If you’re new here, this year at Climbing The Pocket, we are going to do our best to report back daily with a Vikings Training Camp Stock Report. Essentially, relaying the information we hear and see from our fellow Vikings beat writers about who is trending up or down at Training Camp, and who we should be watching for in the coming days.
Trending Up 📈📈📈
KJ Osborn– This is just an incredible story out of camp thus far, and I honestly am happy to keep putting players who are doing well in the Trending Up section as many times as they deserve. KJ Osborn has taken hold of this WR3 spot, and with every passing day that Dede Westbrook sits out, KJ’s lead grows more and more. His route running, hands, positioning, have all been on point and he keeps delivering when he’s called upon. This is a feel good story after a putrid rookie season, and I’m here for the hype!
Armon Watts- Watts provided us with our first camp battle between himself and Garrett Bradbury, but he’s also been having great camp and received some good praise today from DC/DL coach Andre Patterson. The Vikings lacked depth and talent at the DT position a year ago, but fast forward to now and it appears they have a plethora of depth. If Watts can continue his strong camp, he’ll be an great depth piece behind Tomlinson, Pierce, and Richardson.
Trending Down 📉📉📉
Cameron Dantzler– I hate putting Cam Dantzler here, I really do. But from everything we’ve heard this camp, Dantzler has been shaky in coverage, which maybe is why the Vikings opted to bring in Breeland this Summer. Dantzler showed flashes last season and many people believed that a full offseason and bulking up could really help his game. Well he did both of those things, but still hasn’t quite showed what we expected from him. There is plenty of time for Dantzler to right the ship and capitalize off his rookie campaign. But for now he’s trending down with an opportunity to course correct.
Greg Joseph– We we’re lead to believe that Greg Joseph has had a decent start to camp, and while that may have been true. The last few days have not been so good, and he missed another couple kick’s again today. Now I don’t know how much stock should be taken in these missed kicks, but if it continues to be a trend his stock will continue to drop and there will be some concern as we head into the season.
Who To Watch 🔎🔎🔎
Christian Darrisaw– This isn’t the first appearance in this series for the 1st round pick, but he finds himself in the who to watch section today after returning to action for the Vikings. As we find ourselves in the 7th day of practice and the 2nd day of padded practices, it was a welcoming sign to see Darrisaw out there participating in some facet. He stated after practice that he likely won’t participate in on field drill until Saturday. Keep an eye on his progress, and hopefully this next week we can put him in the Trending Up category.
Wyatt Davis- Two OL in the ‘Who To Watch’ section? You bet! Wyatt Davis joined Christian Darrisaw in returning to lineup and saw a little more action. In that action he displayed the aggressiveness that the Vikings need on this OL. Oli Udoh has been in the front running for the RG job throughout camp, but if Wyatt Davis puts together a string of good practices, he could give Udoh a run for his money.
Shameless plug here, but if you missed our show from yesterday, we had Luke Braun from Locked on Vikings and Zone Coverage, join us to talk all things Vikings Training Camp. You won’t want to miss out!