I had a nice little article about the potential battle for WR roster spots in Training Camp all ready to go, but the Vikings have decided to go and make a change, so now my article is a bit out of date.
Yes, in a move that comes as a bit of a surprise. . .to me, anyway. . .the Vikings waived WR Aundrae Allison this afternoon after being unable to work out a trade for him. Allison, the Vikings' 5th round selection in 2007 out of East Carolina University, has long had a reputation as an outstanding athlete with great speed. Unfortunately, he also had a reputation for having a lousy work ethic and for having a bit of an attitude problem.
If I had to guess, the latter is the reason that he now finds himself unemployed.
Allison does have his name in the Vikings' record books. . .he holds the record for the longest play in team history with his 104-yard kickoff return against the Detroit Lions in 2007. He looked to have a pretty bright future with the Vikings as a return man, having broken a few returns for 40+ yards as a rookie. Then, in 2008, he only fielded 6 kickoffs with a long return of 22 yards as Brad Childress thought that Maurice "Straight Into the Pile" Hicks was a better option at the kick return spot (among others).
Allison had fallen behind both Jaymar Johnson and Darius Reynaud on the depth chart, and with the Vikings only keeping five or six receivers, there was no room for Allison on the team. He's young enough and he's a very good athlete, so I don't think he'll be out of work long. Maybe he'll make more out of his next opportunity than he made out of his chance in Minnesota.