Minnesota Vikings 90-Man Roster

The 90 players on the Minnesota Vikings roster reported last week to TCO Performance Center for training camp. Finally. The Vikings did have a lot of work to do and that work continued through the final weekend of the offseason. It isn’t often that a key addition is made just before training camp. The Vikings may have made one when they signed receiver Dede Westbrook. One of the biggest position questions heading into training camp was the third receiver role behind Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson. Westbrook moves to the top of the candidate list. He was a productive receiver for Jacksonville, catching 66 passes in each of the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He missed most of the 2020 season with a torn ACL. That injury concern was probably a significant reason for his waiting until the eve of training camp to sign a contract. As a receiver, Westbrook has spent much of his time in the slot. If Thielen, Jefferson, and Westbrook are on the field at the same time, its’s a fairly safe bet that the latter will be the one in the slot. He’s a quick, shifty receiver with nice run-after-the-catch ability. He’s also a fine punt returner. That just happens to be another significant team question heading into training camp. 

The Vikings have had a busy, productive offseason.

Free Agent Additions:

Dalvin Tomlinson, DT

Patrick Peterson, CB

Stephen Weatherly, DE

Mackensie Alexander, CB

Nick Vigil, LB

Bashaud Breeland, CB

Tye Smith, CB

Parry Nickerson, CB

Dede Westbrook, WR

Trade:

Mason Cole, OG

That’s a lot of defense. A lot of corners. It’s a bit surprising to see that the first free agent signing of an offensive player came in late July. Then, you think about the 2020 Vikings defense and the focus on that side of the ball makes a lot of sense. 

A couple events since the start of training camp forced the Vikings to make some “tweaks” to the roster. Those events range from the sad to the truly stupid. On Friday, receiver Olabisi Johnson suffered a torn ACL while running a route. He was just running a route, just making a cut. There was no contact. It’s so damn sad that a season can be taken from a player in a blink. Injuries are a part of football. They always will be. It’s just shocking to see an ACL tear so easily. And now for the truly stupid. In advance of Saturday’s night practice, rookie quarterback Kellen Mond tested positive for COVID. That put him on the COVID reserve list. As close contacts, fellow quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Nate Stanley were also placed on the COVID reserve list. The only quarterback that was available for the big prime time fan event was Jake Browning. The reason that he was available was because he was vaccinated. Mond, Cousins, and Stanley aren’t vaccinated. Mond, Cousins, and Stanley are among a too large segment of the population that apparently isn’t interested in doing what it takes to get past a global pandemic. The vaccine is safe. It’s much, much, much safer than COVID. The vaccine works. Getting vaccinated is a choice. It’s a choice between being part of the solution and being part of the problem. When a person chooses to not get vaccinated that person is choosing to be part of the problem. The non-vaccinated are choosing to increase the chances of catching COVID. They are choosing to increase the chances that they pass it on to a loved one, teammate, or stranger. They are choosing to help this virus evolve into a much a more dangerous virus. They are choosing to increase the likelihood that more people die. Has the past year and a half not been enough? I’d like to get to the other side of this mess. Too damn many people don’t seem to care. I’m so sick of this selfish stupidity. Cousins has been a remarkably durable and dependable quarterback. He’s yet to miss a start during his three years with the Vikings. It’d be sad (and really stupid) if he missed a start because of his unwillingness to do what is best for himself, his family, his team, and the rest of the world. If it’s his faith that’s keeping him from getting vaccinated, perhaps he can look at it this way. God put the vaccine in our hands so that it can be put it in his arm. We’re all doing God’s work, right? I just want to get to the other side of this. It’s simply astonishing to me that so many people don’t feel the same way. 

Back to football. Football is fun. 

