The Vikings Players on a Serious Upward Trajectory
The Minnesota Vikings have two preseason games remaining, enough time for some performers to state their cases for the active roster, which will be revealed on August 26th.
Several Vikings players have boosted their stock in a big way during training camp, moving closer to locking down key roles for the upcoming season. These are those men.
Meanwhile, because of training camp, some players are already on a serious upward trajectory.
Listed alphabetically, these are those players.
Vikings Players Standing Off the Page at the Moment
You can ignore these players’ climbs up the depth chart.
1. Levi Drake Rodriguez | DT
When one sees Drake Rodriguez in person, he looks like a nose tackle. He’s also ferocious and turned heads at training camp. Although the award is very unofficial, some called Drake Rodriguez “Mr. Mankato” at 2024 Vikings training camp.
Well, he didn’t disappoint this year, and the team listed the second-year defensive tackle as DT4 on the first depth chart this year behind Jonathan Allen, Harrison Phillips, and Javon Hargrave.
Drake Rodriguez will absolutely make the September roster. It’s basically a no-brainer. He produced another sweet training camp.
Our own Janik Eckardt on Drake Rodriguez: “In his debut season, Rodriguez was buried on the depth chart, standing on the sidelines in street clothes most games. He logged a whopping six defensive snaps and 11 on special teams, playing in only two contests. Harrison Phillips, Jerry Tillery, and Jonathan Bullard were the top three interior guys, with Jihad Ward coming onto the field on passing downs.”
“Early in the season, Taki Taimani was the next man up, and Jalen Redmond snatched that role later in the year. This offseason, the Vikings replaced Bullard and Tillery with the two former Pro Bowlers Allen and Hargrave, and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins was added in the draft. Suddenly, that’s too many players for the limited roster spots.”
Drake Rodriguez could be just what the doctor ordered as a ginormous human in the middle of the Vikings’ defensive line.
“So far in camp, however, Rodriguez and Redmond have emerged as the two top backups along the defensive line. It’s not surprising that someone who didn’t compete against the top competition in college would need a year to adjust to the NFL level,” Eckardt continued.
“After three years playing at SAGU (Southwestern Assemblies of God) in the NAIA’s Sooner Athletic Conference in Texas, he spent the last two seasons at Texas A&M Commerce in the FCS, where he was named FCS All-American in 2023. The program had just been elevated from D2 to D1 FCS when he got there in 2022. It’s not uncommon to keep six defensive linemen, and Rodriguez would currently be one of those.”
2. Lucky Jackson | WR
Per the same depth chart, Jackson is the Vikings’ WR4 at the moment. If that job title holds through the preseason, he’ll become the WR3 because of Jordan Addison’s suspension.
Did you think Lucky Jackson back in May or whatnot could be on deck to serve as Minnesota’s WR3 in the season opener? No, you did not. Therefore, Jackson utterly stood off the page at training camp. Speaking of Mr. Mankato, that’s probably Jackson in 2025.
3. Gabriel Murphy | OLB
The tale of two sets … of three names.
First, the Vikings’ main outside linebackers in 2025:
- Jonathan Greenard
- Andrew Van Ginkel
- Dallas Turner
Second, the three undrafted free agents battling for playing time after the previous three:
- Bo Richter
- Gabriel Murphy
- Tyler Batty
And when the Vikings’ depth chart was published this week, Murphy stood alone as the OLB4. The positioning made him the frontrunner for Patrick Jones II’s old job and pointed to an upward trajectory.
4. Ben Yurosek | TE
Minnesota plucked the University of Pittsburgh tight end Gavin Bartholomew from Round 6 of April’s draft. He’s now on the Physically Unable to Perform list. Meanwhile, Kevin O’Connell and Co. need a third tight end after T.J. Hockenson and Josh Oliver.
Insert Yurosek, who curiously went undrafted a few months ago.
Without Bartholomew to claim his once probable roster spot, Yurosek might be the frontrunner for TE3 if he can stave off veteran Nick Vannett, who the Vikings signed this week.
That would be quite the summer rise for a UDFA.
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