Predict The Roster

[Snake Plissken]

After 1 game I see the positional battles/decisions as:

QB: none. Keenum at 2, Heinke to PS, Bridgewater PUP

RB: Ham at 4 or PS

TE: Carter at 4 or PS

WR:: Wright, Adams, Coley

OL: Clemmings, Sirles, Kerin, Beavers

DE: Weatherly, Bower, Odenigbo (2 on 53, 1 on PS)

DT: Keep 5, Sutton cut

LB: Lemur, Wilson, Brothers (Lee to PS)

CB: Exum, Price, Sinkfield For 6th CB/DB

S: Tocho to PS

[SteelKing728]

DT: Jones, Joseph, J.Johnson, Stephen

DE: Griffen, Hunter, Robison, Weatherly, Bower

To me, this is ideal.

[SemperFeist]

I still see them keeping 10 DL

[RpMc]

To me, Odenigbo has done more than Weatherly at this point, during this preseason, to end up on the roster as the 4th or 5th DE. I haven't seen him on special teams (haven't really been paying attention), but he's stood out more on defense.

DT: Linval Joseph, Tom Johnson, Shamar Stephen, Jaleel Johnson, Datone Jones

DE: Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter, Brian Robison, Tashawn Bower, Ifeadi Odenigbo

If there is one spot to trim there, I think it would be Datone Jones.

[The Gnat]

32 minutes ago, rpmwr19 said:

If there is one spot to trim there, I think it would be Datone Jones.

I agree. I'm not sure who has shown up more Johnson or Jones, but Jones seems like the more likely player to be cut.

[CriminalMind]

53 minutes ago, rpmwr19 said:

If there is one spot to trim there, I think it would be Datone Jones.

Another player who I did not like the signing of

[byuvike88]

I haven't been able to watch as much of the preseason as I would have liked, but has Stephen improved? I'm just not a big fan of his. I think he is an overrated run defender and has yet to record a sack in his career. 

[vikingsrule]

7 hours ago, byuvike88 said:

I haven't been able to watch as much of the preseason as I would have liked, but has Stephen improved? I'm just not a big fan of his. I think he is an overrated run defender and has yet to record a sack in his career. 

I don't think he's a bad rotational player. He's not an ideal starter but I'm okay with him getting reps in relief of Joseph.

i want to see more of J. Johnson with the starters. He very well coul be the best opening day UT on the roster.

[JDBrocks]

I think that Stephen has been a great find for being a 7th rounder. He's the perfect kind of depth player in that he has starting experience, and was developed within this scheme. The coaches know what they have in him and what they can and cannot count on him to do. Injury has forced him to play more often than you would like, but I think the return on investment with Stephen has been pretty darn good.

[SemperFeist]

QB: (3) Sam Bradford, Case Keenum, Taylor Heinicke

RB: (4) Dalvin Cook, Jerick McKinnon, Latavius Murray, CJ Ham

TE: (3) Kyle Rudolph, David Morgan, Bucky Hodges

WR: (5) Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, Laquon Treadwell, Stacy Coley, Rodney Adams

OL: (9) Riley Reiff, Alex Boone, Pat Elflein, Joe Berger, Mike Remmers, Nick Easton, Rashod Hill, Danny Isidora, Willie Beavers

DE: (5) Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter, Brian Robison, Tashawn Bower, Stephen Weatherly

DT: (5) Linval Joseph, Tom Johnson, Jaleel Johnson, Shamar Stephen, Datone Jones

LB: (6) Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Ben Gedeon, Edmond Robinson, Eric Wilson, Kentrell Brothers

CB: (6) Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes, Mackensie Alexander, Terance Newman, Antone Exum, Marcus Sherels

S: (4) Harrison Smith, Andrew Sendejo, Jayron Kearse, Anthony Harris

ST: (3) Kia Forbath, Taylor Symmank, Kevin McDermott

[VikeManDan]

1 hour ago, SemperFeist said:

QB: (3) Sam Bradford, Case Keenum, Taylor Heinicke

I'm ignorant here. What is our history under Zimmer with keeping 3 QBs? What has Shurmur done in the past?

[CriminalMind]

2 minutes ago, VikeManDan said:

I'm ignorant here. What is our history under Zimmer with keeping 3 QBs? What has Shurmur done in the past?

They want 3 QBs on the 53.

Is Taylor Heinicke PS eligible, didn't he spent his whole rookie season on the 53, and about 6ish weeks last year?