Due to his availability, Jake Browning may have already clinched the backup quarterback job. With Cousins’ current stance on things, Browning might even get a few starts this year. As for the present quarterback situation, he can’t take all of the training camp reps, even if it’s only for a few days. The choices of Cousins, Mond, and Stanley forced the Vikings to add a couple quarterbacks yesterday. After a tryout, Case Cookus was signed. He played his college ball at Northern Arizona. He signed with the New York Giants after going undrafted in the 2020 NFL Draft. He’s also spent some time with the Denver Broncos. The Vikings also claimed Danny Etling off waivers from the Seattle Seahawks. The New England Patriots selected Etling out of LSU in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He spent time with the Atlanta Falcons in 2019 and was on the Seahawks practice squad last year. The time that Cookus and Etling spend on the Vikings roster is dependent on how long Cousins, Mond, and Stanley spend in quarantine. Unless they test positive for COVID, the earliest that Cousins and Stanley can return to the team is Thursday. Mond is basically at the whim of a virus. 

Here’s the Minnesota Vikings 90-Man Roster after a week of practices, an injury, and some stupidity. 

Minnesota Vikings Roster

Offense (39 Players)

Quarterbacks (3)

  3 Jake Browning

     Case Cookus

     Danny Etling

Running Backs (5)

33 Dalvin Cook
25 Alexander Mattison

31 Ameer Abdullah

26 Kene Nwangwu

36 A.J. Rose

Fullbacks (2)

30 C.J. Ham

34 Jake Bargas

Receivers (9)
19 Adam Thielen
18 Justin Jefferson

89 DeDe Westbrook
12 Chad Beebe

15 Ihmir Smith-Marsette

17 K.J. Osborn
85 Dan Chisena

13 Blake Proehl

16 Whop Philyor

Tight Ends (5)
84 Irv Smith Jr.
83 Tyler Conklin

40 Zach Robinson

86 Brandon Dillon

82 Shane Zylstra

Offensive Tackles (6)
75 Brian O'Neill

71 Christian Darrisaw
69 Rashod Hill
74 Oli Udoh

64 Blake Brandel

61 Evin Ksiezarczyk 

Guards (7)

72 Ezra Cleveland

51 Wyatt Davis

52 Mason Cole

68 Kyle Hinton

78 Dakota Dozier

73 Dru Samia

65 Zack Bailey 

Centers (2)

56 Garrett Bradbury

63 Cohl Cabral

Defense (43 Players)

Defensive Ends (9)
99 Danielle Hunter

98 D.J. Wonnum

91 Stephen Weatherly

93 Patrick Jones II

95 Janarius Robinson

90 Jalyn Holmes

50 Hercules Mata’afa

79 Kenny Willekes

58 Jordan Brailford

Defensive Tackles (7)

94 Dalvin Tomlinson

97 Michael Pierce

9? Sheldon Richardson
96 Armon Watts
92 James Lynch

62 Zeandae Johnson

66 Jordan Scott

Linebackers (10)
55 Anthony Barr

54 Eric Kendricks
59 Nick Vigil

45 Troy Dye

32 Cameron Smith

41 Chazz Surratt

57 Ryan Connelly

48 Blake Lynch 

47 Tuf Borland

49 Christian Elliss

Cornerbacks (11)

27 Cameron Dantzler
  7 Patrick Peterson

20 Jeff Gladney

24 Mackensie Alexander

21 Bashaud Breeland

29 Kris Boyd

38 Harrison Hand

37 Dylan Mabin

39 Parry Nickerson

  5 Tye Smith

36 Amari Henderson

Safeties (6)

22 Harrison Smith
23 Xavier Woods

43 Camryn Bynum

44 Josh Metellus

46 Myles Dorn

35 Luther Kirk

Special Teams (5 Players)

Kicker

  1 Greg Joseph

  6 Riley Patterson-PUP list

Punter
 2 Britton Colquitt

Long Snapper
42 Andrew DePaola

60 Turner Bernard  

***

NFI/Reserve

76 Jaylen Twyman

Injured/Reserve

81 Olabisi Johnson

COVID/Reserve

  8 Kirk Cousins

11 Kellon Mond

  3 Jake Browning

14 Nate Stanley

87 Myron Mitchell