Your Current Vikings Roster And Final 53 Man Roster Prediction

With free agency, the draft, and the undrafted free agency period over, the Vikings 90 man roster is complete. Let's take a look at what we have right now. A couple of notes before we continue. Anything after third team is squishy and pretty much interchangeable. And to save space and make the chart even out, some guys might not be in the correct spot (i.e., SE v. FL or WLB v. SLB), but for the guys that are training camp bodies, I didn't think it mattered all that much:

So, who's going to make the final 53? Here's my prediction:

Every year, there seems to be one guy that kind of comes out of nowhere to make the team. A lot of folks were mildly surprised when Adam Thielen was given a contract and signed after what was essentially an open tryout after the draft and undrafted free agents were signed, so right now, I'm going with him. You could also make a case for undrafted free agent fullback Zach Line. He was given the biggest bonus of all the undrafted free agents, and also, MOAR FULLBACKS. But Jerome Felton will be tough to unseat, and I just don't see two fullbacks on the final roster. Could he overtake Matt Asiata for the third RB spot? Yes, but I generally try and lean towards the veterans in this exercise, so I give the nod to Asiata here. You could also go with four tight ends, as that's not out of the realm of possibility here, either. Although the two tight end set is the base formation, the Vikings were in it les than 50% of the time. So you could slide in one of either Colin Anderson or Ford Chase and take out Thielen, and you still have the guy coming from nowhere scenario THAT I WILL CLING TO UNTIL IT DOESN'T HAPPEN.

Ahem.

I like the potential of the receiving corps. I'm not a huge fan of Jerome Simpson, but I think he starts and the Vikings let Cordarelle Patterson ease into the offense. Greg Childs is a guy I'm really rooting for--if he can get back to what he was showing in training camp the Vikings might be cooking with oil between Greg Jennings, Jarius Wright, Childs and Patterson. Granted, a lot of things have to fall perfectly for the full potential to be realized, but overall I like this group better top to bottom than I liked what the Vikings had heading to Mankato last year. And if Patterson realizes his explosive, big play potential early, the loss of Harvin might...MIGHT...be negated.

Over on defense, I was torn between the extra linebacker or the extra defensive back, and I sided with linebacker. I didn't keep Cole just to pander to the DN faithful (well, maybe just a little); I think he'll be a big contributor on special teams this year, and I like his potential over the flotsam and jetsam that are the defensive backs after Marcus Sherels. And with Mike Mauti's injury history, it might be prudent to have an extra guy there. Mostly, I'm still worried about the nickel and dime depth with A.J. Jefferson and Sherels, but I don't see anyone on the roster that's better than those two guys right now, and I'm skeptical that any one of them will emerge.

I do like the starting lineup with Gerald Hodges, Sharif Floyd, and Xavier Rhodes thrown in there, though. Yes, I know Floyd and Kevin WIlliams are both three technique guys, but I submit that Floyd playing out of position as a nose tackle is better than Fred Evans or Letroy Guion playing their natural position, and as bad a year that Guion had last season, I don't see him making the final 53.

Anyway, that's how I'm seeing it from here. As to the practice squad, I have no idea. You tell me.