Demoted but Battling, Vikings Skill Player Looking to Prove He Belongs on 53-Man Roster
For a little while, Ty Chandler looked like one of the lonely bright spots from the 2022 NFL Draft.
The Vikings skill player isn’t lacking in speed. On the contrary, he can quickly turn on the jets, blowing past defenders as he gobbles up yards in a hurry. Possessing that game-breaking speed has always made him a fascinating option at running back but he has yet again been demoted. Does he still find a way to sneak onto the team?
Vikings Skill Player Ty Chandler & The 53-Man Roster
The only thing capable of undermining Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason are injury. Each one has a pile of job security otherwise.
Both the RB1 and RB2 are coming off career-best seasons for rushing yards. Jones put up 1,138 rushing yards in his debut season as a Viking, overcoming his previous best by less than 20 yards. Meanwhile, Mason was showing promise aplenty as the Christian McCaffrey replacement in San Francisco, turning his 153 carries into 789 rushing yards.
Put simply, Ty Chandler isn’t going to overtake either runner unless an injury occurs.
Chosen at No. 169 in 2022, Chandler initially sparked some optimism. He’s far from the world’s largest runner — he stands at 5’11” and is listed as being 204 pounds — but he did run a blazing fast 4.38 forty. So, some upside.
Part of what makes Chandler a bit infamous in Minnesota is how common it has been to see him demoted. Originally, he ceded the RB2 job to Cam Akers in 2023 after the former Ram ventured to Minnesota via trade. The same thing occurred yet again in 2024 after Kwesi Adofo-Mensah again traded for Akers, bringing the Texan back to the Twin Cities to be the RB2.
Fast forward into the 2024 offseason and Akers was allowed to walk away. Rather than move forward with Chandler, though, the Vikings went with the aforementioned Jordan Mason. What we have, then, are three demotions for Ty Chandler, all after the Vikings were willing to make a trade for a different runner to be the RB2.
Already 27, Ty Chandler was involved in all seventeen games in 2024 but didn’t earn a start. He had 153 plays on offense, resulting in 56 carries for 182 scoreless yards. The 3.3 yards-per-carry average is poor. His 6 targets in the passing game went for 42 yards within his 6 catches.
Working in his favor is that he was involved in 146 special teams snaps, a career-high amount. Most notably, Chandler was the kickoff returner. His 8 returns went for a total of 205 yards, meaning he averaged 25.6 yards per return.
Rounding out the running back competition are Zavier Scott and Tre Stewart. C.J. Ham is moving into the final season of his contract as the FB1. Plus, the team could always look to add someone who gets cut at the end of August, doing so in an effort to bolster the running back depth with someone whom they’ve had their eye on but haven’t yet had a chance to sign.
Cutting Ty Chandler would mean recouping $1,100,000 in cap space.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
