We Found the Vikings’ Dark Horse Player
The Minnesota Vikings’ depth chart contains 90 humans at the moment and will lose 37 players by the end of summer.
The Vikings have a few deep sleepers on their roster, but one man in particular takes the cake.
Training camp and the preseason will be used to determine the 53-man roster, and along the way some dark horse players — sleepers — will stand off the page, with a puncher’s chance of being a part of the Vikings’ plans in 2025.
And while a handful of men can fit the sleeper criteria, there may be no better example than cornerback Ambry Thomas. Here’s why.
Cornerback Ambry Thomas Is the Almighty Roster Sleeper for Vikings
Ambry Thomas unceremoniously joined the purple roster on Christmas Eve 2024. He didn’t factor in the team’s final few games, living on the practice squad for Weeks 17, 18, and the brief postseason.
Because Minnesota signed him to the practice squad, most interpreted him as an unknown player who never really plays. That kneejerk assessment is fair — that’s often the way of it for practice squaders.
But Thomas isn’t that.
Before succumbing to injury in August 2024, Thomas logged 42 games, starting 11, and 855 career defensive snaps. The San Francisco 49ers scooped him from Round 3 of the 2021 NFL Draft — the day Minnesota found Kellen Mond, Wyatt Davis, and Patrick Jones II — so general manager John Lynch saw something in him four years ago.
His major problem through four years is the season-shelving injury last summer. It stunted his development and wiped away his fourth-year playing time.
Thomas’ NFL Resume + Stats
Here’s Thomas’ NFL resume to date:
San Francisco 49ers (2021–2024)
Indianapolis Colts (2024)
Minnesota Vikings (2024–present)
And his Pro Football Focus resume, along with snaps played in each season:
2024: n/a | No Snaps
2023: 71.5 | 481 Snaps
2022: 59.0 | 41 Snaps
2021: 46.1 | 333 Snaps
And his passer-rating-against:
2024: n/a
2023: 97.9
2022: 102.1
2021: 118.0
Here’s the deal: when the San Francisco trusted Thomas with a respectable workload in 2023 — his third season — he arrived and fired off a 71.5 PFF grade. That was really the last time anybody has seen the guy.
In theory, if healthy, Thomas could take on a CB4 or CB5 role in Minnesota.
Former NFLer Ron Johnson on Ambry Thomas
Minnesota Golden Gophers great and former NFLer Ron Johnson tweeted last week, “Vikings fans … early thoughts on the defense. Brian Flores has a competition at CB w/ eff Okudah, Isaiah Rodgers & Ambry Thomas. Keep an eye on Ambry Thomas. CB out of Michigan. Started for the 49ers. Got hurt, but just a lower arm injury. Surgery, rested & now healthy.”
“The Vikings may still try to sign a veteran like they did with Stephon Gilmore last season. But if they can’t come to an agreement w/someone Ambry Thomas has the pedigree to be a starter in the NFL. I’d say it’s between him & Isaiah Rodgers.”
Johnson wouldn’t send the tweet half-cocked. He must have it on decent authority that Thomas can ball.
A Spot in the Regular Season CB Room?
Here’s the Vikings CB room unit nine days before organized team activities:
CB1: Byron Murphy Jr.
CB2: Isaiah Rodgers
CB3: Mekhi Blackmon
CB4: Jeff Okudah
CB5: Dwight McGlothern
CB6: Tavierre Thomas
CB7: Ambry Thomas
CB8: Reddy Steward
CB9: Kahlef Hailassie
CB10: Zemaiah Vaughn
CB11: Keenan Barber
Thomas would have to oust Dwight McGlothern and Tavierre Thomas for the CB5 job, but let’s face it, for a guy who was trusted as a starter at times for the 2023 49ers — they reached the Super Bowl — would it really be that weird for Thomas to defeat McGlothern and Tavierre Thomas for a roster spot?
Remember — Thomas may be an unknown to you, but he’s not anonymous in NFL-speak, especially coming from the 49ers, the organization that reared Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
One That Got Away for 49ers?
SI.com’s Grant Cohn, who covers the 49ers, wrote about Thomas when San Francisco dropped him in December.
He noted, “Thomas broke his forearm during the 49ers’ 17-13 preseason loss to the Tennessee Titans on Aug. 10 and went on season-ending I.R. Had the 49ers not waived him, he would have become an unrestricted free agent in a couple months, so the 49ers essentially gave him a head start in his search for a new team. The 49ers took Thomas with pick no. 102 in the 2021 NFL Draft.”
“As a rookie, he was solid. He started five games and intercepted Matthew Stafford in overtime of Week 18 to send the 49ers to the playoffs. He seemed promising. Even last season, he played 49 percent of the defensive snaps and even started two games in the playoffs. But they benched in the Super Bowl in favor of veteran Logan Ryan who gave up the game-losing touchdown catch to Mecole Hardman in overtime.”
Thomas is also just 25 years old. He has youth in his toolkit.
Cohn added, “It’s possible Thomas will catch on elsewhere and have success. He’s still just 25 years old. And the 49ers have released quality cornerbacks in the past. Just a few months ago, they waived Samuel Womack who has become a quality no. 3 cornerback for the Colts this season. Also in 2020, they waived D.J. Reed who has become one of the top cornerbacks in the league for the Jets the past few seasons.”
“It will be interesting to see where Thomas goes from here.”
The article was actually titled: Did the 49ers Give Up on Cornerback Ambry Thomas too Soon?
The 6’0″ 190-pounder could be a dark horse the 49ers let slip away.
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