Seven wide receivers who make the most sense for the depleted Vikings

Odell Beckham Jr.
Beckham won a Super Bowl in O’Connell’s offense with the Rams in 2021, but he turns 33 in November and he hasn’t had a truly productive season since 2021. Even that season was marginal for his standards as he finished with 44 receptions for 537 yards and five touchdowns — and then scored twice in the playoffs.

Amari Cooper
The 31-year-old had 44 catches for 547 yards and four touchdowns between the Browns and Bills last season. He made the Pro Bowl in 2023 with Cleveland and he still has some gas in the tank after racking up 711 catches and more than 10,000 yards in his career. In Minnesota, he’d take a back seat to Jefferson and Addison. Is that a role that he would entertain?

Gabe Davis
Davis is only 26 and his track record is impressive outside of his 2024 season with the Jaguars when he posted career lows with 20 catches for 239 yards and two touchdowns. Why the struggles in his first season with Jacksonville? He’s on record saying he played hurt with a meniscus injury before it knocked him out for good after 10 games.

If he’s healthy, he could get back to the form that saw him score 27 touchdowns in four seasons with Buffalo. Would he take a one-year deal to reignite his career with the Vikings? Like Cooper, he would play third fiddle behind Jefferson and Addison, which would likely limit his ability to command as much money as possible as a free agent next spring.

Four others...
Tyler Boyd
Brandon Powell
Adam Thielen
Cordarrelle Patterson

Inquiring minds want to know, particularly how to pronounce the new RB's name.
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The Vikings officially announced the addition of two offensive players on Tuesday. They've signed running back Xazavian Valladay and offensive lineman Zack Bailey. Linebacker Max Tooley, who was just brought back last week, was waived again to make room on the 90-man roster.

Valladay, whose signing with Minnesota was reported on Monday evening, gives the Vikings a running back who can perhaps play some significant snaps in Friday night's preseason finale against the Titans in Nashville. He had a prolific career at Wyoming and Arizona State from 2018 to 2022, racking up over 5,300 yards from scrimmage and 39 touchdown in 54 games. He set career highs with 1,481 yards and 18 touchdowns as a fifth-year senior at ASU.

Since going undrafted in 2023, Valladay has had brief stints with the Texans, Steelers, Jets, and Saints. The 27-year-old appeared in one regular season game with the Jets in 2023, only on special teams. He caught six passes for 62 yards in a preseason game with New York last year.

Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason won't play in Friday's game. It's also possible the Vikings feel like they've seen enough from Ty Chandler and Zavier Scott, who are competing for the No. 3 running back role on the 53-man roster. Thus, Valladay joins rookie Tre Stewart as another RB who the Vikings can use on Friday if they feel inclined.

Bailey, 29, is a journeyman offensive lineman who has been on Minnesota's roster before. After going undrafted out of South Carolina in 2019, he landed with the Buccaneers and then signed with the Vikings' practice squad in December 2020. He stuck around in Minnesota until the following October. Bailey has also had stints with the Colts, Commanders, Chargers, Falcons, and Jets. He's played in two regular season games.

Listed at 6'5" and 315 pounds, Bailey can play several spots along the offensive line.

These two moves are probably just to give the Vikings a couple fresh bodies for their third preseason game this weekend. In addition to Valladay, Bailey could see some time in the game if there's another offensive lineman the Vikings want to keep on the sideline for whatever reason. The best-case scenario for Valladay and Bailey would be to stick around on the practice squad after roster cuts next week, but even that is probably a long shot.

I think this is good for our comp formula, is it not? Also, many speculating that AR will be with another team by week one. Can KOC fix him? 

I think Viking's fans need to keep in mind that this is not only JJ's first NFL start upcoming, but he went a long period last year where he couldn't even throw a football because of the knee recovery. He's doing a great job of making up for lost time, but the fact remains there's catching up to do and a limited time to get there. Pluses are that he knows the offense ins and outs, is handling the huddle and line of scrimmage well and doesn't lack in ability or confidence. But he'll be learning a lot when the bullets are live. His accuracy I think will be a work in progress and will get incrementally better as the season progresses. He's going to rely on his feet a bit more than KOC will like, but that's how athletic QBs rookies do it: look at Drake Maye, Caleb and Jayden. Vrabel said he wants Maye running much less this year.

