Questions Answered: Lowkey Free Agent Addition, Week 1 Matchup, Kellen Mond
The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by VikingsTerritory. Today is the May 9th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Questions Answered: Lowkey Free Agent Addition, Week 1 Matchup, Kellen Mond
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
Q: Who’s one under-the-radar player that the Vikings should or could target between now and the start of the regular season?
Answer: Greg Van Roten, an offensive guard.
This journeyman is well into his 30s and has played 110 NFL games. Some reports suggested that Van Roten signed with the Buffalo Bills last month, but those turned out to be false. He’s also up there in age, as he turned 34 in February. But offensive linemen can often excel well into their 30s.
Minnesota is on tap to start Blake Brandel — especially if Dalton Riser doesn’t return — and some fans are shaky on that idea. Van Roten fired up a marvelous 75.3 Pro Football Focus grade last year with the Raiders while playing over 1,000 snaps.
Van Roten is a baller, and if he became a Viking, you should get excited.
Q: Do you have a dream matchup for the Vikings when the schedule is released next week?
Answer: Absolutely. The Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night or Monday Night Football.
Why should the Vikings host the Falcons out of the gate? Simple. Atlanta signed former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins on March 13th after the 35-year-old spent six seasons in the Twin Cities. To boost ratings and put a bow on Cousins’ time in Minnesota, the NFL should pit the two clubs against each other to kick off the 2024 party.
Additionally, Minnesota isn’t expected to have some thunderous winning season in 2024. However, the Falcons are in it to win it. The onus would be on Atlanta to topple Minnesota, putting the Vikings in a “house money” role versus Cousins and Co.
We’d love Vikings-Falcons in Week 1. There’s also the tampering storyline.
Q: Do you think Kellen Mond’s career is over after getting released this week by the New Orleans Saints?
A: No.
He’ll latch on as a QB3 somewhere and hope to fetch some regular season playing time down the road. Mond was never truly forecasted as a QB1 in the league, instead an intriguing prospect from the 2021 NFL Draft because of his mobility.
Mond will never morph into a bonafide starter, but he still has time left in the league.
It just won’t be with New Orleans, a team, thanks to Spencer Rattler, that released Mond on Wednesday.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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