Kevin O’Connell Gave Some Hints Regarding the Vikings Roster

The State of the Vikings: Week 12
Jun 8, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell talks to wide receivers Adam Thielen (left) and Justin Jefferson (right) during mandatory mini camp at TCO Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Vikings played their final preseason game on Saturday night. They traveled to Denver to take on the Broncos, losing their seventh consecutive preseason game going back to 2019. Despite the loss, we got to see some of these Vikings take the field for the final time to help prove that they deserve a roster spot going into the 2022 regular season. Minnesota has until Tuesday to trim their roster down from 80 players to 53–meaning 27 cuts are going to happen in the next 48 hours. That is a daunting task, but we’ve already gotten some clues regarding who will make the Vikings roster.

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O-Line

Jesse Davis and Chris Reed got starts at the guard spots last night while Ed Ingram did not take any snaps in the preseason finale. The duo played well in their snaps together, but all indications pointed to Ingram being the starter given his lack of playing time.

O’Connell all but confirmed it after the game as well during his press conference, saying that “it’s been trending that way”. That said, Davis and Reed seem likely to make the roster as well due to their performances. This leaves a very difficult choice regarding which of the remaining interior linemen will be on the team.

Wide Receiver

Bisi Johnson went down with a knee injury in Saturday night’s game that O’Connell only described as one that “did not look good”. That said, the Vikings head coach only spoke positively of Johnson’s abilities as a receiver and how he performed throughout training camp and preseason. O’Connell said that he “[has his] fingers crossed that it’s going to be some positive news” and that Johnson had “earned a right to be on our football team”.

It sounds like Johnson’s roster spot is contingent on one thing and one thing only: health. If his injury isn’t serious, he looks like the WR5 on this Vikings team. If it does end up being serious, that opens up another spot for someone like Myron Mitchell or Trishton Jackson.

Linebacker

We all saw it coming, but O’Connell confirmed on Saturday night that Brian Asamoah would be given a roster spot on the final Vikings roster. With Eric Kendricks and Jordan Hicks taking starting spots, Asamoah has looked like the best linebacker off the bench throughout this entire preseason.

Additionally, neither Blake Lynch nor Chazz Surratt got playing time in the preseason finale. A hypothesis that could be drawn from this is that because of this move, Lynch’s roster spot is safe whereas Surratt will be among the cuts considering Lynch has performed well all month.

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