Minnesota Vikings Roster Tweaks

The Minnesota Vikings played the first half of the season fairly injury-free. It was nice. Those nice days have changed a bit over the past month. Injuries forced the Minnesota Vikings to make some tweaks to their roster this week. For the past 3.75 games, Blake Brandel had been playing in place of Christian Darrisaw (out with a concussion) at left tackle. Brandel suffered a torn MCL in his right knee at the end of Sunday’s loss to the Detroit Lions. He was placed on injured reserve and will miss the rest of the season. Fortunately, Darrisaw is expected to return to the field for Saturday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts. Oli Udoh will step up as the team’s swing tackle. Injuries have forced the cornerback position opposite Patrick Peterson into a revolving door. Cam Dantzler Sr., Akayleb Evans, Andrew Booth Jr., and Duke Shelley have started or taken snaps this season. Evans and Booth are on injured reserve. After a month on injured reserve, Dantzler was activated for the Lions game. Shelley took some snaps in the game as Dantzler shook off rust and eased into a full-time workload. The position is still uncertain as Dantzler has missed practice time this week with an illness. The precarious cornerback position forced the Vikings to look outside the organization for help. Yesterday, rookie Kalon Barnes was plucked from the practice squad of the Miami Dolphins. He took Brandel’s spot on the roster. After a four-year college career at Baylor, Barnes was selected in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. He was released at the end of training camp and signed by the Dolphins to their practice squad. Barnes opened some evaluation eyes with a blazing 4.23 40 at the Scouting Combine. That sort of speed is a very elite trait. Moving from cozy Miami to frigid Minnesota will be a shock. This week will be his first on a 53-man roster. 

The Vikings cornerback group now looks something like this:

Patrick Peterson

Cam Dantzler Sr.

Chandon Sullivan

Duke Shelley

Kris Boyd

Kalon Barnes

Practice Squad:

Tay Gowan

Parry Nickerson

That isn’t the group that the team envisioned back in August. Injuries will always change football plans. Hopefully, Dantzler can get through the illness that’s kept him out of practice. The Vikings will need him on Saturday. I expect game day elevations for Tay Gowan and possibly Parry Nickerson. 

Another roster tweak:

Rookie linebacker William Kwenkeu has spent the season on the Vikings practice squad. He’s been a game day elevation a couple times. Yesterday, he was promoted to the 53-man roster. He took the roster spot that opened up when defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard was placed on injured reserve. 

Compared to several teams around the league, the Vikings recent run of injuries is more nuisance than problem. It didn’t feel that way against the Lions as the absence of safety Harrison Smith, left tackle Christian Darrisaw, and center Garrett Bradbury created so damn many problems. The defense looked lost without their leader. The offensive line was a mess without their best player (Darrisaw) and leader (Bradbury). Injuries are inevitable in football. The teams that best avoid those injuries are often the teams standing at the end. Here’s hoping that the Vikings recent injury nuisance is the worst of it. Here’s hoping that any future roster tweaks are due to players getting healthy. Not injured.