Vikings RB Stolen By Cardinals
Just last week, the Los Angeles Rams filled their tight end opening by snatching Minnesota’s Nick Vannett off the practice squad. The veteran immediately made his Rams debut on special teams. He’s still waiting for his first catch of the season. Maybe Matthew Stafford will get him the ball at some point.
Vikings RB Stolen By Cardinals
This week, another practice-squad player was stolen. The Arizona Cardinals signed running back Corey Kiner to their 53-man roster. Kiner has yet to play in his NFL career (despite earning a gameday promotion a few weeks ago), but his chances to make his debut just climbed dramatically with a move to an active roster.
Darren Urban of azcardinals.com wrote on Tuesday, “The Cardinals added a running back to the roster on Tuesday — but it wasn’t Trey Benson. Not yet. The team signed Corey Kiner off the Minnesota Vikings practice squad, while announcing the release of running back Jermar Jefferson. Kiner, a rookie out of the University of Cincinnati, was with the 49ers in preseason before signing with Minnesota in late September.”
The Cardinals have been waiting for Benson’s return for weeks. A 2024 third-rounder, Benson was stuck behind James Conner to start his career, but Conner’s season-ending injury opened the door for him to make some noise. A knee injury in Week 5 has limited Benson to only one start.
Perhaps Kiner’s addition is a sign that he’ll remain on IR for another week. Emari Demercado is also battling an injury, leaving only Bam Knight and Michael Carter as healthy backs on the 53-man roster. Kiner boosts that number of healthy rushers to three.
Kiner will take the spot of Jermar Jefferson, who the Cardinals cut in the process. Practice-squad backs Montrell Johnson Jr. and Sincere McCormick were cut, too.
Kiner is an undrafted rookie and signed with the San Francisco 49ers after April’s draft. He spent his collegiate career at LSU (2021) and Cincinnati (2022-2024). His most productive years were undoubtedly 2023 and 2024, in which he (combined) registered exactly 2,200 yards on the ground and nine touchdowns.
In the preseason with the 49ers, the rookie rushed 12 times for 68 yards, tabulating an average of 5.7 yards per carry. Nearly four of those (3.92) came after contact, which is an excellent number. He also caught two passes for a total of six yards.
He didn’t even make it to cutdown day, as an ankle injury bothered the 49ers enough to cut him a week earlier. In September, the Vikings added him to the practice squad.
This season, Minnesota has primarily featured starter Aaron Jones and change-of-pace runner Jordan Mason. Jones picked up a couple of injuries throughout the season, and the Vikings pivoted to RB3 Zavier Scott. Even Ty Chandler joined Jones on IR. He has missed pretty much the entire season. Despite all of that, the Vikings have not given Kiner a shot.
Because Chandler is still out and Kiner is gone, the Vikings are down to Jones, Mason, and Scott. No other runner is on the practice squad. In case of an emergency, the Vikings could still hand the ball to C.J. Ham. In all likelihood, they will add a ball carrier in the coming days.
Kiner, 23, will try to get on the field for his NFL debut with the Cardinals. His first chance to do so will come on Sunday when Arizona tries to upset Nick Vannett’s Los Angeles Rams.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.