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The other day, I attempted to do a projection of who I thought the Vikings would keep on the 53-man roster. With the final roster having been released a couple of hours ago, let's see how close I managed to get, along with some comments about how the final roster ended up being structured.
Here's a quick look at what I had compared to what actually happened.
| Projection | Pos | Actual Roster |
| Christian Ponder, Matt Cassel, McLeod Bethel-Thompson (3) | QB | Ponder, Cassel, Bethel-Thompson (3) |
| Adrian Peterson, Toby Gerhart, Joe Banyard (3) | RB | Peterson, Gerhart, Matt Asiata (3) |
| Zach Line (1) | FB | Line (1) |
| Greg Jennings, Jarius Wright, Cordarrelle Patterson, Jerome Simpson, Joe Webb (5) | WR | Jennings, Wright, Patterson, Simpson, Webb (5) |
| Kyle Rudolph, John Carlson, Rhett Ellison (3) | TE | Rudolph, Carlson, Ellison (3) |
| Matt Kalil, Charlie Johnson, John Sullivan, Brandon Fusco, Phil Loadholt, Joe Berger, Jeff Baca, Seth Olsen, Kevin Murphy (9) | OL | Kalil, Johnson, Sullivan, Fusco, Loadholt, Berger, Baca, Troy Kropog (8) |
| Jared Allen, Brian Robison, Everson Griffen, D'Aundre Reed (4) | DE | Allen, Robison, Griffen, George Johnson (4) |
| Kevin Williams, Sharrif Floyd, Fred Evans, Letroy Guion, Anthony McCloud (5) | DT | Williams, Floyd, Evans, Guion, Chase Baker (5) |
| Chad Greenway, Erin Henderson, Desmond Bishop, Marvin Mitchell, Michael Mauti, Gerald Hodges, Larry Dean (7) | LB | Greenway, Henderson, Bishop, Mitchell, Mauti, Hodges, Dean, Audie Cole (8) |
| Chris Cook, Xavier Rhodes, Josh Robinson, Marcus Sherels, A.J. Jefferson (5) | CB | Cook, Rhodes, Robinson, Sherels, Jefferson (5) |
| Harrison Smith, Jamarca Sanford, Mistral Raymond, Robert Blanton, Andrew Sendejo (5) | S | Smith, Sanford, Raymond, Blanton, Sendejo (5) |
| Blair Walsh (1) | K | Walsh (1) |
| Jeff Locke (1) | P | Locke (1) |
| Cullen Loeffler (1) | LS | Loeffler (1) |
So, as far as I can tell, it looks like we went got 49 48 of the 53 spots on the roster correct. Not bad, could have been better. Couple of things that stand out.
-I'm kind of surprised by the decision to keep 8 linebackers at the expense of another offensive lineman. Then again, there are some linebackers with injury concerns among the group. I have to wonder if one of those linebackers (most likely Cole) will be the first on the chopping block if the Vikings look at other players that have been cut.
-Seth Olsen got moved to injured reserve because of the concussion he suffered on Thursday night. I think he would have made the roster had he not gotten hurt. Also surprised that the team didn't cut DeMarcus Love, who is looking at a four-game suspension, but maybe they liked what they saw enough to give him a spot when he gets back.
-Of the Vikings' nine draft picks in 2013, seven of them made the final roster, with the only ones failing to do so being a pair of seventh-rounders, offensive lineman Travis Bond and defensive tackle Everett Dawkins.
-The team only kept five receivers, which isn't terribly surprising. Like we've mentioned in the past, Stephen Burton had his moments this pre-season, but he also had a couple of lapses that probably wound up costing him. His downfield blocking will be missed.
-Matt Asiata over Joe Banyard is not surprising, but I'm still a bit disappointed by it. I thought Banyard showed really well this pre-season, but he just couldn't unseat the incumbent.
What are your thoughts about how the 53-man roster turned out, folks? Have you seen anyone from other teams get cut that you'd like our favorite football team to pursue?