Vikings Could Make Another Roster Move Soon
The Minnesota Vikings waived offensive tackle Sam Schlueter with an injury designation on Wednesday and immediately signed his replacement, Christian DiLauro. General managers are never done adjusting their rosters, especially if they need more depth at one position. Injuries also change how coaches and GMs evaluate the roster. Signing DiLauro might not be Adofo-Mensah’s last move.
Vikings Could Make Another Roster Move Soon
Many Vikings fans expected the signing of Dalton Risner when the purple team waived Schlueter. Risner could be the desired upgrade at offensive guard, especially in terms of pass protection. He met with the Vikings for a talk and a physical but left without a contract. A deal is still possible at any point.
Besides that, some other players could make sense but aren’t as glamorous as a new starting lineman. Alexander Mattison suffered a minor injury in Tuesday’s practice session. Although the injury is not believed to be serious, there is no need to rush the veteran back onto the field. Backup Kene Nwangwu was also absent. Because of the heavy load of practice reps, it would be reasonable to add another running back to the mix, depending on the duration of those absences.
Someone must take the carries in the preseason on August 10th and it remains to be seen if the team is fine with Ty Chandler and DeWayne McBride taking too many snaps. Chandler only had a total of 15 rushing attempts in the 2022 preseason, indicating that O’Connell wants to limit the workload of his promising backs. It is inevitable for RBs to not get hit a lot. That new guy could either be an undrafted rookie who is sitting at home and waiting for a call or a veteran running back to add some experience to the room that only has Mattison with meaningful experience.
The Vikings reportedly worked out veteran running back Jacques Patrick according to Aaron Wilson. Patrick played at Florida State and went undrafted in 2019. He was a teammate of Dalvin Cook and later Cam Akers, so he was never the top guy in the running back room. Despite that, he rushed for 1,790 yards and 17 touchdowns in four seasons, adding another score on 47 receptions for 356 yards through the air.
Patrick is a big back and was measured at his pro day at 6’2″ and 226 lbs but he only ran a 4.69 40-yard dash. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Vipers of the XFL in 2020 but the league suspended operations shortly after.
The Bengals added the running back to their 90-man roster but he failed to make the team and was stashed on the practice squad throughout the 2020 season. One year later in 2021, he was also placed on the practice squad before the San Francisco 49ers signed him to their roster. He stayed on the team for three weeks and rushed twice for 12 yards.
Later he had short stints on the practice squad of the Carolina Panthers, and the Baltimore Ravens, and joined the Bengals for a second time. He rushed for 58 yards and two scores in last year’s preseason with the Bengals and joined the XFL once again, playing for the San Antonio Brahmas, ranking second in the league in rushing yards and was also second on his team in receptions and receiving yards. Patrick joined the Denver Broncos in May but was waived two weeks later.
A meaningless point for his football career but nevertheless an interesting tidbit is the fact that he is the nephew of rapper 50 Cent. His tenure with the Vikings would be similar to those short times he spent with other teams, getting some carries in practice and maybe in the preseason just to be cut a few days or weeks later, hoping to receive a chance in an actual game or for a spot on a practice squad, showing the tough life of a player fighting for a chance in the NFL.
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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