Vikings Bring Former 1st-Rounder Back to Practice Squad
On Monday evening, the Minnesota Vikings made a couple moves regarding their practice squad.
After releasing WR N’Keal Harry as part of their roster cutdown process, the Vikings have opted to bring the former 1st-round pick back to their practice squad. The Vikings announced the news via social media, tweeting, “The #Vikings have signed WR N’Keal Harry (@NkealHarry15) to the practice squad and released C Alan Ali from the practice squad.”
Vikings Bring Former 1st-Rounder Back to Practice Squad
Harry had a strong training camp with the Vikings, but with the sheer depth at their wide receive position, Minnesota simply had no room for the former Patriots draft selection on their 53-man roster.
In the preseason opener, Harry caught two passes for 24 yards against the Seattle Seahawks. However, he suffered an injury during warmups prior to Minnesota’s matchup with the Titans, and he would miss the final two exhibition matchups.
It has been a bit of a strange NFL journey for Harry since being selected with the 32nd overall pick by the New England Patriots during the 2019 NFL Draft. He had an underwhelming career in New England, catching just 57 passes for 598 yards and 4 touchdowns during his three seasons there.
In 2022, Harry was traded to the Chicago Bears where he caught 7 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown, but the Bears let him walk in free agency. He then landed in Minnesota and will serve as a depth piece this year.
As for Alan Ali, he now heads to free agency after a strong camp of his own. Ali appeared in all three preseason games, playing a total of 171 snaps with the offense at both left guard and right guard. His greatest strength was his run-blocking, with Pro Football Focus grading him at 72.3.
However, Ali left much to be desired in pass protection. PFF blamed him for eight pressures over the course of preseason play, and they graded him at 34.3 in this department.
Now, the interior offensive lineman will hope to catch on elsewhere as the NFL regular season gets started later this week.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.
