Former Viking Wrecked the Preseason Game
The final preseason game for the Minnesota Vikings in 2023 has been a loss, just like the previous two. In fact, the Vikings haven’t won a preseason contest in the Kevin O’Connell era, and the last victory dates back to 2019 with Mike Zimmer on the sideline. The defeat is meaningless, and much more important than the result is the evaluation of the players.
Former Viking Wrecked the Preseason Game
Some players of the purple team played well and increased their chances of making the 53-man roster, but a former Viking stole the show. Cardinals edge-rusher Zach McCloud had the game of his life, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Like most athletes, his primary goal in the final preseason game is to prove that he belongs on a roster, and he did exactly that. He signed with the Cards less than a week ago and already made a huge impact.
McCloud went undrafted last year and joined the Vikings as an undrafted free agent, earning more guaranteed money than all other UDFAs except for quarterback Carson Strong, proving he was a highly sought-after priority free agent.
He mainly dropped out of the draft because of size concerns at only 6’2″ and 235 lbs, unusually small for an edge rusher. His run defense also left much to be desired coming out of Miami. The Vikings also added fellow UDFA Luiji Vilain, who won the camp competition and showed enough to earn a roster spot while McCloud was waived. Vilain is still on the team.
Throughout six college seasons at Miami, McCloud played in 59 games, recording 22.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, and 192 tackles. His strengths in college were athleticism, physical toughness, and long arms.
He spent some time with the Denver Broncos and the Tennessee Titans, who waived him one week prior to his deal with the Cardinals. Usually, teams only sign some depth guys this late in the preseason, players that allow the teams to have enough bodies to go into the final preseason game while the starters and top backups are inactive.
But every now and then, a player is making a case for a roster spot, and that was exactly what McCloud did, totally dominating the Vikings’ offensive line. He sacked quarterback Jaren Hall 3 times. He also logged 6 tackles because he was extremely active in the running game. Head coach Jonathan Gannon was likely pleased with his young defender, and he made it a lot harder for the Cardinals’ new decision-makers to waive him.
On the flip side, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has an easier decision to release the guys that allowed McCloud to have a field day. He signed a bunch of free-agent offensive linemen during training camp, and all of Christian DiLauro, Jack Snyder, and Jarrid Williams will have a hard time making the roster once the team watches the tape.
McCloud’s revenge game significantly increased the chance to make the roster (or the roster of a different team) and surely secured him a practice squad spot somewhere. Organizations are always looking for potential, and he flashed a lot of that. Cutdown day is on Tuesday — and teams have to trim the roster to 53 players.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt
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