Perhaps the dumbest question posed to rookie first-round draft pick Lewis Cine during his time in Minnesota was whether he had seen "the video from Philadelphia."
Vikings get up-close look at picks that weren't
The Vikings are about to face many of the rookies they passed up when they traded down in the draft.
September 19, 2022 at 4:06AM
"Oh, man, of course," he said. "I think everyone has."
It was shot Aug. 7 during a training camp practice at Lincoln Financial Field, where the Vikings (1-0) will play the Eagles (1-0) on "Monday Night Football." The star of the eight-second clip that went viral was behemoth Philly rookie nose tackle Jordan Davis. The victim, for lack of a better word, was rookie center Cam Jurgens.
Jurgens is a good player, a stout 6-3, 290 pounds, and the 51st overall pick in the draft. Four times during the video of this one-on-one drill, Jurgens tried dropping his hips and anchoring his feet to stop Davis' onslaught. All four times he looked like he was on roller skates as the 6-6, 336-pound Davis — drafted 13th overall, one spot after the Vikings traded down 20 picks — drove him backwards 10 yards while towering over him.
"That's just JD," said Cine, the No. 32 pick who was, like Davis, one of a record five Georgia defenders drafted in the first round this year. "I've seen him do that stuff a million times. He's a big man."
Chances are Vikings center Garrett Bradbury, rookie right guard Ed Ingram, left guard Ezra Cleveland and running back Dalvin Cook will be seeing more of Davis come Monday night.
In last week's 38-35 victory at Detroit, the Eagles surrendered 181 yards rushing on 28 carries. The Lions ran the ball 14 times with Davis on the field and 14 times with him on the sideline. With Davis on the sideline, the Lions ran for 138 yards (9.9-yard average). With Davis in the game, they ran for 43 yards (3.1), including Davis' tackle for no gain on third-and-1 in the red zone.
"We probably will see him for more than the [22] snaps he played last week," said the 6-3, 307-pound Ingram. "His size and speed and power … the dude probably stands right here to me."
Ingram was laughing and holding his right hand about half a foot above his head while saying that.
Of the five defensive tackles who were active for the Eagles last Sunday, Davis played the fewest snaps. Starters Fletcher Cox (39) and Javon Hargrave (38) led the way, followed by Milton Williams (33) and Marlon Tuipulotu (29).
"Jordan did a good job when he was in there," said Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, a Vikings assistant defensive backs coach from 2014 to '17. "I thought that he played his technique well. I think he'll keep maximizing his opportunities."
Keeping score of Kwesi
For those keeping a way-too-early running score of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's first draft as Vikings general manager, Monday night is another opportunity to watch one of 20 first-rounders the Vikings passed on in trading down from 12 to 32. As soon as the Lions took receiver Jameson Williams with the 12th overall pick they got from the Vikings, the Eagles traded up with Houston to select Davis, who won college football's Outland Trophy as best interior lineman and the Chuck Bednarik Award as best defensive player.
Monday also should be the first opportunity to watch the guy Adofo-Mensah ended up selecting in the first round. Cine, who missed the 23-7 victory over the Packers because of a knee injury, said he is playing. He is unlikely to start, having lost the training camp battle against second-year pro Cam Bynum, but the 6-2, 199-pound safety said he is game for anything coaches have in mind.
"If it's O-line, D-line, wherever I can contribute," Cine said. "I'll be playing special teams, too. It's part of the process. You got to earn your way onto the defense. I loved special teams when I played it in college. That's where I first made my bread and butter. It's no different here."
Even with Cine sidelined, hindsight treated Adofo-Mensah's early moves in the draft relatively well in Week 1. Some examples:
- Christian Watson, the receiver Green Bay selected with the 34th overall pick it got in a trade with the Vikings, was wide open when he dropped a deep ball that would have been an easy touchdown on the Packers' first offensive play from scrimmage.
- Ingram, chosen with one of two picks from the Packers trade, played every offensive snap without being penalized in a blowout of Green Bay.
- Williams, the receiver the Lions took 12th overall, is on the non-football injury list and will miss at least the first four games, including the Week 3 game at U.S. Bank Stadium. Also injured and out for at least the first four games John Paschal, the edge rusher Detroit drafted 46th overall as part of the trade with the Vikings.
- Neither Kyle Hamilton nor Daxton Hill, the safeties chosen ahead of Cine at Nos. 14 and 31, started. Hamilton played 50% of Baltimore's defensive snaps while Hill played only six snaps for Cincinnati.
- Kaiir Elam, the first cornerback taken after the Vikings traded down (Buffalo, No. 23), didn't start after losing a battle with sixth-round draft pick Christian Benford.
- Packers inside linebacker Quay Walker, selected 22nd overall, played well in Green Bay's 3-4 scheme with eight tackles, seven of them solo. But the Vikings' decision to fill that spot in their 3-4 defense via free agency looked even better with Jordan Hicks notching a game-high 14 tackles, nine of them solo, one sack and a forced fumble that created one of the Vikings' two takeaways.
- Washington receiver Jahan Dotson, selected 16th overall, started his career with two touchdown catches, including the game-winner with 1:46 left against Jacksonville. But it's not like the Vikings were lacking at that position in Week 1, with Justin Jefferson accounting for nine catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns himself.
Receiver move pays off
Jefferson now heads to Philly, where Eagles fans aren't too happy that their GM, Howie Roseman, chose receiver Jalen Reagor one spot ahead of Jefferson in the first round of the 2020 draft. Roseman officially gave up on Reagor late last month when he traded him to the Vikings for a 2023 seventh-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2024.
That doesn't mean Roseman isn't capable of a good-to-great transaction involving an elite receiver. He is, after all, the early front-runner for best move in the first round of the 2022 draft.
Roseman sent the 18th overall pick and a third-rounder to Tennessee for A.J. Brown. The move married the league's most dangerous running attack with one of its best receivers. The result in Week 1 was 216 yards rushing, another 155 yards on 10 catches for Brown, and 31 points on offense.
The Philly defense also scored on a pick-six. It came during a 24-point second quarter that saw the Eagles also force Detroit into back-to-back three-and-outs.
So, yeah, the Eagles do rank 29th in rushing yards allowed per play (6.46). But that might change when the big fella from that viral video sees more playing time on Monday night.
"He huge," said Cook, whose younger brother, James, played with Davis at Georgia and is now a Bills running back.
"I met him in person a few times. He's a big individual. We got to account for that guy down there."
Just ask Cam Jurgens. Or Google his attempted block of Davis back on Aug. 7.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
