Which College Players Are Future Vikings - 2020 Bowl Week 2 Preview

Mark is back at it!

By Mark P Dec 27, 2020, 6:11pm CST

Well, this constrained and disjointed college football is finally coming to an end with the last week of bowl games which include the Playoff semi-final games. I would have put Texas A&M into the playoffs rather than Notre Dame. This was the year the NCAA should have expanded the playoffs just to test it out.

I would love to have seen an 8-team playoff. The argument for who should be the 8th seed is less worrisome than who should be the 4th seed although Coastal Carolina is basically being ignored. It would have been ...

#1 Alabama (11-0) vs #8 Cincinnati (9-0)

#2 Clemson (10-1) vs #7 Florida (8-3)

#3 Ohio State (6-0) vs #6 Oklahoma (8-2)

#4 Notre Dame (10-1) vs #5 Texas A&M (8-1)

All of these teams played on December 18th. They could have played the first round on Jan 1st at the higher seeds home stadium. On Jan 9th, they could have played the semi-finals in the current bowls, and on Jan 18th have the final.

Oh well, that is not how the NCAA operates. Doing anything that requires flexibility and progressive thinking is disdained.

So, we have to make do with these games ...

Dec. 29

Cheez-It Bowl

No. 18 Miami vs. No. 21 Oklahoma State 5:30 p.m. | ESPN

Gregory Rousseau Miami EDGE 6’5” 260

Quincy Roche Miami EDGE 6’4” 235

Brevin Jordan Miami TE 6’3” 245

Jaelan Phillips Miami EDGE 6’5” 255

Zach McCloud Miami OLB 6’2” 232

Bubba Bolden Miami S 6’3” 200

Jose Borregales Miami PK 5’10” 205

Al Blades Jr. Miami CB 6’1’’ 185

D’Eriq King Miami QB 5’10’’ 202

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Rodarius Williams Oklahoma State CB 6’0” 180

Tylan Wallace Oklahoma State WR 6’0” 185

Chuba Hubbard Oklahoma State RB 6’1” 207

Braydon Johnson Oklahoma State WR 6’1’’ 195

Kolby Harvell-Peel Oklahoma State S 6’0” 210

Josh Sills Oklahoma State OG 6’6’’ 325

Amen Ogbongbemiga Oklahoma State OLB 6’1” 231

Spencer Sanders Oklahoma State QB 6’2’’ 205

Valero Alamo Bowl

No. 20 Texas vs. Colorado 9 p.m. | ESPN

Samuel Cosmi Texas OT 6’7” 309

Joseph Ossai Texas EDGE 6’4” 253

Sam Ehlinger Texas QB 6’3” 225

Caden Sterns Texas S 6’0” 210

Ta’Quon Graham Texas DL3T 6’4” 294

Keaontay Ingram Texas RB 6’0’’ 220

Brennan Eagles Texas WR 6’2” 225

B.J. Foster Texas S 6’1” 210

Chris Brown Texas S 5’11” 187

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Mustafa Johnson Colorado DL5T 6’2” 290

Nate Landman Colorado ILB 6’3” 230

Dec. 30

Duke’s Mayo Bowl

Wake Forest vs. Wisconsin 12 p.m. | ESPN

Carlos Basham Jr. Wake Forest DL5T 6’5” 285

Sage Surratt Wake Forest WR 6’2” 215

Jaquarii Roberson Wake Forest WR 6’1” 182

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Jake Ferguson Wisconsin TE 6’5” 230

Jack Sanborn Wisconsin OLB 6’1” 232

Cole Van Lanen Wisconsin OT 6’5” 312

Rachad Wildgoose Wisconsin CB 5’11’’ 197

Isaiahh Loudermilk Wisconsin DL5T 6’6’’ 291

TransPerfect Music City Bowl

No. 15 Iowa vs. Missouri 4 p.m. | ESPN

Daviyon Nixon Iowa DL3T 6’3” 305

Tyler Linderbaum Iowa OC 6’3’’ 296

Ihmir Smith-Marsette Iowa WR 6’2” 175

Alaric Jackson Iowa OT 6’6” 315

Keith Duncan Iowa PK 5’10” 180

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Nick Bolton Missouri ILB 6’0” 235

