07-25-2019, 09:58 PM
It is that time again everyone. Minnesota Vikings training camp is here, meaning we will be tracking Mr. Mankato candidates for the late-round pick or undrafted player who rises above the rest. Each year KSTP-TV’s Chris Long puts together odds of each youngest stepping up during camp. Here are the official 2019 odds:
===THE FAVORITES (AKA: “Skill-Position-Guys-Who-Should-See-Reps)===
Alexander Mattison RB – Rd3 ’19
Mattison will get *plenty* of reps in Eagan to build a Mr Mankato resume after landing on the NCAA top ten lists for rushing yards, carries and touchdowns as a junior at Boise State last year.
He also has the hands – if not the speed – to make a splash play or two catching the ball.
His road to college football – never mind the NFL – is a heck of a story: https://twitter.com/CBSSportsNet/status/1044781074771927040Watch the video and Mattison may become your sentimental, as well as odds-on, Mr. M favorite.
Odds: 3-2 – If (when?) Dalvin Cook goes down, it appears 2019 3rd round pick Mattison is in line to be the proverbial ‘next-man-up’
Jake Browning QB – UDFA ’19
We love our backup QBs on the Mr M committee. Add Browning to the proud tradition of McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Joe Webb and Kyle Sloter.
A strong Heisman candidate after the 2016 and 2017 college football seasons, and was among the preseason favorites prior to his senior year at Washington last fall.
He threw for 12,296 yards and a 94-34 TD/Int ratio as a 4-year starter for the Huskies.
Someone is going to win the job to be Kirk Cousins backup. Why not Browning? He’d come cheaper than veterans Kyle Sloter and Sean Mannion, which could come into play as a potential tie-breaker.
The Vikings could stand to save money on their QB2 because, let’s face it, if Cousins goes out for more than a game or two the season goes up in smoke anyway.
If the powers-that-be follow that logic and give Browning solid #2 reps in Eagan, he could very easily toss his way into wearing the Mr. M crown.
Odds: 2-1 – The old saying says the backup QB is always the most popular guy in town. Browning just might have what it takes to surpass vets Mannion and Sloter to earn clipboard duties this year
Dillon Mitchell WR – Rd7 ’19
Mitchell came through Nike University (Oregon) which has turned out a few strong athletes over the years.
Among them, his 1,184 receiving yards last season are the most ever by a Duck in a single season.
Big plays can make serious hay on the turf of the Land O’ Lakes Training Camp Field at The Twin Cities Orthopedic Performance Center in Eagan, and there’s plenty of sizzle in Mitchell’s arsenal.
The kid’s an athlete. He was a dual-recruit at Oregon – having been a 4-star basketball prospect before shifting his entire focus to football.
He will certainly be Penny Hardaway’s pick to be Mr. Mankato 2019: https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2019/05/why-nba-legend-penny-hardaway-thinks-vikings-got-a-steal-in-dillon-mitchell/Odds: 4-1 – Who’s to argue with Penny Hardaway?
Bisi Johnson WR – Rd7 ’19
It says here Bisi Johnson and Dillon Mitchell – drafted 8 picks apart last June – have become fast friends during their freshman summer in the NFL.Have to wonder how that friendship might hold up if only one ends up making the roster (or even practice squad). Forget about it if one of them claims Mr. Mankato over the other.
Johnson’s full name – Olabisi – translates “to bring prosperity to your family” in his native Nigerian.
Nothing spells bringing prosperity to one’s family like being named Mr. Mankato.
He’s not a burner, so he’ll need to be a sharp route-runner and find space to make the kings of plays that could bring him, and his family, that prosperity.
Odds: 4-1 – Is he a slot? An outside receiver? Regardless, deep balls can cause wild swings once we break out the Mr Mankatometer
===VALUE PLAYS (AKA: Non-Skill-Position-Guys-Who-Could-See-Reps) ===
Hercules Mata’afa DT – UDFA ’18
There are committee members who want Mata’afa to stick just to Eddie Murphy’s “Hercules… Hercules… Hercules” clap from ‘The Nutty Professor” can live on in our collective minds.
Also, having had his entire 2018 season zapped by a blown ACL before it even began, there is also some real sentiment toward Mata’afa getting a shot.
Despite combine stats that slotted him in the 20th-percentile of prospects in the ’18 draft, Mike Zimmer gushed about the native Hawaiian during OTAs this summer.
