Vikings Bring a New Pass Rusher to the Squad
On Tuesday, the Minnesota Vikings had one of their promising pass-rusher’s stolen from their practice squad when the Carolina Panthers snatched Luiji Vilain.
In response, Minnesota made another move on Wednesday evening with the Vikings bringing in Quincy Roche to replace Vilain on the practice squad.
The Vikings themselves announced the move in a tweet, saying, “The #Vikings have signed OLB Quincy Roche to the practice squad.”
Vikings Bring Aboard a New Pass Rusher
So, who exactly is Roche, and what are the Vikings getting in this new addition? Well, the pass-rusher spent his collegiate years splitting time between Temple and Miami. He spent three seasons with the Owls from 2017-2019, recording a total of 137 tackles, 39.5 tackles for loss, and 26 sacks.
After a 13-sack season in 2019, Roche transferred over to the University of Miami (FL) for the 2020 season, and in the COVID-shortened year, he put together 45 tackles 14.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks as well as 2 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries.
Then, Roche entered the 2021 NFL Draft, and he was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round with the 216th overall pick.
However, Roche’s stint in Pittsburgh would be short-lived. After going through the training camp and preseason periods with the team, he was waived despite a strong summer with 6 QB pressures and a pair of sacks over the Steelers’ four preseason games.
He wouldn’t have to wait long until he found his next team, though. Shortly after, Roche would be picked up by the New York Giants. It took some time for the outside linebacker to carve out a role for himself in New York, playing 11 or fewer snaps with New York in each of his first four weeks with the team.
Roche would close the 2021 season by playing each of New York’s final 11 games, appearing in at least 20 snaps in every game, and he even started three of them. In total, he put together 38 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, and a forced fumble.
2022 wouldn’t see as much playing time for Roche in New York, largely because of the draft selection of Kayvon Thibodeaux. He spent the season bouncing back and forth between the active roster and the practice squad, playing just 3 games and recording 2 tackles.
At the end of the season, Pittsburgh signed Roche to a reserve/futures contract, bringing him back to his original NFL home. He would once again be released at the end of the preseason, though, and has been waiting to find his next NFL team since the start of the regular season.
Now, he has found that team, joining the Vikings ahead of a pivotal Week 8 divisional matchup against the Green Bay Packers.
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.