Damon Hazelton Missouri WR 6’2” 215

Kobie Whiteside Missouri DL3T 6’1” 300

Larry Rountree III Missouri RB 5’10” 210

Larry Borom Missouri OT 6’6’’ 332

Tyree Gillespie Missouri S 6’0’’ 210

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

No. 6 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Florida 8 p.m. | ESPN

Creed Humphrey Oklahoma OC 6’5” 320

Delarrin Turner-Yell Oklahoma S 5’10’’ 193

Brendon Radley-Hiles Oklahoma CB 5’9’’ 180

Jalen Redmond Oklahoma DL5T 6’3” 278

Adrian Ealy Oklahoma OT 6’6” 327

Marquis Hayes Oklahoma OG 6’5” 349

Erik Swenson Oklahoma OT 6’5’’ 326

Caleb Kelly Oklahoma ILB 6’3” 225

LaRon Stokes Oklahoma DL5T 6’4’’ 278

Kennedy Brooks Oklahoma RB 5’11’’ 209

Charleston Rambo Oklahoma WR 6’1” 180

Ronnie Perkins Oklahoma EDGE 6’3’’ 248

Rhamondre Stevenson Oklahoma RB 6’0” 236

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Kyle Pitts Florida TE 6’5” 239

Kyle Trask Florida QB 6’4’’ 240

Tedarrell Slaton Florida DL1T 6’5” 358

Kadarius Toney Florida WR 5’11’’ 190

Donovan Stiner Florida S 6’1” 203

Marco Wilson Florida CB 6’0” 190

Ventrell Miller Florida ILB 6’1’’ 230

Trevon Grimes Florida WR 6’4” 215

Jeremiah Moon Florida EDGE 6’6” 232

Kyree Campbell Florida DL3T 6’3” 304

Jean Delance Florida OG 6’4’’ 316

Dec. 31

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

No. 24 Tulsa vs. Mississippi State 12 p.m. | ESPN

Zaven Collins Tulsa EDGE 6’4’’ 260

Tyarise Stevenson Tulsa DL1T 6’3” 351

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Kylin Hill Mississippi State RB 5’11” 215

K.J. Costello Mississippi State QB 6’5” 225

Erroll Thompson Mississippi State ILB 6’1” 250

Arizona Bowl

No. 22 San Jose State vs. Ball State 2 p.m. | CBSSN

Tre Walker San Jose State WR 5’11’’ 180

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Caleb Huntley Ball State RB 5’10” 226

AutoZone Liberty Bowl

Army vs. West Virginia 4 p.m. | ESPN

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Dante Stills West Virginia DL5T 6’4” 278

Darius Stills West Virginia DL3T 6’1” 292

Tony Fields II West Virginia OLB 6’0’’ 220

Texas Bowl

TCU vs. Arkansas 8 p.m. | ESPN

Trevon Moehrig TCU S 6’2” 202

Ar’Darius Washington TCU S 5’8” 175

Garret Wallow TCU OLB 6’2’’ 215

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Jonathan Marshall Arkansas DL1T 6’3” 317

Xavier Kelly Arkansas DL3T 6’4” 305

Rakeem Boyd Arkansas RB 6’0” 213

Myron Cunningham Arkansas OG 6’7’’ 325

Bumper Pool Arkansas OLB 6’2’’ 229

Feleipe Franks Arkansas QB 6’6” 228

Jan. 1

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

No. 8 Cincinnati vs. No. 9 Georgia 12 p.m. | ESPN

Myjai Sanders Cincinnati EDGE 6’5” 258

Desmond Ridder Cincinnati QB 6’4” 215

James Wiggins Cincinnati S 6’0” 202

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Tyson Campbell Georgia CB 6’2” 180

Ben Cleveland Georgia OG 6’6” 335

Jamie Newman Georgia QB 6’4” 230

Eric Stokes Georgia CB 6’1” 185

Richard LeCounte III Georgia S 5’11” 190

Azeez Ojulari Georgia EDGE 6’3” 240

Jordan Davis Georgia DL1T 6’6’’ 330

Trey Hill Georgia OC 6’4” 330

Zamir White Georgia RB 5’11” 215

Malik Herring Georgia DL5T 6’3” 280

Monty Rice Georgia ILB 6’1” 235

D.J. Daniel Georgia CB 6’1’’ 185

James Cook Georgia RBC 5’11” 190

Demetris Robertson Georgia WR 6’0’’ 190

Vrbo Citrus Bowl

No. 14 Northwestern vs. Auburn 1 p.m. | ABC

Rashawn Slater Northwestern OT 6’4’’ 314

Greg Newsome II Northwestern CB 6’1” 190

Paddy Fisher Northwestern ILB 6’4” 246

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Seth Williams Auburn WR 6’2” 224

