First Unofficial Vikings Depth Chart Provides Some Clarity on Key Position Battle
The Minnesota Vikings released their first unofficial depth chart of the 2025 preseason on Wednesday before they take on the Houston Texans in their preseason opener on Saturday afternoon.
The first Vikings depth chart leaves plenty of mystery as to who from this 90-man roster will ultimately make the final 53-man team, but it does offer a bit of clarity for one of Minnesota’s most crucial position battles.
First Vikings Depth Chart Provides Some Clarity
That position battle is at the wide open cornerback position. Byron Murphy obviously is a surefire starter at the position (further evidenced by his placement as CB1 on the first depth chart), but behind the veteran, it remains to be seen who will be getting playing time.
For now, though, the Vikings have settled on Isaiah Rodgers as the other starting cornerback listed across from Murphy, backing up the idea that the veteran defender has been thriving in Brian Flores’ defensive scheme.
Rodgers, who turned 27 back in January, is entering his sixth NFL season (though he did not play in 2023 due to a violation of the league gambling policy), and he has seen an ever-growing role since entering the league.
Following his suspension, Rodgers earned his first Super Bowl ring with the Philadelphia Eagles last season, playing 15 games during the regular season and making three starts. Rodgers also played in all four playoff games on the way to that Super Bowl win, including 57 snaps in a hard-fought Divisional win against the Los Angeles Rams.
Rodgers is an uber-athletic player and has been waiting to make a major impact on an NFL franchise throughout his career. Now, it appears he is proving to everyone in the Vikings’ organization that he is capable of holding down a starting role.
Other than the starting role, we seem to have gotten a glimpse into how the Vikings see the depth players stacking up on the roster. The first reserves at cornerback, unsurprisingly, are Mekhi Blackmon and Jeff Okudah.
Okudah, a former third overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, is another veteran who has had a very strong start to his training camp. However, he has never lived up to the status of that selection and is hoping for a Sam Darnold-esque career rejuvenation with the Vikings.
Blackmon was the Vikings’ third-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft, and while he showed some flashes during his rookie season, including an interception during Minnesota’s victory over the New Orleans Saints, he never got to build off of that momentum in 2024.
The cornerback suffered a torn ACL during the first practice of training camp last summer, and he missed the entirety of the season. Now, he is hoping to bounce back and become a key contributor for Minnesota’s defense not only this year, but for years to come.
Finally, the third-string cornerbacks are listed as Ambry Thomas and Reddy Stewart while Zemaiah Vaughn and Keenan Garber make up the fourth-stringers.
Vaughn’s placement on the depth chart is somewhat surprising based on how he has performed to this point in camp, but of course, this is only the first unofficial depth chart of the summer.
A lot can change in the coming days, and perhaps some performances in Week 1 of the preseason against the Texans will shake things up heading into Week 2.
Minnesota and Houston will kick off the preseason opener at 3 p.m. Central on Saturday, August 9 inside U.S. Bank Stadium.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
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