Minnesota Vikings Roster

Each of the remaining three games is a playoff game for the Minnesota Vikings. A terrible start to the season and losing winnable games in recent weeks have put them in this situation. It's been a weird season. It's been weird off the field. A global pandemic will do that. It's been weird on the field. Dealing with a global pandemic is responsible for a lot of that. Empty stadiums, severely altered routines, one more thing to worry about. The Vikings provided the rest of the on-field weirdness. There have been stretches in games during which they look like a good team. At times, they've looked very good on offense. At times, they've looked promising on defense. In nearly every game, much of the good stuff is wiped out by mind-numbing mistakes. The Vikings have yet to play a clean game. To be honest, it's remarkable that they've won six games. But that's the thing with this team. In nearly all of those six games, the Vikings were forced to overcome the sort of self-inflicted mistakes that typically seal a loss. Yet, they won those games and they were in position to win more. This team has fight. They have grit. They also make too damn many mistakes. It'd be nice to see a clean game before this season is done. It'd be even nicer to see three such games. If the Vikings can put an end to the mind-numbing mistakes they might put themselves in a position to play a few more games in January. And February. 

The Vikings host the Chicago Bears today in the last home game of the season. Here's a little run-down of the roster in advance of the big game. Injuries have forced the Vikings to do some late-season roster-rattling. Linebacker Eric Kendricks (calf) and tight end Kyle Rudolph (foot) have been ruled out for today's game. It'll be the third missed game for Kendricks and the second for Rudolph. If there's a player on the defense that the Vikings can least afford to lose that player is probably Kendricks. Next man up. Todd Davis is the next man up. Or some combination of Davis and rookie Troy Dye. Blake Lynch was promoted from the practice squad to help boost the linebacker depth. At least the defense has had a couple of games to get used to playing without Kendricks. They need him back. They need him back and and they need him healthy. With Irv Smith Jr. and Tyler Conklin, the Vikings are much better equipped to handle the loss of Rudolph. This might be the opportunity that Conklin has needed and perhaps deserved. I just wish that it wasn't at the expense of Rudolph. The Vikings plucked Hale Hentges from the practice squad of the Indianapolis Colts to add some tight end depth. Most of the rest of the transactions of recent weeks have been players bouncing from practice squad to active roster to practice squad to street to practice squad to active roster to practice squad, or some roster direction. Linebacker Hardy Nickerson has lived that sort of season. He's back on the practice squad. A new practice squad addition is a former college teammate of Nickerson, running back Khalfani Muhammad. That puts two Cal players on the Vikings roster for the first time since Joe Kapp and Ed White from the Super Bowl IV days. That's not true. I just felt better recalling Kapp and White than Todd Steussie and Duane Clemons. Anyway, some more permanent Vikings transactions have included the waiving of Holton Hill, Tajaé Sharpe, and Mark Fields II. The waiving of Hill was something of a surprise. He started the season as a starter. With promising rookies Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler on the roster it didn't help Hill's job security when he was injured early in the season. It's wrong to speculate on issues since that injury but Hill had some prior strikes going against him. It probably wouldn't take much for the team's decision-makers to lose patience with him. It also didn't help that Gladney and Dantzler have improved with each game. I think that both will be around for a while. Sharpe felt like a solid addition when he signed a free agent deal in the offseason. Rookie Justin Jefferson jetted to starter, if not star, status. Chad Beebe and Olabisi Johnson settled in as some combination of the #3 and #4 options. Sharpe wasn't getting opportunities. The Kansas City Chiefs picked him up so he's found a nice, new home. 

Due to the terrible kicking of Dan Bailey in recent weeks, the Vikings signed kicker Taylor Bertolet to the practice squad. 

Every NFL season involves weekly roster-tweaking. COVID threw a new variable into the roster-tweaking works this season. Testing positive for the virus joined injuries as a daily concern for coaches. There were new protocols/restrictions in adding players. I don't know if these COVID-related issues forced the Vikings to widen their never-ending search for football talent. Maybe it's a coincidence but I can't recall the team's decision-makers ever eyeing other team's practice squad like they have this season. They plucked Rashod Hill from the practice squad of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2016. He's the only player that I can recall being added in such a manner. Maybe that's simply due to the fact that he's the only one that's gone on to make an impact in Minnesota. The Vikings have plucked a player from the practice squad of another team on three occasions this season. 