Anthony Schwartz Auburn WR 6’0” 197

Smoke Monday Auburn S 6’1” 196

Roger McCreary Auburn CB 6’0’’ 188

K.J. Britt Auburn ILB 6’0” 236

Big Kat Bryant Auburn EDGE 6’5” 247

Zakoby McClain Auburn OLB 6’0’’ 211

College Football Playoff semifinal — Game 1

No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Notre Dame 4 p.m. | ESPN

Patrick Surtain II Alabama CB 6’1” 203

Jaylen Waddle Alabama WRS 5’10” 182

DeVonta Smith Alabama WR 6’1” 175

Alex Leatherwood Alabama OT 6’6” 312

Christian Barmore Alabama DL3T 6’5” 310

Dylan Moses Alabama OLB 6’3” 235

Najee Harris Alabama RB 6’2” 230

Deonte Brown Alabama OG 6’4’’ 350

Mac Jones Alabama QB 6’2’’ 214

Josh Jobe Alabama CB 6’1’’ 189

Phidarian Mathis Alabama DL1T 6’4” 317

Landon Dickerson Alabama OC 6’6’’ 325

LaBryan Ray Alabama DL5T 6’5” 292

Miller Forristall Alabama TE 6’5” 242

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Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah Notre Dame OLB 6’1’’ 216

Liam Eichenberg Notre Dame OT 6’6” 302

Tommy Kraemer Notre Dame OG 6’6” 317

Jarrett Patterson Notre Dame OC 6’5’’ 305

Daelin Hayes Notre Dame EDGE 6’4” 268

Aaron Banks Notre Dame OG 6’5” 330

Robert Hainsey Notre Dame OT 6’5” 295

TaRiq Bracy Notre Dame S 5’10’’ 170

Nick McCloud Notre Dame CB 6’1” 192

Jonathan Doerer Notre Dame PK 6’3” 203

Allstate Sugar Bowl (College Football Playoff semifinal)

No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Ohio State 8 p.m. | ESPN

Trevor Lawrence Clemson QB 6’6” 220

Travis Etienne Clemson RB 5’10” 210

Derion Kendrick Clemson CB 6’0” 190

Jackson Carman Clemson OT 6’5” 335

Nolan Turner Clemson S 6’1” 205

Jordan Williams Clemson DL3T 6’4” 310

Amari Rodgers Clemson WR 5’9” 210

Braden Galloway Clemson TE 6’4” 240

Nyles Pinckney Clemson DL3T 6’1” 295

Cornell Powell Clemson WR 6’0” 201

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Justin Fields Ohio State QB 6’3’’ 228

Wyatt Davis Ohio State OG 6’4” 315

Josh Myers Ohio State OC 6’5’’ 312

Chris Olave Ohio State WR 6’0” 185

Shaun Wade Ohio State CB 6’1” 194

Baron Browning Ohio State ILB 6’3” 248

Haskell Garrett Ohio State DL5T 6’2” 299

Thayer Munford Ohio State OT 6’6” 315

Pete Werner Ohio State ILB 6’3’’ 239

Tommy Togiai Ohio State DL3T 6’2” 300

Master Teague Ohio State RB 5’11” 220

Tyreke Smith Ohio State EDGE 6’4” 267

Trey Sermon Ohio State RB 6’0” 224

Jeremy Ruckert Ohio State TE 6’5” 250

Tuf Borland Ohio State ILB 6’1” 230

Jan. 2

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl

No. 23 NC State vs. Kentucky 12 p.m. | ESPN

Cary Angeline North Carolina State TE 6’7” 250

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Drake Jackson Kentucky OC 6’2’’ 292

Max Duffy Kentucky P 6’1” 185

Landon Young Kentucky OT 6’7’’ 321

Outback Bowl

No. 11 Indiana vs. Ole Miss 12:30 p.m. | ABC

Stevie Scott Indiana RB 6’2” 231

Micah McFadden Indiana OLB 6’2” 235

Ty Fryfogle Indiana WR 6’2” 214

Peyton Hendershot Indiana TE 6’4” 255

Whop Philyor Indiana WRS 5’11’’ 180

Marcelino Ball Indiana S 6’0” 212

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Elijah Moore Ole Miss WRS 5’9” 184

Kenny Yeboah Ole Miss TE 6’4’’ 240

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl

No. 10 Iowa State vs. No. 25 Oregon 4 p.m. | ESPN

Charlie Kolar Iowa State TE 6’6” 245

Brock Purdy Iowa State QB 6’1’’ 212

Greg Eisworth Iowa State S 6’0” 205

Mike Rose Iowa State ILB 6’2’’ 245

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Penei Sewell Oregon OT 6’5” 330

