Vikings rookie CB Cameron Dantzler impressive in first padded practiceFormer NFL cornerback Terrell Buckley predicted last month that Cameron Dantzler will be a Day 1 starter. The rookie is doing his best to try to make that happen.
The Vikings cornerback had a strong showing in Monday’s first padded practice of training camp.
The third-round pick got some work with the first team at left cornerback, and made one of the top plays of the afternoon by breaking up a long Kirk Cousins pass intended for Adam Thielen.
“We liked (Dantzler) a lot on tape,’’ Vikings coach Mike Zimmer told KFAN-FM after the workout. “Adam Thielen came up to me during practice today and said ‘No. 27’s going to be really good.’ He’s got long arms and good length.”
The 6-foot-2, 188-pound Dantzler starred at Mississippi State. Buckley, an NFL stalwart from 1992-2005, was Dantzler’s cornerbacks coach with the Bulldogs before he took a similar position last January at Mississippi. Buckley told the Pioneer Press that
the Vikings “got a steal at corner” and that he expects Dantzler to start the Sept. 13 opener against Green Bay.
The Vikings began Monday’s practice with Mike Hughes and Holton Hill as the outside cornerbacks on the first team, and rookie Jeff Gladney as the initial slot back. When Hughes took over the slot, Dantzler stepped in as an outside cornerback.
Gladney, recovering from meniscus surgery last March, missed practice last Friday because Zimmer said his knee “flared up on him a little bit.”
Zimmer said Gladney “probably took too many reps” in a previous workout but that “he’s going to be fine."
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