Vikings Reverse Course at One Roster Spot
Five days ago, Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah told reporters that Myles Gaskin would be featured as the team’s kick returner.
Vikings Reverse Course at One Roster Spot
But when the 53-man depth chart was released for Week 1, Gaskin was not listed as the team’s kick returner or a running back. For now, Gaskin will remain on the practice squad with a possible elevation this Sunday before the showdown in New Jersey with the New York Giants.
Instead, Ty Chandler and Brandon Powell will hold down kick-returning responsibilities, at least according to the depth chart. Those two were listed on the initial depth chart from the preseason, and unless the Vikings plan to simply insert Gaskin as a kick returner with the depth chart be damned, it’s Chandler and Powell this Sunday.
Last Thursday, Adofo-Mensah suggested Gaskin would be utilized as a kick returner and said: “Myles just has a really diverse skill set to help us on special teams and offense.”
Thereafter, head coach Kevin O’Connell mentioned that Kene Nwangwu’s exit from the franchise was about Gaskin’s emergence on offense and special teams. O’Connell noted on the NFL’s new kickoff return rule: “Everybody is still determining what this new kickoff return format will be. It’s going to be a work in progress regarding the opportunities you do and don’t get.”
Gaskin previously returned a couple of kicks during his Miami Dolphins days and six in four years at the University of Washington from 2015 to 2018. Chandler, on the other hand, returned four last year and 37 in five years at Tennessee and North Carolina — all with the previous kick-return format.
Gaskin originally joined the Vikings roster late in the summer of 2023 after the club auditioned men like Kareem Hunt and Mike Davis for the gig. The Dolphins cut Gaskin loose during roster trimdowns, and Minnesota pounced. After that, he was the odd man out (for a while) when Adofo-Mensah swung a low-risk trade for Cam Akers last September. Gaskin then returned to the Vikings practice squad. He ended up seeing action in two Vikings games — 6 special teams coverage snaps.
Chandler became a Viking during the 2022 NFL Draft and caught on as a running back last year after Minnesota discontinued the Alexander Mattison RB1 experiment.
The Vikings also have newcomer Zavier Scott on the depth chart at running back, albeit on the practice squad, and C.J. Ham at fullback.
Minnesota is favored to defeat New York by a point or two.
One Viking Is 100% Back — Just in Time.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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