at home. This year Irv Smith Minnesota Vikings Jerseys , they got one. And it will come against a couple of old friends.Minnesota starts Week Eight with a Thursday night home game, against Washington. Apart from pitting quarterback Kirk Cousins against his former team for the first time, the game will bring former Vikings quarterback Case Keenum and former Vikings running back Adrian Peterson back to town.Keenum authored the most memorable moment in U.S. Bank Stadium’s three-year history, with a seat-of-the-pants touchdown throw to Stefon Diggs in the divisional playoffs against the Saints to cap the 2017 season. That was the last time Keenum played in Minnesota.In all Minnesota schedule features five prime-time games, subject to a Week 15 flex at the Chargers. Given Minnesota’s propensity for not showing up under the lights, that narrative will need to change if the Vikings hope to compete with Washington on a Thursday night, Dallas on a Sunday night, Seattle on a Monday night, the Chargers on a Sunday night, or the Packers in the last Monday night game of the season. When you think of dominant defensive lines in the National Football League, the Minnesota Vikings are on the short list, and they’ve been on that list throughout much of the Mike Zimmer era. However, the players that have put them on that list Minnesota Vikings Jerseys 2019 , by and large, have not been widely heralded players.Nick Olson, one of the lead writers for Vikings Territory, noted this on the Twitters yesterday.It’s not just the defensive end group, either, quite frankly. In fact, if we take a look at all of the defensive linemen on the Vikings’ roster, you don’t see a lot of first or second-day NFL draft picks.Defensive endsDanielle Hunter (third round, 2015)Everson Griffen (fourth round, 2010)Stephen Weatherly (seventh round, 2016)Tashawn Bower (undrafted, 2017)Defensive tacklesSheldon Richardson (first round, 2013)Linval Joseph (second round Irv Smith Jersey Cheap , 2010)Jaleel Johnson (fourth round, 2017)Jalyn Holmes (fourth round, 2018)Tom Johnson (undrafted, 2006, had stops in places like NFL Europe, Arena Football, and the CFL before permanently making it in the NFL)You’ll notice that the two highest-drafted guys on that list were not drafted by Minnesota. Richardson, a former first-round pick, is on his third NFL team in six seasons, while Joseph has made his way onto the short list of the best free agent signings in team history. But, the linemen that the Vikings have drafted in recent history have generally been taken on Day 3 of draft weekend.In fact, the only first or second-round pick the Vikings have used on a defensive lineman in the last ten years was Sharrif Floyd in 2013. Before that, you have to go all the way back to Erasmus James in 2005 Irv Smith Jersey Womens , who was part of a three-year run that saw the Vikings use first-round selections on defensive linemen each season (along with Kevin Williams in 2003 and Kenechi Udeze in 2004).(Incidentally, you can look up these and numerous other facts using our Complete Minnesota Vikings Draft Pick Database. . .sortable for your pleasure!)The Vikings have been doing this for quite a while, too, even in the pre-Zimmer days. Brian Robison was a fourth-round pick, as was Ray Edwards (you remember him). Shamar Stephen, another seventh-round pick, was a solid rotational piece while he was in Minnesota as well.It’s a real testament to a lot of people in the organization that the Vikings have been able to take guys from (mostly) Day 3 of the NFL Draft and turn them into not just part of a rotation, but for the most part very good NFL defensive linemen. It says a lot about the scouts that are doing deep dives on these sorts of players, as well as the Vikings being fortunate enough to have defensive line coaches like Karl Dunbar and Andre Patterson over the years that have gotten the most out of these players.Now, if we could just translate that over to offensive linemen somehow.