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Mailbag: Offensive line and Adrian Peterson's fantasy prospects

Thanks to all of you who submitted questions for this week's Minnesota Vikings mailbag. You can submit questions at any point during the week on Twitter, using the hashtag #VikingsMail.

@GoesslingESPN: Good morning, everyone. There's certainly plenty of intrigue from readers about Babatunde Aiyegbusi, based on the questions I get most weeks. The Vikings haven't been using him with their top two offensive units in practice so far, and it's just too hard to make a meaningful evaluation of him without pads on. We'll see more from him at training camp, but even then, I wouldn't expect him to emerge as a challenger to Matt Kalil or anything like that. The Vikings signed him because he's got a huge frame and some potential; everything else is going to take some time. The good thing, as Norv Turner pointed out, is that the Vikings have enough depth on their defensive line that their backups will get quality work at training camp, too. Let's check back and see how Aiyegbusi looks in July and August.

@GoesslingESPN: Is that some reference from the History Channel show? Never seen it -- though it does goof things up every time I try to do a Twitter search for "Vikings."

Anyway -- the Vikings will have to answer that question about Kalil this year, won't they? I'm inclined to think he'll get every chance to keep the job; Rick Spielman doesn't like to give up on his draft picks, and two years ago at this time, the Vikings thought Kalil was a franchise cornerstone. You'd hate to give up too early on a player with that kind of potential, and Kalil has talked all spring about how much better he feels after getting past his knee issues; he remarked to me at Chad Greenway's 5K last Sunday that he felt like a 50-year-old man last year. That said, if Kalil is fully healthy this year and still isn't performing at a high level, the Vikings would have a hard time bringing him back at his $11.1 million option figure. They moved Brandon Fusco to the left side this spring in part to help Kalil, and they're counting on two years of knee issues being behind the left tackle this year. In short, everything is set up as well as it can be for Kalil to bounce back this year. If he doesn't, I can't see the Vikings retaining him at that high of a price for 2016.


@GoesslingESPN: We'll wrap things up here for the week. On the fantasy front, Mike Clay makes a case for Adrian Peterson being the top pick in your draft here. There's certainly good reason to take him first overall; he's going to be one of the few legitimate featured backs in the league, the Vikings want to get him involved in the passing game and he's coming back motivated after a year off. He's 30, and there's a chance his production could fall off, but Peterson looks like he's ready to go. The only concern I'd have with him is touchdowns; there's a chance Matt Asiata could vulture some of those short scoring opportunities around the goal line.

As for minicamp ... are you asking whether it's time for the Vikings to hold training camp at their practice facility and follow the trend of teams that have stopped going out of town? That could happen at some point, though it wouldn't be until the Vikings build a practice facility big enough for fans to watch practices there, and the team still seems to like going to Mankato for a couple weeks at the beginning of camp. The Vikings won't have a new practice facility built for a couple years, at least, and even then, I'm not sure the team is in any rush to get out of Mankato.

Wait -- maybe you meant to suggest that minicamp should be held in the Bahamas? In that case, I'm all for it!

We'll wrap things up there for the week. Thanks for the great questions this week, everyone. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and we'll talk tomorrow.