The Vikings are getting closer to playing football. Training camp ramps up this week with the start of full practices, which can begin Wednesday. Until then, we’ll preview the key points at each position every day. Practices in full pads start Aug. 17. 

Coaching staff

Head coach: Mike Zimmer

Coordinators: Gary Kubiak (offense), Andre Patterson/Adam Zimmer (defense), Marwaan Malouf (special teams)

Offensive position coaches: Klint Kubiak (quarterbacks), Kennedy Polamalu (running backs), Andrew Janocko (wide receivers), Rick Dennison (offensive line/run game coordinator), Phil Rauchser (assistant offensive line), Brian Pariani (tight ends),  Christian Jones (offensive quality control), AC Patterson (offensive quality control)

Defensive position coaches: Dom Capers (senior defensive assistant), Patterson (defensive line), Adam Zimmer (linebackers), Daronte Jones (defensive backs), Imarjaye Albury (assistant defensive line), Nick Rallis (defensive quality control/assistant linebackers), Roy Anderson (assistant defensive backs)

Special teams assistants: Ryan Ficken, Nate Kaeding (kicking consultant)

Strength and conditioning: Mark Uyeyama (director of competition development), Derik Keyes (assistant strength and conditioning), Chaz Mahle (assistant strength and conditioning)

Offseason moves

In: Kubiak (named offensive coordinator), Janocko (shifted from assistant OL to wide receivers), Rauscher, Capers, Jones, Albury, Anderson

Out: Kevin Stefanski (became Browns’ head coach),  Drew Petzing (became Browns’ tight ends coach), George Edwards (became Cowboys’ senior defensive assistant), Jerry Gray (became Packers’ DB coach), Robert Rodriguez (became Arizona State DL coach) Jeff Howard (became Browns’ passing game coordinator/DB coach)

Outlook

After co-owner Mark Wilf released a statement supporting Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman before the team’s playoff game against the Saints in January, the Vikings didn’t finalize three-year extensions for their head coach and general manager until the eve of training camp. But the team’s commitment to its current direction never seemed in doubt, not with Zimmer quickly giving Gary Kubiak play-calling duties in January after the Browns hired Stefanski and choosing his son Adam and Patterson (his longtime assistant and confidant) to split coordinator duties after the Vikings parted ways with George Edwards.

Zimmer (who turned 64 in June) is the fourth-oldest head coach in the NFL, but just the second-oldest on his staff after the team added Capers in an advisory role similar to the one Kubiak played last season. The Vikings quickly turned play-calling duties over to Kubiak, out of a desire to maintain their current offensive structure after Stefanski’s departure. As they try to make back-to-back playoff trips for the first time in Zimmer’s tenure, their offense has more stability than a defense trying to indoctrinate young players during a truncated training camp.

The head coach has said the Vikings will implement some live tackling once players can practice in pads on Aug. 17. He’s made frequent use of game-like situational drills in recent years, trying to put players through scenarios they’ll see on Sundays in the fall. With young corners like first-round pick Jeff Gladney and third-rounder Cameron Dantzler possibly in line to play big roles for the Vikings this fall, Zimmer could rely on the drills to help his defenders make up for the preseason game action they won’t get this month.

Patterson and Adam Zimmer will continue to work with their position groups while taking on their new roles in defensive game-planning. Zimmer has called the Vikings’ defensive plays in games since he became head coach, though he’s mused at times about giving up those duties. On the defensive line, Patterson will have to rework the Vikings’ tackle rotation after Michael Pierce opted out for the 2020 season; he’s said he likes the Vikings’ group of young players like Jaleel Johnson and Armon Watts, and he’ll use training camp to assess options alongside Shamar Stephen while trying to help Ifeadi Odenigbo continue his emergence at defensive end.

Kubiak hinted the Vikings would opt for continuity on their offensive line last week, pointing out the team returns four of its five starters from last season. If Pat Elflein is indeed set to start again at guard, the Vikings will need to find one more guard for their zone blocking scheme, while Janocko works to sort out the wide receiver group behind Adam Thielen.

Notable number

3: Number of coaches on the Vikings’ staff who have been head coaches in the NFL. In addition to Zimmer, Kubiak spent eight years as the Texans’ head coach and won a Super Bowl with the Broncos in 2015. Capers was the first head coach for both the Panthers (in 1995) and the Texans (in 2002), before Kubiak replaced him in 2006.

The Vikings are getting closer to playing football. Training camp ramps up this week with the start of full practices, which can begin Wednesday. Until then, we’ll preview the key points at each position every day. Practices in full pads start Aug. 17. 

Defensive backs

Cornerbacks: Mike Hughes, Jeff Gladney, Holton Hill, Cameron Dantzler, Kris Boyd, Harrison Hand, Nevelle Clarke, Mark Fields,  Marcus Sayles

Safeties: Harrison Smith, Anthony Harris, Josh Metellus, Myles Dorn, Nate Meadors, Brian Cole II

Offseason moves

In: Gladney (first-round pick), Dantzler (third-round pick), Hand (fifth-round pick), Metellus (sixth-round pick), Cole (seventh-round pick), Clarke (undrafted), Dorn (undrafted)

Out: CB Xavier Rhodes (free agent), CB Trae Waynes (free agent), CB Mackensie Alexander (free agent), S Andrew Sendejo (free agent), S Jayron Kearse (free agent), CB Marcus Sherels (free agent)

Outlook

The Vikings secondary needs to replace about half of the snaps from last season after all three starting corners and two backup safeties signed elsewhere in free agency. Mike Zimmer’s most experienced cornerback is now Mike Hughes, who has appeared in 20 NFL games, providing nearly a clean slate at the position. At safety, after tagging and trying to trade safety Anthony Harris this spring, they’ll settle for keeping one of the NFL’s best alongside Harrison Smith. Harris will play under the franchise tag and, without a new deal, will become a free agent again in 2021. “That’s a great thing for us because those two guys are smart. They make all the calls,” co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson said. “They’re going to be able to help those guys out back there.” Those guys are most likely Hughes, Holton Hill and rookie first-round pick Jeff Gladney, who will not have the benefit of a preseason to get ready. Corners Kris Boyd and Cameron Dantzler are also in the mix.

Top competition

Nickel corner. Perhaps by default, Hughes as the most experienced will be the Vikings’ slot corner in Week 1 against Green Bay. But Gladney played some nickel at TCU, where on occasion he also shadowed top receivers, showing the rookie’s range. Zimmer has often relied on multiple slot defenders, and Gladney could become another option by the end of the season.

Player to watch

Hughes. The 2018 first-round pick could ease some of the secondary’s growing pains with a breakout season. He continued to show promise last year, leading Vikings corners in pass deflections despite ranking fourth in coverage snaps. Hughes didn’t play much in the slot (and has fewer than 150 snaps there in his career, according to Pro Football Focus), but he was solid. If he can level inconsistencies and shore up tackling, among other things, Hughes has the talent to make a big difference in 2020.

Notable number

9. No NFL defense had more interceptions last season from its starting safeties than the Vikings’ Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris, who led all safeties with six picks (in the regular season). Opposing quarterbacks may have to look twice this year before picking on a young Vikings corner, as Smith and Harris form perhaps the league’s best tandem and a strong security blanket for this defensive makeover.