2022 Dynasty/Fantasy Preseason Week 3 Game Report: Broncos 23, Vikings 13 (by Ross Jacobs)
Yet another all backups game. There weren't a lot of interesting notes in this one. The Broncos took control early and never relinquished it, which is quite sad considering the QBs they rolled out were Brett Rypien and Josh Johnson. Rypien actually acquitted himself well here. I've never thought much of him but he looked a lot like, say, Cooper Rush but more consistent. You could do worse for a backup.
Speaking of worse backups...Sean Mannion and Kellen Mond, both of whom I've been mocking all preseason were awful yet again. Well guess what? Both Mannion and Mond were cut from the final roster. Credit to the new Minnesota front office for recognizing it and exercising the warts. They traded for Nick Mullens to be the backup and even though he's not great either, at least he's serviceable.
The best player on the field this day...Broncos 3rd string RB Mike Boone. He was doing his best Chase Edmonds impression here, very shifty and impossible for Minnesota to get their hands on. I didn't realize how athletic that guy is. 4.44 40-time, 6.95 3-cone, 42” vert...it shows. If I was running Denver I would cut Gordon right now and let Boone be my RB2 and Devine Ozigbo my RB3. Ozigbo was cut from the Saints a couple weeks ago for whatever reason and I noticed he looked really good on tape. Well he looked really good again here. Unfortunately he didn't make the final roster because Denver management are slaves to Melvin Gordon.
Minnesota is also stacked at RB and also are stupidly mismanaging the players simply because of draft capital. They should have cut/traded Mattison, put Nwangwu as a kick returner only, and let Ty Chandler and Bryant Koback split duties behind Cook until he's gone next year. I know Nwangwu is a hell of an athlete but he has no feel for being a RB. Chandler is the exact opposite, just a marginal athlete but a much better, more instinctual runner. I could not be more impressed with him every time I watch him. He picks through traffic as good as any runner I've ever seen. Koback is what I've said all year, Elijah Mitchell reincarnated. He's not the best, most explosive runner ever but he's very efficient and just gets the job done. Get him in a Shanahan zone scheme and he could run for 1500 yards. Instead he was cut and stashed on the practice squad because nobody in the league is paying attention.
Two other notable Vikings players were put on the practice squad this week. One of my pre-draft favorites, TE Nick Muse, dropped two egregious passes here and didn't look or play anything like what I saw at South Carolina. Maybe he just needs time to acclimate but this was an awful first look for him. Safety Myles Dorn on the other hand was flying around blasting people all game. He lost his entire rookie year to an injury after signing as an UDFA in 2020. We'll see if he can continue to refine his game.
One player Minnesota oddly did not stash is their other young TE Zach Davidson. He was cut and stashed on the practice squad by the Bills. That's an interesting place to see if he can turn into a real TE. He was moving around well here but still looks very thin. A body transformation could do wonders for him.
Somewhat strangely for Denver, they had KJ Hamler playing in this game with the backups. That seems a bit strange if he's a presumptive starter, but after Kendall Hinton was put on the practice squad Hamler has no real competition on the roster for a spot. Montrell Washington is a gadget player only, the hype be damned, and Tyrie Cleveland and rookie Jalen Virgil are forgettable and more special teams players than anything at this point. Like it or not Hamler will be in for 3 WR sets.
Another rookie favorite of mine, DT Eyioma Uwazurike, was working with the backup line. I thought there was a chance he could start early on but it looks like he'll have to wait a bit. He made a few nice plays here but nothing eye-popping. He'll be a starter eventually.
