The Minnesota Vikings play football this week, hosting the Houston Texans at U.S. Bank Stadium on Saturday. Not all starters will play, but Kevin O’Connell did tell reporters on Monday that J.J. McCarthy will appear in the game.
It’s still unknown exactly who will and won’t play for each team, as there are no injury reports throughout the week in preseason. We likely won’t find out until before the game, when reporters share who is dressed and who isn’t.
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Still, the Texans are one of the better teams in the AFC, advancing to the Divisional Round of the playoffs the past two seasons. The result of the game doesn’t matter, but seeing how players perform is essential and plays a role in determining the final 53-man roster.
Let’s look at three position groups where the Vikings have an advantage over the Texans. This accounts for depth as well.
EDGE Rushers
The two teams probably have a draw as far as their top EDGE pairings go. The Texans have Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson, who combined for 23 sacks. Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel combined for 23.5.
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But the Vikings boast plenty of depth. Second-year EDGE defender Dallas Turner is expected to play a much larger role this year, and how much he plays will speak volumes as to where he stands. If he plays a lot, that means he’s going to be counted on to come off the bench to replace Greenard and Van Ginkel, which is still valuable. But if he doesn’t play, or plays sparingly, expect high snap counts from Turner in 2025.
Offensive Line
Yes, you read that right. The Vikings may have a substantial advantage on the offensive line over their contemporaries. Houston’s starting left tackle will be Cam Robinson, whom the Vikings traded for when Christian Darrisaw went down in 2024. The Texans have Aireontae Ersery, a rookie from Minnesota, starting at right tackle.
The Vikings have an advantage at the interior offensive line (another sentence I don’t think I’ve written before) after signing guard Will Fries and center Ryan Kelly. Rookie Donovan Jackson will likely see lots of playing time on Saturday as well.
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Running Back
We’ll give the Vikings the edge here after the addition of Jordan Mason to produce a strong 1-2 punch with Aaron Jones. The Texans signed Nick Chubb, who has battled through injuries the past two seasons. Dameon Pierce’s production has gone down each of his three seasons.
We probably won’t see Mason or Jones play for Minnesota on Saturday, though. That leaves a very unproven set of running backs led by Ty Chandler to handle duties, and I’m not sure if the depth from RB3 on is much of an advantage in Minnesota’s favor.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: What positions do the Vikings have an edge at against the Texans?