Vikings OTA takeaways: Dalton Risner's signing, Josh McCown on J.J. McCarthy and more (2024)

EAGAN, Minn. — Brian Flores’ defense is kind of like a tennis partner who tries to win the warmup points. The match hasn’t started and you’re lobbing the ball back and forth trying to get loose, but your friend is swatting winners.

Like, really bro?

During the Minnesota Vikings’ organized team activities this spring, Flores’ defense has aligned with a single-high safety then dispersed into a Cover 2 look. It has shown man coverage before drifting into a Cover 3 zone. It works frequently, and players like cornerback Jaylin Williams will dive for a ball, deflect it away and celebrate with teammates.

As for the offense — and particularly the two new quarterbacks, Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy — it’s nice exposure. The games won’t be easy, so why give the offense a false sense of confidence?

That was one thought that crossed my mind Wednesday at the TCO Performance Center. Here are nine more:

1. Josh Metellus escaped the defensive backs meeting room Wednesday morning for a bathroom break. Before returning, he checked his phone, scrolled social media and saw the news: The Vikings had signed left guard Dalton Risner to a one-year contract.

Metellus returned to the meeting room and whispered the news to fellow safety Cam Bynum, who relayed the intel to Harrison Smith. By the time the meeting ended and all of the Vikings players flowed into the hallway, they were all aware.

Risner, 28, started 11 games last season for Minnesota. The Vikings signed him last September, and he replaced Ezra Cleveland in Week 7 against the San Francisco 49ers, which resulted in arguably the best pass-blocking performance in Kevin O’Connell’s tenure as head coach.

Pass protection is Risner’s specialty, and O’Connell’s affinity for the pass felt like a reason Minnesota would try to re-sign Risner shortly after the end of the season. At the time, Risner was seeking a sizable deal in the rising guard market. The Vikings were not willing to meet that price. Ultimately, Risner changed agents, signing with Drew Rosenhaus, who has several Vikings clients. The two sides agreed Wednesday on terms.

“Glad he’s back now,” Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw said. “I loved playing next to him.”

Risner has started 73 games, compared to just five for fellow guard Blake Brandel. If anything, Risner adds to the Vikings’ depth on the offense line. In the case of an injury, Brandel could step in. Also, if right guard Ed Ingram struggles, the Vikings have more reliable options to replace him than before Wednesday.

2. Josh McCown, the first-year Vikings quarterbacks coach, spoke to the media Wednesday for the first time since he was hired. Most of the questions revolved around rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who McCown said first wowed him at Michigan’s pro day in late March.

McCown returned to Ann Arbor, Mich., wondering whether McCarthy could duplicate his performance in his private workout with the Vikings. He did.

“When we got him on the field,” McCown said, “it was like another version of his pro day, where you really felt like he was spinning the ball.”

McCarthy’s presence, scribbling plays the Vikings had asked him to master in the 24 hours before their meeting, also impressed McCown.

“You’re sitting in a classroom with a group of coaches,” McCown said. “It can be intimidating, and he held his own intellectually, relationally and emotionally.”

McCown weighed these interactions — and all of them, really — against the previous year’s experience. Working as the Carolina Panthers’ quarterbacks coach in 2023, McCown darted around the country alongside head coach Frank Reich and owner David Tepper, meeting with many of the top quarterback prospects in that class.

The Panthers settled on Bryce Young, which, alongside McCown’s nearly two decades of NFL playing experience, shaped his beliefs on what to identify in prospects (accuracy, arm strength, athleticism, coachability, field vision, etc.).

Sweet spot 🎯@jjmccarthy09 @thayerthomas1 pic.twitter.com/HXOChkgB6B

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) May 29, 2024

3. What did McCown learn from Young’s transition from a highly successful Alabama career to an underwhelming rookie season in Carolina?

“There’s still a learning curve to this league,” McCown said. “So, it’s important to give yourself space to understand that and not put pressure or a level of expectations on them that are sometimes unattainable in year No. 1.”

McCown described McCarthy’s challenge as twofold: The offensive staff is teaching him a hefty volume of plays, and he simultaneously is having to apply those teachings against more complex defenses than he has ever faced. How you structure a practice to delicately balance the learning with the need for execution is the secret sauce.

Wednesday, McCown and McCarthy talked about feeling the pressure of grasping the offensive system while applying that knowledge against an ever-changing defense.

“That’s real,” McCown said. “That’s what it feels like (in a season).”

4. With Danielle Hunter having left for Houston, there are fewer Vikings players trotting across the practice fields who look like they could win a UFC heavyweight fight. One of them who does, however, is Jerry Tillery.

The Vikings signed the 2019 first-round pick as a potential pass-rush option on the interior. First-year defensive line coach Marcus Dixon discussed Tillery with one of his mentors, Giff Smith, who coached Tillery with the Chargers. Smith shared that Tillery is athletic, smart and committed to the team.

“You wouldn’t believe what he weighs (295 pounds) because he’s so lean,” Dixon said.

Tillery’s role remains uncertain. Harrison Phillips and Jonathan Bullard will likely man the interior defensive line spots on run-specific downs, but Tillery’s twitch might make sense in certain packages.

5. Left tackle Christian Darrisaw could have answered the question in a boring fashion, downplaying the talent of rookie edge rusher Dallas Turner. Instead, he said plainly, “I think Dallas is going to be special.”

Last week, Turner swiped and spun around one of Darrisaw’s O-line cohorts.

“It was one of those, like, ‘Holy (expletive),'” Darrisaw said. “A quick one.”

Darrisaw said that Turner’s spin looked even quicker than Hunter’s.

“Yes, quicker than Danielle’s,” Darrisaw said, nodding.

Keep grinding. #Skol pic.twitter.com/d7g0hUC6TP

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) May 29, 2024

6. One of the most interesting Vikings prospects this summer is Levi Drake Rodriguez, the seventh-round pick from Texas A&M Commerce. If you want to know why, read my colleague, Kalyn Kahler, who wrote about Rodriguez as her “Prospect X” ahead of the draft.

Rodriguez arrives at the facility in the early, pitch-black hours of the morning before the Vikings staffers. He bounces around constantly during drills. He is a ball of energy, who Dixon said Wednesday “is going to be awesome. I think the future is bright for him.”

7. Akayleb Evans played outside cornerback for most of last week’s OTA practice available to media members, but second-year corner Mekhi Blackmon garnered most of the snaps Wednesday. After one pass breakup, he even jawed with receiver Brandon Powell, and Bynum stepped between them to break them up.

8. Before the Vikings began their red zone period Wednesday, they separated into groups. One of the groups focused on a specific quarterback-running back handoff from the shotgun. Only 28.4 percent of the Vikings’ runs in 2023 came from the shotgun, according to TruMedia. This number could increase heavily, but the Vikings could implement more play-action passing from the shotgun with two athletic quarterbacks in Darnold and McCarthy.

9. Without Justin Jefferson present, second-year pro Jordan Addison is manning most of the X receiver snaps. He simply looks different than the rest of the wideouts in the way he hinges off routes and glides across the field. The Vikings will need him to step up if tight end T.J. Hockenson misses time early, and Addison looks ready to do so.

(Photo: Nick Wosika / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Alec Lewis is a staff writer covering the Minnesota Vikings for The Athletic. He grew up in Birmingham, Ala., and has written for Yahoo, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Kansas City Star, among many other places. Follow Alec on Twitter @alec_lewis