Minnesota Vikings: Dakota Dozier, Guard
Last season, the Minnesota Vikings had some issues on their offensive line. They had continued struggles from Riley Reiff and they entered camp not sure who would be the starter at left guard.
Eventually, Dakota Dozier won the job and started all 16 games. However, the former fourth-round pick of the New York Jets back in 2015 didn’t set the world on fire. He was graded as one of the lower guards in the league and Minnesota went into this offseason determined to fix their line.
They released Reiff who is now with the Cincinnati Bengals, finally admitting the big contract they gave him in 2017 wasn’t their best move. Then, they used their first-round pick in this past draft on Christian Darrisaw from Virginia Tech.
Darrisaw will likely be the left tackle from day one but they could have another rookie starter as well. Third-round pick Wyatt Davis was an absolute steal for them that late and he should be able to take over eventually.
If he does take the job from Dozier this season, it could lead to the release of the veteran guard. It wouldn’t save the Vikings a lot of cap space but his release also would lead to no dead money and with them usually near the top of the spending limit, avoiding dead money is a smart move.