Two joint practices are in the books and the Minnesota Vikings are now busy focusing on playing the Cincinnati Bengals Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT in Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium.

The Vikings offensive players to keep an eye on were discussed yesterday, so today the defense will move into focus. As with the offense, many of Minnesota’s defensive starters will likely not see much playing time and their backups will get more opportunities to impress the Vikings coaching staff.

Who are some of Minnesota’s players on looking to make a good impression on their defense when they go under the lights in Cincinnati?

Trae Waynes, CB

With Vikings cornerback Terence Newman not making the trip to play the Bengals, Waynes will likely be the player to take his spot in the starting lineup. This is a perfect opportunity for Minnesota’s second-year corner to be taken more seriously as a contender for a starting spot on the team’s defense.

Related Vikings CB Terence Newman not making trip to Cincinnati

During the Vikings training camp this summer, Waynes has been impressing onlookers with his improved skills in pass coverage. Performing well in camp is great and all, but his performance in the preseason will dictate his regular season status with the defense.

Danielle Hunter, DE

Coming into 2015, Hunter was about as raw as a football player could get. But Minnesota inserted this specimen of an athlete into Mike Zimmer’s defense anyways and the head coach still found plenty of ways to use him on the field.

A year after finishing second among NFL rookies in sacks (6) despite his limited action, Hunter will be looking to become even more lethal in his second season with the Vikings.

Scott Crichton, DT

Believe it or not, Minnesota used a higher draft pick to select Crichton (72) in 2014 than they did to draft Hunter (88) in 2015. That should mean that Crichton’s performance in his two years with the Vikings are more impressive than Hunter’s right?

Nope.

Entering his third season with Minnesota, Crichton has yet to even register a sack in the NFL. After playing his first two years with the Vikings as a defensive end, the team has moved him to the inside of the defensive line to see if he can perform any better this season. If he ends up having a poor preseason, Crichton could be looking for a new job outside the state of Minnesota in 2016.

Emmanuel Lamur, OLB

Touted as one of the Vikings top free-agent acquisitions this offseason, Lamur may not even be a starter on the team’s defense this year. Currently listed as Chad Greenway’s backup in Minnesota’s weak-side linebacker slot, Lamur has quite the hill to climb if he wants to dethrone Greenway as the team’s starter.

It will be interesting to see if Lamur can prove to the team’s coaches this preseason that he is a better option to start on defense than Greenway is for 2016.

Edmund Robinson, OLB

When a player is drafted in the seventh round, he usually does not get as much praise as Zimmer has given Robinson this summer during camp. When asked about Robinson recently, Zimmer responded by saying, “I think he has a chance to be a really good linebacker someday.”

That has to feel good for the young linebacker who is just trying to land a spot on the Vikings opening day roster. If he can continue to impress Zimmer and the rest of Minnesota’s coaching staff this preseason, it should not be too hard for the team to make room on their roster for Robinson.

Mackensie Alexander, CB

Much like Waynes last year, Alexander has had his fair share of struggles during his very first NFL training camp this summer. But he has also had plenty of instances that should have made the Vikings very satisfied that they used a second round pick on the young cornerback in the most recent NFL Draft.

Thought by some to possibly challenge Captain Munnerlyn as the team’s top nickel corner, Alexander will most likely be relegated to backup duties during his rookie season. However, he seems plenty capable of filling in for injured teammates in Minnesota’s defensive backfield if needed in 2016.

Jayron Kearse, SS

Few rookies came into Vikings training camp this summer with more questions than Kearse. But Minnesota’s 2016, seventh round pick has been proving the team right for taking a chance on him.

His skills are still a bit raw, but the wheels in Zimmer’s head must hit full speed when he thinks about all of the different ways he could use the 6’4” safety in the Vikings defense. Andrew Sendejo is listed as the team’s starting strong safety for now, but do not be surprised if Kearse squeezes his way into a starting role sooner than later.