Minnesota Vikings Unofficial Depth Chart

In advance of the first weekend of preseason games, teams released their first unofficial depth charts. The release shouldn’t be taken too seriously for a couple of reasons. 1) The start of the season is still a month away. 2) Some slappy on the staff probably slapped the depth chart together. Despite coming straight from the team it’s called unofficial for a reason. Still, this depth chart release is a fun step in the march to the start of a new season. Here’s a look at the first unofficial depth chart of the Minnesota Vikings. 

Minnesota Vikings Unofficial Depth Chart

Offense (43 Players)

Quarterback

Starter: 

Kirk Cousins

Backups: 

Jake Browning

Nate Stanley

Kellen Mond

Danny Etling

Kellen Mond will be on the 53-man roster. 

Running Back

Starter:

Dalvin Cook

Backups:

Alexander Mattison

Ameer Abdullah

Kene Nwangwu

A.J. Rose

Fullback

Starter:

C.J. Ham

Backup:

Jake Bargas

Wide Receiver

Starters:

Adam Thielen

Justin Jefferson

Backups:

K.J. Osborn

Chad Beebe

Dede Westbrook

Ihmir Smith-Marsette 

Blake Proehl

Dan Chisena

Whop Philyor

Myron Mitchell

Warren Jackson

Ihmir Smith-Marsette is only moving up the depth chart. 

Tight End

Starter:

Irv Smith Jr.

Backups:

Tyler Conklin

Brandon Dillon

Zach Davidson

Shane Zylstra

Offensive Tackles

Starters:

Rashod Hill (LT)

Brian O’Neill (RT)

Backups:

Christian Darrisaw (LT)

Blake Brandel (RT)

Evin Ksiezarczyk (LT)

Zack Bailey (RT)

I might now be the only person that still believes Christian Darrisaw will be the starting left tackle in Week 1. 

Guards

Starters:

Ezra Cleveland (LG)

Oli Udoh (RT)

Backups:

Dru Samia (LG)

Dakota Dozier (RG)

Kyle Hinton (LG)

Wyatt Davis (RG)

Center

Starter:

Garrett Bradbury

Backups:

Mason Cole

Cohl Cabral

Defense (42 Players)

Defensive Ends

Starters:

Danielle Hunter (LE)

Stephen Weatherly (RE)

Backups:

Jalyn Holmes (LE)

D.J. Wonnum (RE)

Hercules Mata’afa (LE)

Kenny Willekes (RE)

Jordan Brailford (LE)

Patrick Jones II (RE)

Janarius Robinson (LE)

I don’t buy that rookies Patrick Jones and Janarius Robinson are at the bottom of the depth chart. 

Defensive Tackles

Starters:

Michael Pierce (NT)

Dalvin Tomlinson (DT)

Backups:

Armon Watts (NT)

Sheldon Richardson (DT)

James Lynch (NT)

Zeandae Johnson (DT)

Jordan Scott (NT)

Lining James Lynch over the center will be the exception rather than the norm. 

Linebackers

Starters:

Anthony Barr (SLB)

Eric Kendricks (MLB)

Nick Vigil (WLB)

Backups:

Blake Lynch (SLB)

Troy Dye (MLB)

Cameron Smith (WLB)

Ryan Connelly (SLB)

Tuf Borland (MLB)

Chazz Surratt (WLB)

Christian Elliss (SLB)

Cornerbacks 

Starters:

Patrick Peterson

Bashaud Breeland

Backups:

Mackensie Alexander

Cameron Dantzler

Harrison Hand

Kris Boyd

Dylan Mabin

Tye Smith

Parry Nickerson

Amari Henderson

Safeties

Starters:

Harrison Smith

Xavier Woods

Backups:

Myles Dorn

Camryn Bynum

Josh Metellus

Luther Kirk

Of the 11 projected starters on defense, only three played for the Vikings last year. Anthony Barr played a game and a half. Eric Kendricks missed the final five games. Harrison Smith is the only projected starter that played the entirety of the 2020 season. It’s a remarkable roster churn that doesn’t really feel like a roster churn. That’s due to the familiarity with some of the players on the roster now that weren’t on the field last season. Danielle Hunter returns from injury. Michael Pierce returns from an opt-out. Stephen Weatherly, Mackensie Alexander, and Sheldon Richardson return from sabbaticals with other teams. 

Special Teams

Kicker

Starter: 

Greg Joseph

Backup:

Riley Patterson

Punter/Holder

Starter:

Britton Colquitt

Long Snapper

Starter:

Andrew DePaola

Backup:

Turner Bernard

Kick Returner

Starter:

Ameer Abdullah

Backup:

Kene Nwangwu

Punt Returner

Starter:

Ameer Abdullah

Backups:

K.J. Osborn

Chad Beebe

Ihmir Smith-Marsette