2 Vikings Rookies Have a Rocky Career Start
Training camp is underway for the Minnesota Vikings. Almost half the roster reported to TCO Performance Center Sunday, including quarterback J.J. McCarthy, recovering left tackle Christian Darrisaw, and the rookies.
2 Vikings Rookies Have a Rocky Career Start
Of those rookies, a pair will not participate in practice once the squad heads onto the practice field.
The club posted on social media, “The #Vikings have placed TE Gavin Bartholomew and OLB Chaz Chambliss on Active/PUP.”
The Athletic’s Alec Lewis added: “Some #Vikings roster things as we get going here: TE Gavin Bartholomew and OLB Chaz Chambliss have been placed on Active/PUP. They can participate in activities, just not practice. Should get full updates mañana.”
It’s worth noting that players on the Active/PUP list can be activated at any point, and it doesn’t reveal anything about their long-term status. They might just miss a practice or two.
Gavin Bartholomew
Tight end Gavin Bartholomew is certainly a roster candidate. The Pittsburgh alumnus was selected in the sixth round to replace the departed Johnny Mundt, who will wear a Jacksonville Jaguars jersey in the upcoming season.
He has been dealing with an injury for a while now, dating back to OTAs. Emily Leiker of the Star Tribune noted, “Bartholomew had been dealing with an unknown injury during OTAs.”
Bartholomew was extremely consistent in college, recording between 322 and 326 yards in three of his four seasons. In the fourth one, he registered 283 yards. Throughout his career, he found the endzone 11 times.
Back in May, head coach Kevin O’Connell said about his new tight end: “Gavin, you know, it’s always a position that sometimes between the film evaluation, the Pro Day, seeing the tape of it, you just hope they show up and look the way you hope they look. And Gavin definitely did.”
While he might have looked as advertised, the injury certainly won’t help him. Fellow rookies Ben Yurosek, out of Georgia, and North Carolina’s Bryson Nesbit might close the gap and make the Vikings forget the draft pick they spent on Bartholomew.
Chaz Chambliss
Unlike Bartholomew, Chambliss doesn’t have any draft pedigree, so he needs every opportunity he can get to show the coaches what he has to offer.
The defender spent four seasons at Georgia and tallied 9 sacks, with 6.5 of those coming in the 2024 season. He actually led the star-studded defense in that category. In his four campaigns, he added 86 tackles and an interception to his scorecard.
NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote ahead of the draft:
“Two-year starter who has played with and against some of the best competition. Chambliss is an undersized 3-4 outside linebacker and he’s very strong for his size. He plays the game with a relentless forward charge but will run into some road blocks due to his lack of size and length. He flashes rush moves on occasion but he isn’t much of an edge-turner and is more likely to pressure the pocket with secondary effort. Chambliss has the mental and physical makeup to stick around as a solid backup and plus special-teams performer.”
He rated him as a late-round draft pick. His size is certainly a concern. The Vikings list their rookie at 6’1″ and 241 lbs. That hasn’t been a problem for Brian Flores, though.
Chambliss has the college production at the highest level, but he needs to be on the field to have a chance to make the roster. The Vikings actually have some room behind the top trio, Andrew Van Ginkel, Jonathan Greenard, and Dallas Turner.
His competitors will be sophomores Bo Richter and Gabriel Murphy, as well as Tyler Batty, another undrafted rookie.