The Vikings got to the initial 53-man roster yesterday by releasing the following players.
Jake Bargas, FB
Blake Brandel, T
Jake Browning, QB
Nevelle Clarke, CB
Aviante Collins, G
Quartney Davis, WR
Brandon Dillon, TE
Myles Dorn, S
Mark Fields II, CB
Nakia Griffin-Stewart, TE
Kyle Hinton, G
Alexander Hollins, WR
Brett Jones, C
Jake Lacina, C
Blake Lynch, LB
Nate Meadors, CB
Josh Metellus, S
Dillon Mitchell, WR
David Moa, DT
Steven Parker, S
David Reese II, LB
Nate Stanley, QB
Due to the potential for COVID-related issues the practice squad limit has been boosted to 16 players. Many of the players that the Vikings released yesterday will remain in Minnesota.
Linebacker Ben Gedeon was moved from the active PUP list to the reserve PUP list. As a result he will miss at least the first six regular season games.
Here's the resulting Minnesota Vikings' 53-man roster.
Offense (26 Players)
Quarterbacks (2)
8 Kirk Cousins
4 Sean Mannion
Running Backs (4)
33 Dalvin Cook
25 Alexander Mattison
23 Mike Boone
31 Ameer Abdullah
Fullbacks (1)
30 C.J. Ham
Receivers (7)
19 Adam Thielen
18 Justin Jefferson
81 Olabisi Johnson
12 Chad Beebe
11 Tajaé Sharpe
17 K.J. Osborn
85 Dan Chisena
Tight Ends (3)
82 Kyle Rudolph
84 Irv Smith Jr.
83 Tyler Conklin
Offensive Tackles (4)
71 Riley Reiff
75 Brian O'Neill
69 Rashod Hill
74 Oli Udoh
Guards (4)
65 Pat Elflein
78 Dakota Dozier
72 Ezra Cleveland
73 Dru Samia
Centers (1)
56 Garrett Bradbury
Defense (24 Players)
Defensive Ends (6)
99 Danielle Hunter
91 Yannick Ngakoue
95 Ifeadi Odenigbo
57 D.J. Wonnum
52 Eddie Yarbrough
90 Jalyn Holmes
Defensive Tackles (5)
93 Shamar Stephen
96 Armon Watts
94 Jaleel Johnson
51 Hercules Mata'afa
66 James Lynch
Linebackers (5)
55 Anthony Barr
54 Eric Kendricks
50 Eric Wilson
45 Troy Dye
47 Hardy Nickerson Jr.
Cornerbacks (6)
21 Mike Hughes
20 Jeff Gladney
24 Holton Hill
27 Cameron Dantzler
29 Kris Boyd
38 Harrison Hand
Safeties (2)
22 Harrison Smith
41 Anthony Harris
Special Teams (3 Players)
Kicker
5 Dan Bailey
Punter
2 Britton Colquitt
Long Snapper
58 Austin Cutting
Here are the players that have been placed on the various reserve lists:
Reserve Lists
Reserve/Physically Unable To Perform
42 Ben Gedeon, LB
Reserve/Injured
79 Kenny Willekes, DE
Reserve/COVID-19
None!
Reserve/Non-Football Illness
59 Cameron Smith, LB
Reserve/Opt-Out
98 Michael Pierce, DT
***
Some roster thoughts:
Offense: 26 players
Defense: 24 players
Specialists: 3 players
Of the whopping 15-member draft class, nine made the roster.
Justin Jefferson
Jeff Gladney
Ezra Cleveland
Cameron Dantzler
D.J. Wonnum
James Lynch
Troy Dye
Harrison Hand
K.J. Osborn
None of the six players selected after the fifth round made the active roster. Seventh-round defensive end Kenny Willekes is on IR with a torn ACL. Most, if not all, of the other five will probably be signed to the practice squad.
Undrafted free agent Dan Chisena makes it 10 rookies on the Vikings initial 53-man roster.
The most curious decision was keeping only two safeties. As many as two safeties could be signed over the coming hours. There was some post-draft talk that cornerback Harrison Hand might be moved to safety. I didn't hear anything about him playing safety in training camp so switching positions now seems remote. Perhaps having a safety or two on the practice squad would provide some positional security. Whatever the Vikings do at the position in the coming hours, at least one safety is sure to be added. When that happens, which player will have a short stay on the initial 53-man roster? With seven players, it's easy to look to receiver. At a glance, Dan Chisena would appear to be the likely candidate. I would've thought so a week ago. I don't think that now. The Vikings clearly value his special teams skills. If he was on the roster for his receiving skills he wouldn't have spent a few days last week at safety. His roster spot feels safe for what he's expected to provide on special teams. That leaves Chad Beebe and Tajaé Sharpe as the receivers that could be released for a safety. I'm leaning Sharpe. With 11 players, defensive line might be a little heavy. A running back? Who knows? But at least one safety will surely be added and a corresponding number of players will have to be released. An NFL roster is always a fluid thing and the bottom of it is never safe.
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