 

[Kparty15]

Offense = 25

QB (2):  Sam Bradford, Case Keenum
HB (3): Dalvin Cook, Latavius Murray, Jerick McKinnon

FB (1): CJ Ham (FB/RB)
WR (6): Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, Laquon Treadwell, Rodney Adams, Stacy Coley, Isaac Fruechte
TE (3):Kyle Rudolph, David Morgan (TE/FB), Bucky Hodges (TE/WR)
OT (4): Riley Reiff, Mike Remmers, Rashod Hill, Jeremiah Sirles (OT/OG)

OG (4): Alex Boone, Joe Berger (OG/C), TJ Clemmings, Danny Isodora

C (2):  Pat Elflein, Nick Easton(C/OG)

 

Defense = 25

DE (4): Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter, Brian Robison (DE/UT), Tashawn Bower

NT (2): Linval Joseph, Shamar Stephen

UT (3): Tom Johnson, Datone Jones (UT/DE), Jaleel Johnson (UT/NT)

LB (6): Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Ben Gedeon, Edmond Robinson, Kentrell Brothers, Eric Wilson
CB (5): Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes, Terence Newman, Mackensie Alexander, Marcus Sherels
S (5): Harrison Smith, Andrew Sendejo, Jayron Kearse, Anthony Harris, Antone Exum (S/CB)

 

Special Teams = 3

K (1): Kai Forbath
P (1): Ryan Quigley
LS (1): Kevin McDermott

 

Suspended:  WR Michael Floyd (4 games)

 

PUP/Injured:  QB Teddy Bridgewater, UT Sharrif Floyd

 

Practice Squad (10): QB Taylor Heinicke, WR Moritz Böhringer, TE Kyle Carter, TE Nick Truesdell, OT Willie Beavers, DE Stephen Weatherly, DE Ifeadi Odenigbo, OLB Elijah Lee, CB Tre Roberson, S Jack Tocho

 

-----------------------------------

 

Notable Roster Cuts: Jarius Wright, Zac Kerin, Will Sutton, Emmanuel Lamur, Jabari Price

 

QB-I don't think that Case Keemun has been drastically better than Taylor Heinicke by any means, but with Heinicke still being eligible for the practice squad we may be able to keep them both.  I see Teddy Bridgewater remaining on the PUP the entire season and then his contract will carry over to next year where he will competed with San Bradford for the starting QB spot.

 

RB/TE-I was torn between keeping a 4th RB or TE on the roster.  I think that CJ Ham, Kyle Carter, and Nick Truesdale have all looked really good this offseason and each could make an argument for a roster spot.  I believe all 3 have practice squad eligibility as well.  Realistically David Morgan could handle FB responsibilities, but I decided to keep Ham on the active roster because he offers the ability to be able to misdirect teams on certain plays by carrying the ball from the FB position while other teams go after Cook.  Keeping two TE's on the practice squad will offer us a little bit of insurance in case one of them gets picked up by another team like Mycole Pruitt did.  At the same time if CJ Ham goes down then Zach Line is still available in free agency so we have quite a few options at those two positions.

 

WR-  I think the team moves on from Jarius Wright to start the season.  It would be smart for us to get out of his contract which becomes guaranteed for the year after the season starts.  We will still have the opportunity to sign him back if we absolutely need to, but we will also give him a chance to find more playing time elsewhere.  Wright is simply making too much money to be inactive every week and not play special teams.  If there is a bad WR injury before Floyd comes back from his suspension then we could look to free agency and sign a guy like Vincent Jackson to a cheap one year deal.  Adams, Coley, and Fruechte will replace Wright as our #4 until Floyd comes back then one of those 3 will likely move to the practice squad.

 

OL-For the OL there are quite a few guys with a near similar ability.  I tried to keep as many of the better guys on the roster as I could Rashod Hill is by far our best LT backup. Nick Easton is our best interior OL backup and I could see him as a starter in a year or two.  Despite their struggles I decided to keep both TJ Clemmings and Jeremiah Sirles on the active roster because neither player is eligible for the practice squad.  I'm holding out hope that Clemmings could still develop into something special at OG.  He is such a powerful run blocker and could be good if everything were to finally click.  While Sirles isn't dominant at any position his versatility still makes him valuable.  He can play any OT or OG spot.  Since Sirles is able to play both OG and OT I had to choose between OG Danny Isodora and OT Willie Beavers for the 10th OL roster spot and other would go to the practice squad.  Both are good developmental prospects, but I think it be easier to sneak Beavers into the practice squad.  I'm not certain Isodora would clear waivers.  Zac Kerin barely misses out on a roster spot.  Yes 10 OL is a lot to carry, but the OL is our teams Achilles heel and we can't afford to take any chances. 

