A Guess At The Minnesota Vikings 53-man Roster

The Minnesota Vikings are about a dozen practices into training camp. There have been some standouts in those practices (Oli Udoh and K.J. Osborn to name two) that have prompted fans and talking heads to rethink their thoughts on the 53-man roster. With nearly a month of practices and three preseason games to go here’s another guess at the 53-man roster of the Minnesota Vikings. 

Minnesota Vikings 53-man Roster

Offense (24 Players)

Quarterbacks (3)
  8 Kirk Cousins

  3 Jake Browning

11 Kellon Mond

Out:

14 Nate Stanley

Kellen Mond will be on the roster. Whether it made a difference or not, Mond’s bout of COVID solidified Jake Browning’s hold on the back up spot. With the continued COVID stupidity of Kirk Cousins, there’s a better than usual chance that Browning gets a start or more this season. 

Running Backs (3)

33 Dalvin Cook
25 Alexander Mattison

26 Kene Nwangwu

Out:

31 Ameer Abdullah

36 A.J. Rose

At the expense of another position, I could see Ameer Abdullah making it four running backs on the roster. 

Fullbacks (1)

30 C.J. Ham

Out:

34 Jake Bargas

Receivers (5)
19 Adam Thielen
18 Justin Jefferson
17 K.J. Osborn

89 Dede Westbrook

15 Ihmir Smith-Marsette

Out:

12 Chad Beebe

85 Dan Chisena

13 Blake Proehl

16 Whop Philyor

87 Myron Mitchell

Injured/Reserve:

81 Olabisi Johnson

The competition for the final receiver spots will be very interesting to watch. Prior to training camp, I thought that the only receivers certain to be on the 53-man roster were Adam Thielen, Justin Jefferson, and Ihmir Smith-Marsette. K.J. Osborn has worked his way into that group. He’s been great. His transformation from his rough rookie season was been a revelation. I want to keep Chad Beebe. The later signing of Dede Westbrook and emergence of Osborn hurt him the most. I want to keep Dan Chisena. I thought that his special teams play improved toward the end of last season. There was a lot of room for improvement. His size and speed could be a terrific asset on offense. As things stand now, I don’t have room for a sixth receiver. When the Vikings do the real roster-trimming, there might be room for six receivers. 

Tight Ends (3)
84 Irv Smith Jr.
83 Tyler Conklin

40 Zach Robinson

Out:

86 Brandon Dillon

82 Shane Zylstra

If this is the tight end group, it starts and stops with Irv Smith Jr. and Tyler Conklin. Zach Robinson might be too raw to make the roster but he might be too talented to put on the practice squad.

Offensive Tackles (3)
75 Brian O'Neill

71 Christian Darrisaw
69 Rashod Hill

Out:

64 Blake Brandel

61 Evin Ksiezarczyk 

Brian O’Neill, Christian Darrisaw, and  Hill makes for a light group. It sounds like Blake Brandel has recently worked his way into the roster conversation. I have three here because of the roster versatility of some of the other offensive linemen. 

Offensive Guards (5)

72 Ezra Cleveland

74 Oli Udoh

51 Wyatt Davis

52 Mason Cole

68 Kyle Hinton

Out:

78 Dakota Dozier

73 Dru Samia

65 Zack Bailey 

I think that I’ve seen enough of Dakota Dozier and Dru Samia on the Vikings roster. Oli Udoh has been one of the standouts in camp. From recent comments of coaches, it sounds like he’s about wrapped up the right guard job. If he can stay on the field for the remainder of camp and preseason games, Wyatt Davis could still slip past Udoh. Davis was drafted in April to be the team’s right guard. Udoh’s play and nagging injuries have kept Davis from achieving that. Hopefully it won’t be necessary but Udoh provides some tackle depth. Mason Cole provides guard and center depth. Kyle Hinton has gotten some time at center. 

Centers (1)

56 Garrett Bradbury

Out

63 Cohl Cabral

Guards Mason Cole and/or Kyle Hinton provide center depth. 

Defense (26 Players)

Defensive Ends (5)
99 Danielle Hunter

98 D.J. Wonnum

91 Stephen Weatherly

93 Patrick Jones II

95 Janarius Robinson

Out:

90 Jalyn Holmes

50 Hercules Mata’afa

79 Kenny Willekes

58 Jordan Brailford

The defensive end competition will probably be one of the most interesting competitions of training camp. I like the raw talent and potential of recent draft picks D.J. Wonnum, Patrick Jones II, and Janarius Robinson so much that Stephen Weatherly might be competing for a roster spot rather than a starting spot. 

Defensive Tackles (5)

94 Dalvin Tomlinson

97 Michael Pierce

  9 Sheldon Richardson
96 Armon Watts
92 James Lynch

Out:

62 Zeandae Johnson

66 Jordan Scott

NFI/Reserve

76 Jaylen Twyman

The biggest question with the defensive tackles is whether the Vikings keep four or five. For me, it’s five because I can’t cut any of those five. 

Linebackers (6)
55 Anthony Barr

54 Eric Kendricks
59 Nick Vigil

45 Troy Dye

32 Cameron Smith

41 Chazz Surratt

Out:

57 Ryan Connelly

48 Blake Lynch 

47 Tuf Borland

49 Christian Elliss

Outside of Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks, the linebacker competition is wide open. Free agent addition Nick Vigil could be a starter or cut. 

Cornerbacks (6)

27 Cameron Dantzler
  7 Patrick Peterson

24 Mackensie Alexander

21 Bashaud Breeland

38 Harrison Hand

29 Kris Boyd

Out:

  5 Tye Smith

39 Parry Nickerson

37 Dylan Mabin

36 Amari Henderson

The Vikings cornerback competition should be a blast. Last year’s group was made up mostly of inexperienced, young talent. This year, there’s experienced talent. There’s young talent with some experience. There’s veteran leaders and mentors. There’s youngsters wanting to learn from those veteran leaders and mentors. Bashaud Breeland signed with the Vikings partly for that environment. The late addition of Breeland makes the Vikings cornerback group one of deepest and best in the league. 

Safeties (4)

22 Harrison Smith
23 Xavier Woods

43 Camryn Bynum

44 Josh Metellus

Out:

46 Myles Dorn

35 Luther Kirk

The safety group is pretty straightforward. Myles Dorn is challenging Josh Metellus for the fourth spot.  

Special Teams (3 Players)

Kicker

 6 Riley Patterson

Out:

 1 Greg Joseph

Greg Joseph is the veteran candidate for the kicking job. Riley Patterson is the rookie candidate. Neither has ever kicked for the Vikings. The competition is wide open. Patterson only recently returned to the field. Joseph didn’t do poorly while Patterson was on the sideline but I don’t think that he shut the door on the competition. I’m currently going with Patterson for no particular reason at all.  

Punter
 2 Britton Colquitt

 

Britton Colquitt is the Vikings punter. 

Long Snapper

60 Turner Bernard

Out:

42 Andrew DePaola

Seeing as I’ve never seen Turner Bernard snap this is more of a coin-flip decision than a reasoned one.