Matthew Coller: Opportunities for unproven players abound on Vikings' roster

The Vikings have a lot of veterans on the 2024 club but they will need less experienced players to step up.

Aug 10, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jalen Nailor (83) catches a pass against the Las Vegas Raiders in the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports / Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Vikings announced their practice squad on Wednesday afternoon and it was noticeably similar to the active roster in its mix of veterans and players that might have a chance to be part of the future.

The practice squad includes guys who have been around the block like 10-year NFL’er Bobby McCain, ex-Packers tight end Robert Tonyan, converted tight end N’Keal Harry, former Rams DT Jonah Williams, 27-year-old former XFL’er Lucky Jackson and ex-Dolphin running back Myles Gaskin.

The group of younger players on the PS who might someday develop into role players features preseason standouts LB Dallas Gant, OLB Bo Richter, G Tyrese Robinson and young receivers Thayer Thomas and Jeshaun Jones.

For a team that understandably gets talked about as being a year away, the 53-man roster sure has a lot of big numbers in its past and big dollars on the books. You could form half a Pro Bowl team with Justin Jefferson, Aaron Jones, Christian Darrisaw, Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake Cashman, Harrison Smith and Stephon Gilmore.

It’s safe to project that group as being the driving force of the 2024 Vikings around quarterback Sam Darnold but the difference between the team finishing with a middling record and making the playoffs will likely be on the shoulders of unproven players.

On the offensive side, head coach Kevin O’Connell’s belief in WR Jalen Nailor finally started to come to fruition during training camp and the preseason. Rather than sign a veteran receiver from free agency the Vikings decided to let Nailor and veteran Brandon Powell battle for the position behind Jefferson and Jordan Addison that was previously held by KJ Osborn. In practice Nailor looked like the downfield threat that they had been hoping for and then he carried his play over to the preseason with four receptions for 94 yards.

On a team with the best receiver in the NFL and a 2023 first-round pick, the WR3 spot doesn’t get much attention but Osborn had 90 targets in 2022 and 75 last season. Powell added 44 more targets in 2023 due to Jefferson’s injury.

Nailor shouldn’t be expected to take all of Osborn’s workload. It’s more likely to be a mix-and-match receiving corps behind JJ and JA, which will include Powell and veteran Trent Sherfield. A wildcard depth receiver is Trishton Jackson, who has been fighting in training camps for five years with hopes of making a team out of training camp and finally did it this year.

Jackson lit up camp and had the fourth most yards of any receiver in the NFL during the preseason. Will he actually have a role?

That might depend on the effectiveness of the other receivers. If Nailor and Powell are healthy and connecting with Darnold, there may only be the occasional snap for Jackson when someone is worn out. It’s unclear whether he stands ahead of the more experienced Sherfield in terms of a immediate replacement if there is an injury. However, if Nailor/Powell aren’t fitting into the offense as expected, KOC could push other buttons.

Still, history points toward the Vikings’ offense putting most of its focus on the top three guys. Even when O’Connell was with the Rams the deep depth receivers rarely made appearances. The 2021 Rams threw to Cooper Kupp 191 times, the WR2 combination of Robert Woods and Odell Beckham Jr. 117 times and WR4/5 (DeSean Jackson, Ben Skowronek) only 35 times.

Along the offensive line, Blake Brandel has seemingly gained a lot of confidence from the coaching staff. He only played 12 snaps on Darnold’s single drive in the first preseason game with the starters and then sat the rest of the preseason. It’s difficult to say from practice snaps how good he can be. Brandel has been on the field for 502 plays in his career and zero of them came at left guard.

The 27-year-old former tackle excelled as a run blocker in Week 18 against the Lions at right guard, which may have played a role in landing the starting job. The Vikings are desperate to improve their running game after back-to-back seasons of struggling, in part because of inconsistent interior blocking. If the 6-foot-7 Brandel can give them a boost on the ground, they could feast on running to the left side. He and Christian Darrisaw already make up one of the largest G-T sides of the ball in the NFL. If he’s technically proficient, that could be tough for opponents to handle.

On the other side of the coin, if Brandel struggles in his first big opportunity, the interior is going to feel shaky. Center Garrett Bradbury has been much improved with O’Connell in the last two years but right guard Ed Ingram remains a question mark. Managing one weakness is doable on the O-line but working through poor play at both guard spots is too much — as Vikings fans know all too well.

Speaking of the run game, it’s yet to be seen how much the Vikings will need Ty Chandler to rise to the occasion. Aaron Jones has carried the ball under 200 times in two of the last three seasons including only 143 regular season rushes in 2023, his lowest mark since 2018. But that was due to being banged up. At the end of the year he was Green Bay’s bell cow back, rushing at least 18 times in each of the last five games.

Is O’Connell going to want Jones out there the vast majority of the time due to his prowess as an all-around back? Can they trust Chandler to split carries? Last year had six games with 10-plus rushes and and averaged 4.0 yards per attempt or more in all of them and he reeled off nine runs of 10-plus yards in 102 carries.

If Chandler proves to be part of a duo with Jones, the Vikings could have a dangerous backfield. If he ends up playing more than they would like because of injuries to the Pro Bowl veteran, it might be tougher sledding.

On the defensive side, one unproven player could swing the tides: First-round pick Dallas Turner.

We did not see much of Turner in the preseason outside of a flash sack against the Raiders. In practice, however, he mixed in with Greenard and Van Ginkel regularly on the first team and battled throughout the summer versus Darrisaw. The quickness Turner put on display in camp was reminiscent of Everson Griffen, which sets the bar very high for what the ex-Alabama rusher could eventually become. Can he do it as a rookie?

It’s rare that we see first-year rushers putting up huge stats. Only three rookies had 50 or more pressures in 2023 and only No. 2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson did it in 2022. But if Turner can add an extra layer to the pass rush, it will be much more diverse than last season and allow defensive coordinator Brian Flores more opportunities to rush four. Solid production out of Turner combined with the other rushers and successful blitzers like Ivan Pace Jr. and Harrison Smith could make life difficult on opposing QBs. If Turner struggles, there will be a lot more weight on the veteran edge rushers.

There are other defensive players who might get a look this year like Levi Drake Rodriguez and Dwight McGlothern. The seventh-round defensive tackle has already become a fan favorite because of his energy and playing style and the young cornerback quickly showed he can be a playmaker when given the chance to get his hand son the football. But these two might be more along the lines of prospects for the future rather than carrying expectations this season.

There is one more unproven player who could swing the tides: Kicker Will Reichard.

The former Alabama standout had a camp for the ages, which was capped off by a 57-yarder in preseason action against the Eagles. He was highly accurate and showed an ability to kick consistently from 50-plus that is rare. Will he do it when the pressure is truly on in the regular season? In a season where the Vikings could find themselves in a lot of tight games, Reichard may end up deciding a few contests on his right foot.

The bottom line on the Vikings’ 2024 roster is that they are going to find out this year what type of foundation they have in place when their “winning window” opens up in the coming years. If a lot of the aforementioned players click, then they could exceed all expectations this year and look like they are ready to compete. If some of The Unprovens come up short, it will be back to the drawing board for the front office at a number of important spots.