Vikings Add Old Friend to Practice Squad
The Minnesota Vikings are waiting to be eliminated in the final week of the regular season as they need three games to go their way in addition to winning their own matchup versus the Lions. Since Kirk Cousins got hurt and Joshua Dobbs failed to keep his magical run alive, there hasn’t been much hope for a playoff run.
Vikings Add Old Friend to Practice Squad
After the season-ending injury of backup and special teamer Troy Dye, the Vikings elevated longtime star Anthony Barr to the 53-man roster, opening a practice squad spot. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah decided to add one of his 2023 UDFA signings to the team.
Jordan Schultz reported on X: “The Vikings are signing rookie LB Abraham Beauplan after working him out today, his agent Deryk Gilmore tells me. Beauplan was with Minnesota in the preseason but was waived following an injury. He’s now fully healthy.”
Beauplan was part of the UDFA class featuring Ivan Pace, the linebacker taking the league by storm and earning a huge role in Brian Flores’ defense. In addition to the Cincinnati linebacker, the Vikes kept fellow UDFAs Andre Carter and NaJee Thompson on the team. Thompson has been a fantastic player in punt coverage, while Carter is starting to move up the depth chart with the injuries-related absences of Marcus Davenport and D.J. Wonnum.
Beauplan didn’t make the team this year as he was placed on IR and was later released with an injury settlement, hitting free agency. As he is healthy now, he will attempt once again to make the roster in 2024. Once the Vikings are eliminated, they will start signing their practice squad players to future contracts, virtually adding them to their offseason roster.
Beauplan made 2022’s list of Feldman’s freaks, a list of the 100 most freakish athletes in college football. He wrote about the linebacker:
The 6-2 235-pounder from Florida showed off his speed when he ran the 40 in the high 4.5s and made 133 tackles at Navarro JC in Texas. Beauplan had little trouble transitioning to FBS football, leading the Herd in tackles with 110 and 11 TFLs. This offseason, he vertical-jumped 37 inches, squatted 565 and benched 385. His strength and athleticism really translated onto the field.
In three seasons at Marshall University, he logged a total of 231 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks in 35 games.
The highly productive linebacker is a smaller linebacker, fitting the modern-day prototype of the position. However, he has the athletic profile that could put him on the map in the upcoming season, with Jordan Hicks and Dye scheduled to hit free agency, leaving him with Brian Asamoah and Pace as the only linebackers.
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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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