Kyle Hinton joined the Vikings as a late-round choice in 2020. Since that point, he has been a depth choice, somebody the crew has leaned on to offer the reinforcements up entrance when needed. Sadly, the Vikings have misplaced the younger OG to the Atlanta Falcons.
Certainly, the crew will probably be shifting ahead with out their depth guard on the roster. The ascending Atlanta Falcons determined to deliver Hinton aboard:
Hinton may have an opportunity so as to add some reinforcements to the Falcons’ entrance 5. With Desmond Ridder on the town, Atlanta is constructing towards the longer term. Bringing the younger, athletic lineman to city thus makes lots of sense.
The Vikings Lose Kyle Hinton
At 24, Kyle Hinton remains to be able to enjoying lots of soccer.
He’s 6’3″ and 310 kilos. Minnesota made him the 253rd choice within the 2020 NFL Draft, the penultimate draft with Rick Spielman as the final supervisor. Whereas a number of picks didn’t survive the transition to Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Hinton confirmed sufficient to hold round.
In Week 17, the guard obtained in on 5 snaps for the particular groups. In Week 18, Hinton obtained the prospect to hop in for 34 snaps. General, the backup did fairly effectively:
In keeping with Chris Tomasson of The Pioneer Press, Hinton acquired a $100,000 signing bonus to head over to Atlanta. For a late-round choose at first of his profession, that form of cash could be life altering.
The attraction of probably getting extra enjoying time whereas defending a younger, ascending QB must be a part of the motivation, as effectively. In the meantime, the Vikings are in win-now mode, largely on account of their soon-to-be 35-year-old quarterback.
Plus, Ezra Cleveland is firmly entrenched because the crew’s beginning LG. On the opposite facet is Ed Ingram, a second-round choice from Adofo-Mensah’s first draft. Whereas the RG didn’t have an ideal rookie yr, he nonetheless began each sport. Breaking into the beginning 5 in Minnesota would have been tough for Hinton.
Proper now, a lot of the focus is on Minnesota’s protection. Ed Donatell has been fired and there are lots of gamers who may plausibly be lower. Whereas these realities are occupying lots of our collective consideration, it’s price remembering that the offense does have loads of room to enhance. Offering some higher safety for Cousins – particularly throughout the inside offensive line – is an efficient place to start out.
They’ll must pursue that objective with out the assistance of Hinton. Better of luck to the younger lineman.
Editor’s Notice: Info from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.