Under-the-Radar Summer Storylines for the Vikings
Most Minnesota Vikings fans will spend the summer fixated on J.J. McCarthy’s preparation for the regular season — and rightfully so.
The Vikings have big-ticket items to monitor this summer, like J.J. McCarthy’s development, but what about the unsung stuff?
He’s the one big hope for the future, and folks should monitor him as such.
But under-the-radar Vikings storylines are on the table, too. These are those for the 2025 Vikings, listed in no particular order.
You can read the primary storylines here.
Can Oscar Chapman Win the Punter Battle?
Some fans don’t care about punters, but they dictate field position every single Sunday. The Vikings have employed Ryan Wright as their punter since 2022, yet after a rather magical rookie season, Wright has never quite replicated his maiden voyage.
So, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah signed Australian punter Oscar Chapman at the end of April. He could reasonably steal Wright’s job.
Zone Coverage‘s Tyler Ireland wrote about the battle a few weeks ago: “Wright is still the better player. He’s entering his fourth season as Minnesota’s starting punter and beat out veteran Jordan Berry in training camp as a rookie. Wright has pre-existing chemistry as a holder with second-year kicker Will Reichard, which gives him the inside track to beat out Chapman for the starting job.”
“However, there is still a sliver of hope for Chapman and his future with the Minnesota Vikings. Maybe his addition is less about the 2025 season and more about 2026 and beyond. Wright signed a one-year contract extension this offseason and is set to be a free agent in 2026.”
Wright turned 25 last week.
Ireland added, “By signing an international prospect, the Vikings are creating a stress-free environment where Chapman can benefit from a redshirt year while building chemistry with Will Reichard and Andrew DePaola without impacting the practice squad. If Chapman were American, there’s no way the Vikings would waste a valuable practice squad spot on him a year before they need a punter.”
Will Ty Chandler Be the RB3 — or Someone Else?
Jordan Mason became a Viking in March after a late-night trade with the San Francisco 49ers, immediately demoting Ty Chandler to RB3.
And the Vikings have demonstrated through their actions over the last year that they’re not particularly high on Chandler, mainly because his pass-blocking is suspect. Might the Vikings waive him altogether and sign a different running back after the NFL’s end-of-summer purge, when over 1,400 players fail to make 53-man rosters?
What about the Return Men on Kicks and Punts?
Bradon Powell remains a free agent, with the Vikings expressing little to no interest in re-signing him.
That means the club will need a new punt returner, and if Chandler is waived, well, the Vikings would need two return men.
Players like Isaiah Rodgers, Silas Bolden, and Rondale Moore — speedsters — could be ideal for the jobs. On the whole, it’s rare for the Vikings to enter a summer with no real clarity at PR and KR.
The 4th EDGE Rusher. Who Is It?
Minnesota has not re-upped with Jihad Ward, and Patrick Jones II signed with the Carolina Panthers. The team has the first three OLB jobs all sewn up, courtesy of Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Dallas Turner.
But what about the depth pass rushers, and specifically, the OLB4?
These are the contenders:
- Bo Richter
- Gabriel Murphy
- Tyler Batty
Brett Rypien or Max Brosmer at QB3?
In all likelihood, Brett Rypien, the veteran, will earn the QB3 job in 2025, and that’ll be that.
However, Minnesota onboarded Max Brosmer, a Golden Gopher, after the draft from undrafted free agency, and there’s a world where he takes the QB3 job, with Rypien cut late in the summer.
The coaching staff has spoken positively of Brosmer, so it’s worthwhile to monitor the QB3 spot. In 2023, the third quarterback became quite important for Kevin O’Connell and Co.
O’Connell said about Brosmer last month, “I mean, the starting point of just a pretty efficient thrower of the football from a standpoint of fundamentals, technique, his ability to generate some pretty good evolutions and RPMs on the ball with pretty limited movement in the pocket.”
“I have a lot of respect for P.J. Fleck and his staff and how they’ve coached football over there, from a standpoint of his high football IQ – I think, shows up when he can really arrive here, spend a couple hours in meetings, and he’s out there making corrections in the middle of a seven-on-seven walk through leading into a period or whatever it is. So you’re already seeing a lot of the things that we really identified in Max to bring them into a quarterback room that we’re really excited about.”
A pretty sweet endorsement.
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