Vikings Stock Market Report: Preseason Week Two

As exciting as it was to get football back last week, we’ve been thoroughly reminded through the past two games that while, yes, we did get some form of football back, we haven’t gotten real football back just yet. As a casual fan, it can be hard to get into preseason games. Vanilla play calls, fourth-string players, sideline interviews with the stars... Ugh. Can we just get back to real Minnesota Vikings football, please? While there were a handful of exciting plays on Saturday, the game itself wasn’t very interesting. But, I still watched all of it, and here I am writing this article, and here you are reading it. As per the saying that KJ Osborn referenced, we will not rise to the occasion, but sink to the level of our preparation. Let’s continue our preparation for week one and forge ahead into the second to last Stock Market Report of the preseason!

Blue Chip Stocks

Greg Joseph - Greg was flawless on the evening, being responsible for 10 of the Vikings’ 16 points. Jack Podlesney was released this week, meaning that Joseph will almost certainly be the Vikings’ placekicker for the season. Like it or not, Greg is here to stay. Hopefully he can hit some more game-winners for us this season.

Solid Investments

Troy Dye - Dye had a really nice tackle behind the line, and an interception caused by some defensive trickery (that was broken down excellently by the broadcast team). He also wore gloves, which may or may not have helped with the pick.

Nick Mullens - Just like last week, Mullens started off slow but got better as his snap count went up. He’s a solid backup.

Ivan Pace Jr. - Pace had another solid day. His best play was on third and short, when he got a run at Malik Willis, forcing a throw short of the sticks, and allowing Cine to come in and make a nice tackle, bringing up fourth down. Pace seems set to play a role on defense this year.

Najee Thompson - For the second game in a row, Thompson had a great play on special teams. I saw on someone on Twitter say that Thompson is Kris Boyd’s “next Pokémon evolution”, and I think that’s really the only way to describe him.

Ty Chandler - His stats weren’t anything to go crazy about, but he looked shifty and hard to bring down when he had somewhat decent blocking. Chandler is unquestionably RB2 going into the season.

Junk Bonds

The Offensive Line - Things didn’t look great on Saturday. The run blocking was abysmal all day, and the pass blocking wasn’t much better. Schlottmann and Lowe are somewhat serviceable, but the rest of the participants were pretty bad.

Penny Stocks

Jaren Hall - Hall had a much better game than last week. He looked more comfortable and stood in the pocket, and, despite the offensive line trying to get him killed. Hall had some nice throws. Hall’s best pass of the day fell incomplete, as he slid over to avoid the pass rush and dropped an absolute dime to Thayer Thomas. If you replace Thomas with Jefferson or Addison, they likely make the catch. Hall made a play with his legs too, scrambling for a first down. I put him here in the penny stocks category because he still seems very raw, but he did make noticeable improvement from last week. Maybe we’ll see more of Jaren’s potential in the final preseason game.

Lewis Cine - Cine made a few good plays, including an open-field tackle on third and short and a sack of Malik Willis. He did, however, get hurdled while attempting to make a tackle, which resulted in a touchdown. Cine is a baffling player, and like Jaren Hall, we think we know what he’s capable of, but we need to see more.

That’s my Stock Market Report for preseason game number two. Add your stocks and assessments in the comments!