Vikings Make Roster Move after Injury Blow
The Minnesota Vikings won’t have depth offensive tackle Matt Nelson anytime soon.
The Vikings have placed OT tackle Matt Nelson on injured reserve and claimed a replacement option from the Atlanta Falcons after the first preseason game.
The team placed Nelson on injured reserve, cancelling most, if not all, of his 2025 campaign. In return, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah signed undrafted free agent guard Michael Gonzalez.
Depth iOL Help Arrives for the Vikings
Michael Gonzalez will battle for a 53-man roster spot.
Vikings Sign Michael Gonzalez, a Guard
Vikings.com tweeted Monday, two days after the team’s first preseason contest, a win: “The Vikings have claimed G Michael Gonzalez via waivers and have placed T Matt Nelson on IR.”
Nelson is an experienced veteran lineman; Gonzalez is the opposite, just departing college (Louisville) a few months ago.
Previously a member of the Atlanta Falcons, albeit briefly, SI.com‘s Matthew McGavic wrote about Gonzalez this offseason: “Gonzalez put together his best season at the collegiate level as a senior. Starting all 13 games at left guard, the 6-foot-4, 305-pound lineman allowed no sacks and just 17 total pressures across 457 pass block snaps and 815 blocking snaps overall. He earned all All-ACC honorable mention for his efforts.”
“The Indian Trail, N.C. native broke the rotation early as a freshman, becoming a multi-year starter soon afterwards. In 2,919 total blocking snaps across 52 games and 34 starts, Gonzalez allowed just four sacks — including none in his final two years — and just 55 total pressures.”
Gonzalez will hope to stay attached to Minnesota’s roster for a bit longer than his Atlanta experiment.
iOL Depth with Gonzalez in the House
The Vikings are evidently content with their offensive tackle depth because Nelson is an OT, and Gonzalez is a guard.
Here’s the team’s iOL depth chart as of August 11th:
- LG1: Donovan Jackson
- C1: Ryan Kelly
- RG1: Will Fries
- C2: Michael Jurgens
- OG3: Blake Brandel
- OG4: Joe Huber
- OG5: Henry Byrd
- OG6: Vershon Lee
Third-string center Zeke Correll, also a 2025 UDFA, broke his ankle on Saturday. The Gonzalez move might be a closer replacement for Correll than Nelson.
Gonzalez’s Realistic 2025 Outlook
Gonzalez must battle like hell to make the 53-man roster in two weeks. He probably has a practice squad upside, and reaching that facet of the enterprise might be considered a win for the rookie.
A more fascinating roster bubble candidate at guard is Joe Huber, yet another UDFA, who played fabulously against the Houston Texans last weekend.
On the whole, Gonzalez is probably a “body” for the preseason games and the rest of training camp.
Scouting Report for Gonzalez
NFL Draft Diamonds profiled Gonzalez before April’s draft: “Strengths: Has great size, length, and strength. Has a great set and stays square in Pass pro. Plays with a good pad level in the run and pass game. Weaknesses: Sometimes will lean on defenders. Will sometimes stop during the play on 2nd level blocks. Sometimes struggles with 2nd level blocking.”
And GoCards.com added this string of biographical information: ‘High School: Rated the No. 719 prospect in the 247Sports Composite rankings … ranked as the No. 37 offensive guard and the No. 38 player in North Carolina … three-star 247Sports prospect … slotted as the No. 53 offensive guard and the No. 56 North Carolina prospect … played for Drew Hackett at Sun Valley High … committed to Louisville on 6/18/20 … outstanding student … one of the top offensive linemen in the Charlotte Metro area.”
“Selected to the first team All-Union County team … voted to the first team All-Observer squad as a junior … named to the WSOCTVSports Big 22 Players to Watch … selected to the second team MaxPreps All-State squad … attended the 2019 Rivals camp in Charlotte … chose Louisville over Kansas State, Duke, Maryland, Missouri, NC State, Wake Forest, Penn State, Florida, Syracuse, Kentucky and Virginia Tech.”
Other Takes on Offensive Line Depth
Warren Ludford of Daily Norseman recently raised concerns about the Vikings’ offensive line depth.
He explained, “As the Vikings move through training camp, the second team offensive line from left to right looks like Justin Skule, Blake Brandel, Michael Jurgens, Henry Byrd, and Walter Rouse.”
“There are a couple others that have mixed in but the upshot at this point is that none of them have looked particularly good when going against the first team defense. There are some good reps to be sure, but also plenty of lowlights. Brandel and Skule are the only ones with NFL game experience and perhaps the biggest concern right now may be at center.”
Gonzalez isn’t an ironclad solution for roster depth, but he’s something in preseason-speak.
Ludford added, “Michael Jurgens hasn’t looked particularly good in his second training camp and with Ryan Kelly’s durability perhaps more of a concern than the others, there may be a need for the Vikings to acquire a veteran to upgrade that backup spot.”
“At guard Brandel is experienced and serviceable at both guard spots and while Skule has provided some training camp highlight clips for Jonathan Greenard, he did perform well last season in six games and change filling in at tackle in Tampa Bay.”
Minnesota’s next preseason game will occur this Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium against the New England Patriots. Gonzalez should see some action with third-teamers.
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