Caleb King And Mickey Shuler Activated

The Vikings have hopes that Adrian Peterson will recover from surgery repairing his ACL and MCL injury in time for week one of the 2012 season.

That seemingly lofty goal may or may not be reached, and it will be the topic of conversation all offseason, but in the meantime Peterson’s season officially ended Monday when the Vikings placed him on the injured reserve.

To replace Peterson, the Vikings activated Caleb King from the practice squad, and if he makes the field next week he could be interesting to watch.  The Georgia running back is listed at 5’ 11” and 212 pounds. 

King was a highly touted prospect after declaring for the NFL’s supplemental Draft this past offseason.  At Georgia, he was expected to be the heir to Knowshon Moreno but ended up breaking his jaw, missing substantial time, and leaving for the NFL earlier than expected.  It was expected that he would be selected in the supplemental Draft, but no teams put in a bid, and the Vikings ended up signing him as an undrafted free agent prior to this season.

In the preseason finale against Houston, King rushed 19 times for the Vikings and gained 62 yards (3.3 yard average) and scored two touchdowns.  I personally have the feeling King will be a solid NFL running back, and he may be able to stick to the active roster and help the Vikings cope with Peterson’s potential absence for part of the 2012 season.

According to the NFL’s transaction report, the team also continued to shuffle the fourth tight end spot on the roster by cutting Allen Reisner and activating Mickey Shuler from the practice squad.  Both players have spent time on both the Vikings practice squad and active roster, but neither has been able to move up the depth chart.

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