4 Young Minnesota Vikings on the Roster Bubble Heading into the First Week of Preseason Play
Folks, the wait is almost over. In a few short days, the Minnesota Vikings will take the field once again.
Granted, for now we have to settle for preseason football, but it is still an exciting time of the year as players battle for roster spots, Minnesota’s first preseason game takes place this Saturday, August 10th at 3:30 PM CDT against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Here are four young Vikings players who could need strong performances throughout the remaining weeks of training camp in order to make the final roster.
CB Andrew Booth
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has not been shy about parting ways with high end draft picks if the production is not there. In fact, during his first year as general manager, Adofo-Mensah cut three 2021 third-round picks.
Of course, we have to keep in mind that those players were not drafted by Adofo-Mensah whereas Andrew Booth was, but the production simply has not lived up to the hype for Booth in his first two NFL seasons.
It doesn’t appear that things are going much better in training camp this summer either despite the litany of problems that the Vikings face at that position. If Booth doesn’t improve quickly, it would be surprising to see him on the 53-man roster in September.
RB Kene Nwangwu
Kene Nwangwu burst onto the scene as an electrifying kick returner for the Vikings in 2021. However, there has not been much room for him in Minnesota’s RB room to produce on offense, and with the addition of Aaron Jones this spring, it doesn’t appear that Nwangwu has many offensive snaps in his future.
Along with the lack of offensive production throughout Nwangwu’s early NFL career, the league’s kick return rules are changing once again in an effort to make the play a bit safer and encourage more returns. However, these new kick returns will be much closer to a play from scrimmage than they have been in years past.
As a result, Nwangwu’s production could be set to take a bit of a downward turn considering he only has 27 carries for a mere 88 rushing yards (an average of 3.3 yards per carry) throughout his career. We’ll see how the fourth-year return man adjusts when Minnesota takes the field against Las Vegas this weekend.
S Lewis Cine
Nobody is surprised to see Lewis Cine’s name on this list. The Vikings have a dynamic safety trio in Camryn Bynum, Josh Metellus, and Harrison Smith while Theo Jackson is showing signs of being the “next man up” in that group, and Jay Ward’s versatility could land him a role in the cornerback room this season.
With this being the case, Cine may be seeing his final snaps with the Vikings if he doesn’t prove that he can bring some value to the roster in the next couple weeks.
QB Jaren Hall
Admittedly, I have gone back and forth on what exactly I feel that the Vikings should do at the quarterback position. Jaren Hall had a couple nice moments during his appearances in 2023, but it was abundantly clear that he was not quite ready to lead an NFL offense or hold down a QB2 job.
Meanwhile, Nick Mullens doesn’t quite offer as much upside potential seeing as he is now a seven-year veteran. That being said, stability is the best quality of a backup quarterback, and for now, it would appear that Mullens can hold that role at QB3 much stronger than Hall.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Reference.
Former Vikings WR to Audition for Steelers’ Roster
You must be logged in to post a comment.