03-14-2019, 10:03 PM
Nick Easton is not a name on a lot of people's radar as a perceived upgrade to the Minnesota Vikings offensive line, but it certainly sounds like the team may feel that way. Amid rumors and reports that the Vikings are looking to re-sign the offensive guard, who missed all of last year with a neck injury, general manager Rick Spielman told members of the Twin Cities media on Thursday that the team is talking to his camp to bring him back for 2019.
Here is what Spielman had to say about what he brings to the table as a football player.
"One of Nick’s traits is he’s a good athlete. He’s tenacious as a football player," Spielman said. "He’s coming off a pretty significant injury. I won’t talk about where he is medically. But his physical traits that we look for fit very well from a schematic standpoint than maybe some of the other people that we looked at in free agency. Where you make your mistakes, and where I’ve made mistakes is sometimes forcing something that may be a name player, but making sure that if you’re going to ask him to do outside zone blocking and he’s a gap scheme-guy and better going [forward] than [to the side], he’s going to fail doing this, but if he goes into another scheme that’s going straight ahead, that’s probably where he’s going to have his most success and have his best chance to play to his contract."
Easton and center Pat Elflein formed a solid duo at guard and center in 2017 and the team liked how he had progressed as a player, so it is a shame we never got to see that build on the field in 2018. As of now, Easton would have to be considered a body inside to compete for time and take pressure off of having to draft several offensive linemen early in lieu of other players at positions of need in the 2019 NFL Draft. There may be worse options out there if they are looking to address this on a budget this offseason.
https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/Article/Nick-Easton-contract-talks-Vikings-130080767/
Here is what Spielman had to say about what he brings to the table as a football player.
"One of Nick’s traits is he’s a good athlete. He’s tenacious as a football player," Spielman said. "He’s coming off a pretty significant injury. I won’t talk about where he is medically. But his physical traits that we look for fit very well from a schematic standpoint than maybe some of the other people that we looked at in free agency. Where you make your mistakes, and where I’ve made mistakes is sometimes forcing something that may be a name player, but making sure that if you’re going to ask him to do outside zone blocking and he’s a gap scheme-guy and better going [forward] than [to the side], he’s going to fail doing this, but if he goes into another scheme that’s going straight ahead, that’s probably where he’s going to have his most success and have his best chance to play to his contract."
Easton and center Pat Elflein formed a solid duo at guard and center in 2017 and the team liked how he had progressed as a player, so it is a shame we never got to see that build on the field in 2018. As of now, Easton would have to be considered a body inside to compete for time and take pressure off of having to draft several offensive linemen early in lieu of other players at positions of need in the 2019 NFL Draft. There may be worse options out there if they are looking to address this on a budget this offseason.
https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/Article/Nick-Easton-contract-talks-Vikings-130080767/