Odds: 6-1 – Going from a torn ACL to making the team would be a … wait for it… Herculean task. And he might pull it off.
Rest can be found here:
https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2019...kato-odds/
===THE FAVORITES (AKA: “Skill-Position-Guys-Who-Should-See-Reps)===
Alexander Mattison RB – Rd3 ’19
Mattison will get *plenty* of reps in Eagan to build a Mr Mankato resume after landing on the NCAA top ten lists for rushing yards, carries and touchdowns as a junior at Boise State last year.
He also has the hands – if not the speed – to make a splash play or two catching the ball.
His road to college football – never mind the NFL – is a heck of a story: https://twitter.com/CBSSportsNet/status/1044781074771927040Watch the video and Mattison may become your sentimental, as well as odds-on, Mr. M favorite.
Odds: 3-2 – If (when?) Dalvin Cook goes down, it appears 2019 3rd round pick Mattison is in line to be the proverbial ‘next-man-up’
Jake Browning QB – UDFA ’19
We love our backup QBs on the Mr M committee. Add Browning to the proud tradition of McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Joe Webb and Kyle Sloter.
A strong Heisman candidate after the 2016 and 2017 college football seasons, and was among the preseason favorites prior to his senior year at Washington last fall.
He threw for 12,296 yards and a 94-34 TD/Int ratio as a 4-year starter for the Huskies.
Someone is going to win the job to be Kirk Cousins backup. Why not Browning? He’d come cheaper than veterans Kyle Sloter and Sean Mannion, which could come into play as a potential tie-breaker.
The Vikings could stand to save money on their QB2 because, let’s face it, if Cousins goes out for more than a game or two the season goes up in smoke anyway.
If the powers-that-be follow that logic and give Browning solid #2 reps in Eagan, he could very easily toss his way into wearing the Mr. M crown.
Odds: 2-1 – The old saying says the backup QB is always the most popular guy in town. Browning just might have what it takes to surpass vets Mannion and Sloter to earn clipboard duties this year
Dillon Mitchell WR – Rd7 ’19
Mitchell came through Nike University (Oregon) which has turned out a few strong athletes over the years.
Among them, his 1,184 receiving yards last season are the most ever by a Duck in a single season.
Big plays can make serious hay on the turf of the Land O’ Lakes Training Camp Field at The Twin Cities Orthopedic Performance Center in Eagan, and there’s plenty of sizzle in Mitchell’s arsenal.
The kid’s an athlete. He was a dual-recruit at Oregon – having been a 4-star basketball prospect before shifting his entire focus to football.
He will certainly be Penny Hardaway’s pick to be Mr. Mankato 2019: https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2019/05/why-nba-legend-penny-hardaway-thinks-vikings-got-a-steal-in-dillon-mitchell/Odds: 4-1 – Who’s to argue with Penny Hardaway?
Bisi Johnson WR – Rd7 ’19
It says here Bisi Johnson and Dillon Mitchell – drafted 8 picks apart last June – have become fast friends during their freshman summer in the NFL.Have to wonder how that friendship might hold up if only one ends up making the roster (or even practice squad). Forget about it if one of them claims Mr. Mankato over the other.
Johnson’s full name – Olabisi – translates “to bring prosperity to your family” in his native Nigerian.
Nothing spells bringing prosperity to one’s family like being named Mr. Mankato.
He’s not a burner, so he’ll need to be a sharp route-runner and find space to make the kings of plays that could bring him, and his family, that prosperity.
Odds: 4-1 – Is he a slot? An outside receiver? Regardless, deep balls can cause wild swings once we break out the Mr Mankatometer
===VALUE PLAYS (AKA: Non-Skill-Position-Guys-Who-Could-See-Reps) ===
Hercules Mata’afa DT – UDFA ’18
There are committee members who want Mata’afa to stick just to Eddie Murphy’s “Hercules… Hercules… Hercules” clap from ‘The Nutty Professor” can live on in our collective minds.
Also, having had his entire 2018 season zapped by a blown ACL before it even began, there is also some real sentiment toward Mata’afa getting a shot.
Despite combine stats that slotted him in the 20th-percentile of prospects in the ’18 draft, Mike Zimmer gushed about the native Hawaiian during OTAs this summer.
Odds: 6-1 – Going from a torn ACL to making the team would be a … wait for it… Herculean task. And he might pull it off.
Rest can be found here:
https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2019...kato-odds/