 

DL-Our DL is going to be stacked again this year.  UDFA DE Tashawn Bower has more than earned himself a roster spot.  DE's Stephen Weatherly and Ifeadi Odenigbo have also played well.  One problem that we on the roster is at our DT position.  We have more DT's than we know what to do with which is a good problem to have. The coaching staff will definitely have a tough decision on their hands I Shariff Floyd is able to comeback from his quadricep/knee nerve damage injury.  Lingala Joseph is a roster lock.  While he's not an every down DT Tom Johnson is still a top tier situational pass rusher so he will get a roster spot.  Jaleel Johnson has also had a great offseason and I don't think we will be able to get him onto the practice squad so I have him making the roster.  I don't see us keeping more than 5 DT's on the roster so after those three we would only have two spots left for Shamar Stephen, Datone Jones, and Will Sutton.  Even though he played out of position at UT last year Stephen is our best option for a backup NT so I see him making the roster.  Jaleel Johnson may be able to backup UT and NT as well.  For the last DT spot both Jones and Sutton have have performed pretty similarly.  Both guys have similar histories as well.  Both were highly touted drafted prospects with high potential whose respective teams played them out of position and in systems that didn't mesh well with their skill sets.  There is still a chance that our coaching staff could help either of these guys reach their potential so it would be a shame to see one of these guys walk.  I decided to keep Datone Jones because he has the versatility to play both UT and LE in a 4-3 and could be a stud in run situations.  I could see us keeping 10 DL, but in this situation I only have us keeping 9.  Weatherly and Odenigbo are both eligible for the practice squad. 

 

LB-UDFA Eric Wilson has been a pleasant offseason surprise for us as well.  I think he has a good shot to make the roster because he has the versatility to play MLB and OLB and is an outstanding tackler who will make a huge impact on special teams.  I think that one of Wilson and Elijah Lee will make the roster and the other will end up on the practice squad.  Kentrel Brothers is a quality backup and a stand out on special teams.  Emmanuel Lamur is cut for financial reasons and because we have multiple younger and cheaper LBs that can match his production.

 

CB/S-The past few seasons I had been pulling for Jabari Price to make the roster as a developmental guy, but he's had ample time to develop now and still looks like trash to me.  He is still struggling in coverage and can't tackle so I think it's time to cut our loss there.  I think that Antone Exum has been way better than Price and offers the versatility to move between CB and S.  Health has always been Exum's biggest hinderance, but he clearly has talent.  Marcus Sherels will make the roster because of a his value as a special teamer.  There are several DB's that could land on the practice squad.

[SemperFeist]

Sirles versatility is not valuable. He's a third string player, regardless of the position. 

There's no point in keeping Sirles when he's behind Reiff and Hill at LT, Boone, Easton, Clemmings, and possibly Kerin at LG, he doesn't play center, he's behind Berger and Isidora at RG, and he's been behind Remmers, Beavers, and probably Clemmings at RT. 

Sirles may be able to play multiple positions, but he's not able to play any of them at a backup level. 

[Kparty15]

1 hour ago, SemperFeist said:

Sirles versatility is not valuable. He's a third string player, regardless of the position. 

There's no point in keeping Sirles when he's behind Reiff and Hill at LT, Boone, Easton, Clemmings, and possibly Kerin at LG, he doesn't play center, he's behind Berger and Isidora at RG, and he's been behind Remmers, Beavers, and probably Clemmings at RT. 

Sirles may be able to play multiple positions, but he's not able to play any of them at a backup level. 

I'm not sure where you came up with that, but the Vikings website has Sirles listed as the 2nd string LG.  For some reason Clemmings was a healthy scratch last week so it's debatable that he would be ahead of Sirles.  We have a surplus of guys that can play OG on our roster.  Clemmings has been awful at OT and I think the staff should just let him focus on OG.  I'm pretty sure that Hill is strictly a LT.  That leaves us with only Sirles and Beavers to back up RT.  Beavers has a ton of athletic ability, but hasn't proven anything. Sirles isn't a stellar player, but he is serviceable.  You may really dislike him, but he did have several good games last season.  IMO It is more  difficult to find backup OT than it is to find interior OL.  By putting Beavers on the practice squad I was able to keep both Beavers and Sirles with the team.