The new kid, Jerick McKinnon, is listed as third on the depth chart, but may see more snaps than Asiata because of the coaches' focus on situational packages. Aside from a first day drop, I saw very little that implied that McKinnon would necessarily be a poor pass catcher. Despite tiny hands that were possibly the smallest at the combine (8 5/8", as opposed to the average receivers' 9 1/2"—a huge difference), he's been able to reel the ball in. He looks the ball in, keeps his hands together, extends away from the frame and adjusts to the ball without having to change stride. It's a significant improvement over his technique at the Senior Bowl and that's encouraging.
McKinnon has had some issues with pass protection diagnosis, but unlike his abysmal draft season showing in pass protection has been holding up well from what I've seen, including a few impressive pickups in the Saturday scrimmage and the Friday prior. That said, we obviously need to see more.
As a runner, McKinnon has been explosive and fluid, and in the few times it's been tested, has exhibited unreal balance. His vision, as far as I can tell, has surprising patience and good decisionmaking. If so, he'll be a threat far sooner than I thought.
Matt Asiata has become leaner and more explosive, though still takes reps with the fullbacks on occasion, though the hope is he never takes a snap there. I'll never call Asiata fast, but he definitely looks faster here. Given what I didn't understand at the time was actually very good vision and extremely talented lane selection and decisionmaking, this might be a better player than people give him credit for. He probably has less power than before—hard to tell in camp—but he has continued to make good decisions at the line, something I didn't realize until recently I complimented him for last season when I argued he was the third-best back at training camp in the notebooks.
I haven't seen him tested in pass blocking, but he seems to be a poorer pass-catcher than Peterson or McKinnon, both from a drops and general technique perspective and certainly does less with the ball in his hands. He has a strong reputation for good pass blocking, though, and I expect that the Vikings are pricing that in.
Joe Banyard hasn't really stood out to me, though from what I can tell, his decisionmaking is not nearly as good as the other three running backs. He's certainly faster than Asiata and probably Dominique Williams, and his change-of-direction is very good as well, but he's too willing to bounce it outside and doesn't exhibit much patience in running lanes. He's a fine pass-catcher.
The small-school Dominique Williams in my limited estimation is better than Banyard. He's displayed more mature vision and though he isn't as agile as Banyard, is a more fluid runner that plays with less stop-start ability than Banyard but smoother change-of-direction. He is a fine pass-catcher as well, though probably not as good as Banyard. Both he and Banyard will fight it out in the preseason, but I doubt either of them can make the roster with the roster rules the Vikings will likely follow—three halfbacks and one fullback.