August but didn’t sign a one-year contract with $2.25 million in guarantees until this week. Were the Vikings really that confident that guards Ezra Cleveland and Ed Ingram were the answers after watching both have issues last season?
Even if you wanted to give Cleveland and Ingram the benefit of the doubt, it was never going to be a bad idea to have a veteran on the roster to replace either one at a moment’s notice.
The Vikings’ failure in this area left them scrambling and hoping that these in-season moves can stop the season from circling the drain. Is it too late? If that turns out to be the case, Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell will only have themselves to blame.
Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com
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