Vikings 53-Man Roster Preview

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Vikings 53-Man Roster Preview
As the Minnesota Vikings enter their 4th and final preseason game on Thursday night, all eyes will be on the bottom ⅓ of the team’s 90-man roster. On Saturday the team will cut down from 90 m…

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Somehow I missed this piece by Geoff! Fantastic write up. And we will find out in 2 days how close you are.

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Excellent article! A few comments/questions:

• OL: It amazes me that Jeremiah Sirles is on the bubble after he stepped in repeatedly last year and usually appeared competent. But I can see that the team has been prepping Easton to be a swingman on the interior line.
• Is Clemmings eligible for the PS after completing 2 active years?
• Tom Johnson: seriously? 
• LB: I thought Brothers has been injured most of camp and probably in trouble.
• DB: I thought Price was doing pretty well this year and likely to stick around. I understand the logic that Exum can play both S & CB, but it feels like cutting Price to keep Anthony Harris. I don't see much potential in Harris, or the need for another S.

Finally..."the Vikings bread and butter is their D-line and they have some tradeable assets": Agreed, but...who and for what? Datone Jones or Will Sutton could potentially be traded for a 7th-round pick or another team's 10th offensive lineman. Oh, yippee!! 

If the team really believes that Patterson and Zimmer are a virtual assembly line for creating effective DEs, then they should have shown faith in that resource and traded a veteran DE with some appreciable value, not a scrub like Sutton. Everson Griffen is a great player to have on our team, no question. But it sounds like we now have 3 high-level starting DEs and 3 promising future stars Weatherly, Bower, and Odenigbo - not to mention, Zimmer can apparently turn Spielman's late-round picks into effective pass rushers. A Griffen trade last March might have brought Joe Thomas or Joe Staley to Minnesota. But everyone thinks Griffen is irreplaceable and we're keeping him until he's 35... Well, enjoy seeing Bower and Weatherly and Odenigbo flashing their potential tonight, because they are all BURIED on the depth chart and you will only see them chasing punt returners for the next year (if not longer).

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great write Geoff!


Why are they forcing #20 into the slot when he clearly isn't comfortable there? However, if our OL can do anything this year, and #8 can get is in the end zone a few times a game, we should be a decent team.

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@Jor-El said:
Excellent article! A few comments/questions:

• OL: It amazes me that Jeremiah Sirles is on the bubble after he stepped in repeatedly last year and usually appeared competent. But I can see that the team has been prepping Easton to be a swingman on the interior line.
• Is Clemmings eligible for the PS after completing 2 active years?
• Tom Johnson: seriously? 
• LB: I thought Brothers has been injured most of camp and probably in trouble.
• DB: I thought Price was doing pretty well this year and likely to stick around. I understand the logic that Exum can play both S & CB, but it feels like cutting Price to keep Anthony Harris. I don't see much potential in Harris, or the need for another S.

This mirrors my thoughts in many ways.  I think you keep Sirles and cut Ham.  I also think you cut/trade Johnson and keep D. Jones -- I think he will get better throughout the season as he adjusts to the now position.  Also, they have been playing with Griffen moving inside during passing downs.  I can see the dline on passing downs beings Bower, Griffen, Robison and Hunter -- I would be pretty satisfied with that line on passing downs.  I also would keep Price and cut Harris.  Yes, Exum can do double duty but so can Newman.  I am worried about our nickel back and keeping Price would give additional options.  I know they liked him before last year's injury so I see them keeping him.  I also think he is a better ST player than Harris (though Harris had 15 ST snaps last game v. Price's 10).

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Agree with most of what you wrote, Guru.  Very well thought out as usual.  I was going to put together a 53-man roster the other day, but didn't have the time.  I'll add a few notes where I agreed with your analysis and where I would have differed:
- C.J. Ham...  all we've heard is that Shurmur doesn't use a FB in his offense.  We let Zach Line walk so I'm wondering why Ham would make the team?  I think his spot is directly tied to Zimmer's influence on the offense.  He may want a FB for some of those power running formations, but I question how often we'd use those and couldn't Morgan work as a FB in these sets?  I wouldn't have Ham in my final 53 prediction.
- TEs...  I would only keep 3.  Rudolph, Morgan, and Hodges (for his potential).  I don't see a need for 4 TEs, especially when we could easily slip Kyle Carter onto the PS.
- Jarius Wright...  he's obviously fallen out of favor with the coaching staff so why keep him and his higher salary around for another season?  If we can't trade him for a late round draft pick, I think the team would be better off cutting him.  Our top 3 are set and when Floyd gets back from his suspension there will be even less snaps for him.  In addition, he doesn't play special teams...  I think it would be smarter to keep a younger WR to develop since Wright doesn't have a future with this team.
- OL...  Totally agree with your top 8.  I think that final spot will come down to Sirles and Beavers.  I'd say Clemmings is in that mix, but after getting moved to OG this offseason, I don't think he makes it given how thin we are with depth at OT.
- You nailed the DL slots in my opinion.  For as much as fans want to get rid of Tom Johnson, I think he is a lock to make the team.  His value as a pass rushing DT and veteran presence is worth it.  You know what you're going to get out of the guy and you can't say the same for Datone Jones or Will Sutton.  Shamar Stephen has been a popular whipping boy this offseason too, but I think he was playing out of position at 3T.  He's much better suited as a NT and is great insurance behind Linval Joseph.
- I'm happy to see you put Eric Wilson on your final 53 projection.  He's been flying around the field and was a great UDFA signing in my opinion.  He has the talent/potential to develop into a starter, but his best attribute right now is the fact that he was a special teams demon in college.  Sounds like the perfect guy to be the Vikings 5th or 6th LB this season.