Jevon Holland Oregon S 6’1” 196

C.J. Verdell Oregon RB 5’9” 210

Deommodore Lenoir Oregon CB 5’11” 202

Thomas Graham Jr. Oregon CB 5’11” 197

Jordon Scott Oregon DL1T 6’1” 322

Capital One Orange Bowl

No. 5 Texas A&M vs. No. 13 North Carolina 8 p.m. | ESPN

Bobby Brown III Texas A&M DL3T 6’4” 315

Kellen Mond Texas A&M QB 6’3” 217

Leon O’Neal Jr. Texas A&M S 6’0” 210

Ryan McCollum Texas A&M OC 6’5’’ 300

Anthony Hines III Texas A&M OLB 6’3” 226

Dan Moore Jr. Texas A&M OT 6’5’’ 315

Michael Clemons Texas A&M EDGE 6’5’’ 270

Tyree Johnson Texas A&M EDGE 6’4’’ 240

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Chazz Surratt North Carolina OLB 6’3” 230

Javonte Williams North Carolina RB 5’10” 220

Dazz Newsome North Carolina WR 5’11” 175

Dyami Brown North Carolina WR 6’1” 185

Michael Carter North Carolina RBC 5’9” 195

I will provide a mock, which will get the most attention because that is “what it do baby”.

However, doing a mock without considering moves that may be made is rather useless. I must come up with a quick and dirty (Q&D) plan before the mock.

First, it could be that the cap will not be at the agreed-upon lowest possible number of 175 mil. According to this article, the cap could be pretty close to the 198.2 mil it is now.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/12/06/optimism-emerges-regarding-2021-salary-cap/

Per a league source, the possibility that stadiums will be full for the 2021 season could prompt the league to not tie the hands of teams by dropping the salary cap by more than $23 million per team, from $198.2 million. Although the 2020 season will indeed result in lower revenue than usual, the potential of a return to something normal or close to it plus the coming TV deals may result in the league keeping the cap in the range of $195 million.

The losses from 2020 will still be absorbed at some point. However, most teams won’t want to tie their hands next year with a dramatically reduced cap. Pushing losses to future years also helps players by reducing the possibility of the widespread termination of veteran contracts

I will base this Q&D on a 195 mil cap number. I like to use overthecap’s calculator to make cap moves and fanspeak to do the draft.

https://overthecap.com/calculator/minnesota-vikings/

Over the Cap has the Vikings with $188,887,671 in total liabilities. That leaves $6,112,329 in cap space but does not include the $4,378,133 the Vikings will carry over. I could add that in but some players have incentives. I’ll just leave out the carryover.

Note: Imagine of the Vikings did not STUPIDLY trade for Yannick Ngakoue and waste almost 7 mil in cap space. That money could have been used in 2021. But noooooo.

Here we go ...

Cut Reiff - save $11,750,000 * might be able to trade Reiff

Cut Stephen - save $3,750,000

Cut Rudolph - save $5,100,000

Trade Barr to the Jets for the 3rd round pick they got from the Seahawks for Jamal Adams - save $7,700,000

Some will disagree with this move, especially Zimmer, but Barr’s cap hits are 15.5 mil in 2021, 15.6 mil in 2022, and 18.1 mil in 2023. I cannot see them leaving his contract alone after 2021. No chance. May as well get something for him now rather than wait a year and get less if anything at all.

These 4 moves takes the Vikings to $34,412,329 in cap space

Obviously, with Reiff gone, left tackle becomes a huge concern. I will say that Ezra Cleveland should be given the chance to play left tackle. He has done fairly well at guard because his run-blocking grade makes up for his abysmal pass-blocking grade. The issue is pressure up the middle and that translates to the guards not handling power well. I’d like to see the Vikings get some bigger guards even though it may take a little away from the run blocking.

I really would like to see the Vikings spend big (14 to 15 mil per year) on Joe Thuney or Brandon Scherff. Each received the franchise tag and it is unknown if their own teams will be able to negotiate an extension. If either player hits free agency then the competition will be fierce and the Vikings have not had success in the past when trying to sign the big-name guards.

So, freeing up all this cap space is good but what to do with it? What it do baby?

Extend Smith adding 3 yrs 31.75 mil - save $5,000,000

Redo Hunter creating a 5 yr 105 mil deal - costs $250,000

Extend Wilson with a 3 yr 21 mil deal - costs $4,000,000

Extend O’Neill adding 5 yrs 60 mil - costs $3,000,000

Sign John Johnson III Safety from the Rams to a 4 yr 40 mil deal - costs $4,500,000

Remaining cap space is $27,662,329

One thing they could do with this is take 10 mil of Cousins's 2022 salary and move it to 2021.

His cap hit would go up 10 mil in 2021 but down to 35 mil in 2022.

Onto the draft with needs at guard and/or tackle, defensive tackle, defensive end, safety, linebacker, and anything else you can think of.