3 Vikings Returning from Injury in 2025
Over the next couple of months, there will be a lot of attention on new faces arriving in Minnesota as the Vikings add to their roster with free agent signings, draft picks, and maybe even a trade. In addition, the Vikings will have three fresh faces on the field this year who didn’t play a single snap during the 2024 regular season because of injury.
3 Vikings Returning from Injury in 2025
The Vikings suffered a series of season-ending knee injuries to young players in the build-up to 2024. All three should be healthy when the Vikings return for the beginning of preseason activities, and all three have varying chances of making an impact in 2025.
J.J. McCarthy
It could have all been very different in what turned out to be a renaissance season for QB Sam Darnold. Momentum was gaining for JJ McCarthy to be the Vikings starting quarterback in his rookie season. The 10th overall pick had been impressive on the practice field and then impressed in his preseason debut against the Las Vegas Raiders. Then it was revealed McCarthy had torn his meniscus in the Raiders game, and rather than a quick fix, the team decided on a season-ending operation that gave a better long-term prognosis.
McCarthy had a second procedure in November that led to a furor and prophecies of doom. That all quickly dies down, and McCarthy should be ready for training camp. We have yet to see where the future of Darnold lies, but the QB1 job should go to the man drafted for the job. McCarthy himself has stated that he just wants a fair shot at earning the job, something he will certainly get. The McCarthy era starts in 2025, and the Vikings get to see what they’ve got.
Mekhi Blackmon
The Vikings selected Mekhi Blackmon in the third round of the 2023 draft. In his rookie season, Blackmon played in 15 games including three starts, and snagged his first career interception in a win over the New Orleans Saints. It was a promising rookie year, which gave anticipation to how he could follow it up in Year 2. We never saw anything from Blackmon in his second season after he suffered a torn ACL during a 7-on-7 passing drill in the first training camp practice in July. Year 2 was over before it ever got a chance to begin.
Blackmon can go again in Year 3, and right now, the Vikings CB room is basically empty. The Vikings will bring players in, whether re-signing this year’s Pro Bowl MVP Byron Murphy, other free agent additions, or adding in the draft. However, if Blackmon comes back from his injury and is playing at the same level as before, I would expect him to at least make the Viking’s 53-man roster. How close he may or may not be to the starting roles is difficult to say at this point.
NaJee Thompson
Najee Thompson is one of the two other CBs the Vikings currently have on the roster. He, too, missed the season due to a knee injury dating back to a torn PCL against the Chicago Bears the previous season that he played through. After being waived by the Vikings with an injury designation, Thompson was re-signed by the Vikings and put on Injured Reserve.
Thompson can play as the nickel back and made a name for himself on special teams in 2023 after signing with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent. His special teams prowess will help him fight for a depth spot on the roster. Thompson hopes for a clean bill of health this year and a chance to fight for a spot.
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