Vikings Place Rhett Ellison On IR, Promote B.J. Dubose To Active Roster

In advance of their Wild Card playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings have made several roster moves, including one that was expected after Sunday's win over the Green Bay Packers.

The team has placed tight end Rhett Ellison in injured reserve, officially ending his season. Ellison tore his right patellar tendon in Sunday's season finale, and head coach Mike Zimmer has said that he will require six months of rehab after he has surgery to repair it. His loss is going to be felt by the Vikings in the run game, as he is one of the league's better blocking tight ends.

To fill his spot on the active roster, the Vikings promoted defensive lineman B.J. Dubose to the active roster. Dubose was one of the Vikings' two sixth-round picks in the 2015 NFL Draft, but was released during the final training camp cuts and inked to the practice squad. This is his first stint on the active roster this season. This is a bit of a surprise, given that the Vikings now only have two tight ends on the active roster in Kyle Rudolph and rookie MyCole Pruitt. With the Vikings' propensity for using three tight end formations, it's a bit curious that the team didn't bring Dominique Jones up from the practice squad instead, but they may have plans to do so later.

To fill Dubose's place on the practice squad, the team has signed defensive tackle Toby Johnson. Johnson was an undrafted free agent in 2015, having played his college ball at the University of Georgia. More notably, before he went to Georgia he attended Hutchinson Community College in Kansas, where he was teammates with current Vikings' wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson. The 6'3", 315-pound defensive tackle was originally signed by the Tennessee Titans after the draft, and also spent time on the practice squads of the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Chicago Bears in 2015.