In his stead, the Vikings have Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake Cashman and the Brian Flores Platoon making plays. The platoon is made up of guys you’ve never heard of who Flores, O’Connell’s defensive genius, has tapped and turned loose.
And then there’s Dallas Turner, the rookie from Alabama. It was when the Vikings did the 180-degree turn from Rick Spielman and decided a difference-maker is worth all the sixth- and seventh-rounders you can corral that my worldview of the Vikings started to change.
I saw maybe 50 plays for Alabama last season, and Turner was in the middle of 15 of them. Took a while to figure out NFL complexities, but Turner still will be making plays here when Danielle Hunter is enjoying a well-earned retirement.
Just as Darnold is still making plays after Cousins has been benched, and for a 10th of the guaranteed millions.
Still whining about the 2022 draft? Forget it. That was a slow start on a build to perfection. And it’s been done while creating mucho salary cap space for 2025.