Finally?

The Minnesota Vikings finally pulled the trigger and placed defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd on injured reserve. Many in the media and nearly all of the Vikings fans have been expecting/calling for this move for weeks. Maybe months. Floyd has dealt with injuries from the moment he stepped on the field for the Vikings as a rookie in 2013. He's missed 4-5 games in each of the last two seasons. Floyd's injury issues popped up earlier than usual this season. He played in the Week 1 game against the Tennessee Titans, injured his knee, and had arthroscopic surgery to trim the meniscus about a week later. At the time it was estimated that he would be out "roughly six weeks." The six weeks were up about a month ago. The Vikings apparent reluctance to move Floyd to injured reserve has been a puzzle for media and the fans. It shouldn't have been. The team wants Floyd on the field. When healthy he's a disruptive force on the interior of the defensive line. Shamar Stephen has been a solid replacement. Especially against the run. He just isn't the explosive athlete that Floyd is. It's really no puzzle that the Vikings would wait as long as possible to see if there's any chance that they can get Floyd back in the lineup. If the team can get by with him as an inactive player on the active roster why not hold off making a decision that can't be taken back. The Vikings finally decided that Floyd wan't going to be a factor this season. That opened up a spot on the roster and the defensive line for the promotion of defensive tackle Toby Johnson from the practice squad. Johnson not only received a promotion to the active roster he also signed a three-year contract extension. It looks like the Vikings have plans for him beyond a late-season call-up.

Toby Johnson is uniquely agile for a player that's 6'4" and 325 lbs. He showed that agility on a diving interception in a preseason game this past August. A player his size isn't supposed to move like that. He also gives the defense another player with run-stuffing, middle-clogging size. Linval Joseph had been the only player on the roster with that sort of size. He's been fantastic but he could use a little breather on occasion. Johnson can provide that. The interior line rotation has gotten better and deeper.

Some Vikings beat writers have speculated that this could be the beginning of the end of Sharrif Floyd's career in Minnesota. It's a little early for that sort of talk. The Vikings exercised the fifth-year option on his rookie deal so he's under contract for the 2017 season. There's really no reason to think that he won't be on the roster next year. He's an excellent player when he's healthy. He just has to stay healthy. Hopefully his bad luck with injuries comes to an end.