Jordan Brailford-Washington Football Team

Dylan Mabin-Las Vegas Raiders

Hale Hentges-Indianapolis Colts

Defensive end Jordan Brailford has earned some recent playing time. He took advantage of his opportunity to make a significant impact in the Week 13 win over the Jaguars. Brailford looks like a nice project for defensive line coach Andre Patterson. Cornerback Dylan Mabin has intriguing size but has only been active for one game with no defensive snaps. Hale Hentges has only been with the Vikings for about a week but with Rudolph's injury he could see a few snaps today. There are many pools of football talent. This season, the Vikings appear to be taking advantage of a new one.

Here's the Minnesota Vikings roster in advance of today's game against the Chicago Bears. 

Minnesota Vikings Roster

Offense (26 Players)

Quarterbacks (2)
 8 Kirk Cousins
 4 Sean Mannion

Running Backs (4)
33 Dalvin Cook
25 Alexander Mattison

31 Ameer Abdullah
23 Mike Boone

Fullbacks (1)
30 C.J. Ham

Receivers (6)
19 Adam Thielen
18 Justin Jefferson
81 Olabisi Johnson
12 Chad Beebe
17 K.J. Osborn
85 Dan Chisena

Tight Ends (4)
82 Kyle Rudolph
84 Irv Smith Jr.
83 Tyler Conklin

87 Hale Hentges

Offensive Tackles (4)
71 Riley Reiff
75 Brian O'Neill
69 Rashod Hill
74 Oli Udoh

Guards (3)
78 Dakota Dozier

72 Ezra Cleveland

73 Dru Samia

Centers (2)
56 Garrett Bradbury

61 Brett Jones

Defense (24 Players)

Defensive Ends (4)
95 Ifeadi Odenigbo
57 D.J. Wonnum

90 Jalyn Holmes

67 Jordan Brailford

Defensive Tackles (5)
93 Shamar Stephen
96 Armon Watts
94 Jaleel Johnson
66 James Lynch

51 Hercules Mata’afa 

Linebackers (6)
54 Eric Kendricks
50 Eric Wilson

45 Troy Dye

40 Todd Davis

57 Ryan Connelly

48 Blake Lynch

Cornerbacks (6)
20 Jeff Gladney
27 Cameron Dantzler
26 Chris Jones
38 Harrison Hand

39 Dylan Mabin

32 Cordrea Tankersley

Safeties (3)
22 Harrison Smith
41 Anthony Harris

44 Josh Metellus

Special Teams (3 Players)

Kicker
 5 Dan Bailey

Punter
 2 Britton Colquitt

Long Snapper
42 Andrew DePaola

Practice Squad

66 Abdullah Anderson, DT

65 Zack Bailey, OL

40 Jake Bargas, FB

  6 Taylor Bertolet, K

64 Blake Brandel, T

  3 Jake Browning, QB

76 Aviante Collins, G/T

36 Tae Hayes, CB

68 Kyle Hinton, G

15 Alexander Hollins, WR

35 Luther Kirk, DB

24 Khalfani Muhammad, RB

47 Hardy Nickerson, LB

37 Curtis Riley, S

  7 Nate Stanley, QB

52 Eddie Yarbrough, DE 

 

Here are the players that have been placed on the various reserve lists: 

Reserve Lists

Reserve/Injured

99 Danielle Hunter, DE

55 Anthony Barr, LB

21 Mike Hughes, CB

29 Kris Boyd, CB

79 Kenny Willekes, DE

43 George Iloka, S

46 Myles Dorn, S

Practice Squad/Injured

86 Brandon Dillon, TE

Reserve/Non-Football Illness
59 Cameron Smith, LB

Reserve/Opt-Out
98 Michael Pierce, DT