Minnesota Vikings Should Sit Their Starters

The Minnesota Vikings are no strangers to injuries. Since the start of training camp and now into the first preseason game they have had to sit: Latavius Murray, Laquon Treadwell, Riley Reiff, Everson Griffen, Bishop Sankey, Trae Waynes and the most recent Alex Boone. And Sankey is gone for the season with a torn ACL.

With three preseason games still approaching it is not a fair stretch to say that they need to sit their starters. This may seem obvious to some, but there is still a chance that head coach Mike Zimmer could give some playing time to the likes of Sam Bradford or Harrison Smith. But the risk to rewards ratio is too high for this team who already has a questionable offensive line and seven players injured.

The preseason games are a great showcase for rookies fighting for a starting position or for players who want a spot on the team. It gives the coaches and fans a chance to see what they can do under the spotlight. But giving that same spotlight to the veteran players is something the Zimmer doesn’t need to do right now. Keeping these players healthy should be priority number one.

Zimmer spoke with Andrew Krammer about the potential for starting the starters, “It’s a really fine line. My concern is all right, how much do we weigh the guys that I really know — I have an idea if they can play — just getting them in there to play and the backfire to that is really, are they going to be in shape for Sept. 11? That’s something I’m contemplating right now.”

While it sounds like he is leaning towards a no, that isn’t a 100% vote of confidence either. But if the Vikings are already losing these many players this early, it is imperative to keep them and the remainder of this team as healthy as possible. If you’re damned if you and damned if you don’t, you might as well be damned and sit them. That way when September 11 rolls around it is all systems go for them.