Vikings Notebook: Preseason Game 2

Defense:

Antone Exum Jr. and Ben Gedeon got starts at safety and weakside linebacker, respectively. Exum Jr. had a tremendous run stop off the edge on the first drive, but on the second drive took an awful angle on a Baldwin catch across the middle allowing a big gain. Outside of taking a bad angle on Baldwin, Exum Jr. had a good day, finishing with four tackles and a pass defended. The start suggests that Exum Jr. has earned his way on top of Jayron Kearse and Anthony Harris on the depth chart. He should have a roster spot.

• As for Gedeon, he got downhill on run plays and finished with five tackles. He does have work to do in pass coverage though. Overall, I thought that he handled the starting role with poise and wasn’t overpowered by Seattle’s top unit. It was a good day for Gedeon’s chances to begin the year as the starting weakside linebacker, especially with Edmond Robinson and Emmanuel Lamur having weak games.
  • I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, I think Lamur is on his way out. He makes over $2 million this season and the Vikings have cheaper and younger options to replace him. Elijah Lee and Eric Wilson to name a couple.

Terence Newman had a holding penalty and gave up a couple of easy catches as a starter for the injured Trae Waynes. He was taken out of the game due to injury during the first drive, although it was minor. Sherels came in as his replacement and allowed a touchdown. One has to wonder if Newman’s age is finally starting to catch up with him.

Mackensie Alexander also had a poor day. He slipped and fell on a play-action pass allowing Doug Baldwin to make an easy catch. Later, Alexander was covering Baldwin again and was beat badly across the middle ending up in a large gain. He could struggle against top receivers that lineup in the slot.

Simply, Danielle Hunter is a beast. There’s no other way to put it. He finished with a sack, but he was a menace for the Seahawks in the first half. There’s no doubt he’s going to become one of the best defensive ends in the game.

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Tashawn Bower put pressure on Wilson late in the second quarter causing a holding penalty and later, caused another holding penalty. He also blew by the opposing tackle to start the second half picking up another sack. Out of all players, Bower looks most impressive after two games. The only negative about his game was on a play where he lost contain on a run play resulting in a big gain. In my opinion, Bower has earned himself a roster spot, but will have to keep the strong play up in the next couple of games.

• Bower’s competition for the fourth defensive end spot, Ifeadi Odenigbo and Stephen Weatherly, also caused problems up front. Odenigbo led the team with six tackles and also hit the quarterback twice with one sack. Weatherly had three tackles including one QB hit.

Jaleel Johnson had a fantastic night causing all kinds of problems in the middle. On one play, he put a beautiful inside move on the opposing guard blowing up a run play for a huge loss of 4 or 5 yards. Thus far, he’s looked like a man among boys against the opposing teams’ second and third units, so I’m interested to see if he gets a run with the first unit. At game’s end, he had five tackles, including two for a loss.

Terrell Sinkfield read a pass beautifully in the fourth quarter but dropped an easy pick-six. Safety Jayron Kearse also missed an opportunity for an interception. On a positive note, Kearse performed well, producing four tackles and a pass breakup. With Exum Jr. playing well, Anthony Harris could find himself on the chopping block if he doesn’t show something soon.

Corners seemed to struggle getting their head turned around in coverage to make plays on the ball. There were also some uncharacteristic breakdowns in coverage especially on Seattle’s second touchdown where someone missed an assignment on Seahawks running back Mike Davis.