Day 3 Camp Notes

Patrick Peterson noticed Hunter as well.
“It was great to have Danielle out here,” he said. “I remember when he first walked out here at minicamp before we broke up. I was like, ‘Uh, we got us one here for sure.’ He’s just a freak of nature, just ripped up, has the body of a gladiator.”
But the Vikings have more than just Hunter’s return to look forward to. Michael Pierce will be starting at nose tackle this year, and though he missed the first practice on Wednesday because of a calf injury (“not a tweak,” Zimmer stressed), he participated in Thursday individual drills and sat out the team portion. While he was off to the side, we saw a combination of Sheldon Richardson, Dalvin Tomlinson and Armon Watts rotated into the first team, with Watts playing nose tackle alongside Richardson in those reps.
The Vikings clearly want to use Richardson as a nickel rusher, but we’ll likely see him rotated into the first-team defensive line rotation in base packages as well. James Lynch was given a second-team opportunity as a result of the defensive line shuffle as well, and that’s some indication that he could be the fifth defensive tackle should they choose to keep that many.
At edge rusher, we saw Stephen Weatherly lined up opposite Hunter. When Hunter was resting, Weatherly would often line up on the left side of the defense — where Hunter typically lines up — and D.J. Wonnum would take the right spot. Patrick Jones and Janarius Robinson would then play second-team defensive end.

Zach Davidson is getting a somewhat substantial rotation as a third tight end, playing more often than Brandon Dillon and Shane Zylstra in that role.

Good man-to-man coverage from Patrick Peterson here. Covering Adam Thielen, all the way to the right. pic.twitter.com/uIVVbnmFp0

— vikesinsider (@vikesinsider) July 30, 2021

@"BarrNone55" said: Zach Davidson is getting a somewhat substantial rotation as a third tight end, playing more often than Brandon Dillon and Shane Zylstra in that role.

@"PurpleCrush" said:

@"BarrNone55" said: Zach Davidson is getting a somewhat substantial rotation as a third tight end, playing more often than Brandon Dillon and Shane Zylstra in that role.

That's an interesting one. I know the kid's pretty raw, but it might be hard to stash him on the practice squad.

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"PurpleCrush" said:

@"BarrNone55" said: Zach Davidson is getting a somewhat substantial rotation as a third tight end, playing more often than Brandon Dillon and Shane Zylstra in that role.

That's an interesting one. I know the kid's pretty raw, but it might be hard to stash him on the practice squad.

Dillon and Zylstra were undrafted. They're more likely to clear waivers for the PS than Davidson. Just that gives Davidson a leg up in the 53 competition. If someone can teach Davidson to block, I think the Vikings may have hit the jackpot with this 5th rounder. 

davidson will be a hidden gem. Size and agile, he could be a serious threat on PA down in the red zone/goalline

Bisi, Beebe, Osborn.  Only one is making it. My money is on KJ