The Minnesota Vikings have completed their mandatory minicamp and are in their final week of Organized Team Activities. With the offseason program almost complete, and training camp just over a month away, now is a good time to project the first 53-man roster for the season.
I unveiled the 53 Monday on SKOR North's Purple Daily, holding true to the amount of players the Vikings kept at each position last summer in their final cuts. The only exceptions were at cornerback and safety, where I have the Vikings keeping one more corner and one fewer safety.
In this projection, I often gave the benefit of the doubt to veteran players but that could easily change in training camp. I also don't have tight end T.J. Hockenson on the 53 because of the knee injury that ended his 2023 season and is expected to keep him sidelined for the first part of 2024. It won't be surprising if Hockenson is on the physically unable-to-perform list in Week 1.
Here's one man's prediction at the 53 that coach Kevin O'Connell will take into the Vikings' opener against the New York Giants.
Judd Zulgad's Minnesota Vikings 53-man roster prediction
Quarterback (3)
Nick Mullens
Cut
Jaren Hall
Running back (3)
Ty Chandler
Kene Nwangwu
Cut
Myles Gaskin
DeWayne McBride
Fullback (1)
C.J. Ham
Wide receiver (6)
Trishton Jackson
Jailen Nailor
Brandon Powell
Trent Sherfield Jr.
Cut
Devron Harper
Lucky Jackson
Ty James
Jeshaun Jones
Malik Knowles
Thayer Thomas
Tight end (4)
Johnny Mundt
Nick Muse
Josh Oliver
* T.J. Hockenson (likely to begin season on PUP)
Cut
N'Keal Harry
Trey Knox
Sammis Reyes
Offensive line (8)
Garrett Bradbury
Dan Feeney
Ed Ingram
David Quessenberry
Cut
Henry Byrd, G
Jeremy Flax, OL
Michael Jurgens, C/G
Doug Nester, OL
Tyrese Robinson, G
Spencer Rolland, OL
Walter Rouse, T
Defensive line (5)
Jonathan Bullard
Harrison Phillips
Jaquelin Roy
Jerry Tillery
Jonah Williams
Cut
James Lynch
Tyler Manoa
Levi Drake Rodriguez
Taki Taimani
Edge rusher (5)
Andre Carter II
Jonathan Greenard
Dallas Turner
Andrew Van Ginkel
Jihad Ward
Cut
Pat Jones II
Gabriel Murphy
Owen Porter
Bo Richter
Linebacker (4)
Brian Asamoah II
Blake Cashman
Kamu Grugier-Hill
Ivan Pace Jr.
Cut
Abraham Beauplan
K.J. Cloyd
Dallas Gant
Cornerback (6)
Mekhi Blackmon
Akayleb Evans
Shaq Griffin
Khyree Jackson
NaJee Thompson
Cut
Andrew Booth Jr.
A.J. Green III
Dwight McGlothern
Jaylin Williams
Safety (5)
Cam Bynum
Theo Jackson
Josh Metellus
Harrison Smith
Jay Ware
Cut
Lewis Cine
Special Teams (3)
Will Richard, kicker
Seth Vernon, punter
Andrew DePaola, long snapper
Cut
John Parker Romo, kicker
Ryan Wright, punter
Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com.
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