Its not always going to look smooth. He's not always going to be the most efficient. He'll probably be more playmaker than pocket passer the first 5 to 7 games. But everyone will see the potential, the high upside and some eye-opening athletic plays. Just hang in there, there'll be a learning curve. I think to expect otherwise is to not look at the realities of the circumstance and situation. But he's got a great supporting cast and smart coaches.

3 weeks before Bears on MNF. Should be good to go barring any major setbacks.

https://www.fox9.com/sports/justin-jeffe...ing-injury

Ari Meirov
@MySportsUpdate
·
5m
The #Falcons have released WR DJ Chark.

Fudge.

The Purple Persuasion
@TPPSkol
·
1h
Is the Vikings WR depth a problem?

The way Kevin O’Connell talks here makes it seem like Jalen Nailor may miss some time. Maybe not a long term issue but his week 1 status is in doubt.

VikingzFanPage
@vikingzfanpage
·
1h
#Vikings WR Justin Jefferson will be reassessed this week, and the hope is to up his workload in the near future, per KOC.

The first NFL roster cutdown deadline to reduce from 90 to 53 players occurs on August 27, 2024, at 4 p.m. ET. 

While some teams might make earlier trims, the official deadline is for the final reduction to a 53-player roster, which can be maintained throughout the regular season.

Google AI

Former Gophers QB Max Brosmer has stood out for the Vikings. Can he claim a roster spot?
Max Brosmer has played the most preseason snaps of any Vikings quarterback so far, and the door remains open for a roster spot.

Strib

With 1:46 on the clock and the Vikings trailing the Patriots by eight points Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium, rookie quarterback Max Brosmer, whose mindset-bearing wristband reads “Be where your feet are” and “One play at a time,” led the Vikings onto the field with 69 yards between them and the end zone.

“If a two-minute drive doesn’t let you play one play at a time, I’m not sure what does,” Brosmer said after the game. “You gotta just dink and dunk it all the way down the field.”

He did just that, mixing in longer throws, including a 25-yard completion to Jeshaun Jones that converted a fourth-and-17, en route to the Patriots’ 8-yard line.

Brosmer brought the Vikings to the brink of tying the game, but he couldn’t quite close it out in a 20-12 preseason loss to New England. A false start, incompletion and then an interception in the end zone ended the game.

But Brosmer, the 24-year-old former Gopher, has turned heads throughout training camp and now in both preseason games. He passed for 47 yards and a touchdown on 5-of-8 passing on just 19 snaps played in the fourth quarter against the Texans on Aug. 9.

He built on that Saturday, finishing two quarters of play 15-of-27 for 156 yards and that one interception. He was sacked four times for a total 33 yards lost, and faced obstacles in the form of a handful of procedural penalties against the Vikings.

Brosmer also added highlight-worthy throws and decisions to his résumé.

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said the fourth-down conversion is an example of why Brosmer has seen the number of reps he has this preseason, even as the current fourth-string QB.

Tim Jones, who led the Vikings with five receptions for 68 yards Saturday, has been a frequent target for Brosmer in practices. They flashed that chemistry on seven connections, including a 22-yarder that helped move the final drive along.

“Every time he’s thrown to me, it’s been ... near perfect,” Jones said with a smile.

A year later, O’Connell saw Brosmer again, this time throwing as a Pro Day participant himself, and the Vikings signed him to an undrafted free agent deal in April.

O’Connell has lauded Brosmer from the start as “as smart as any young player. ... His ownership of the information [is] kind of right on par.”

But Brosmer said Wednesday that when he first started working with O’Connell, it was like the coach was speaking “a foreign language.”

“Number one, it’s a new league. You’re playing in the NFL as opposed to college, and it’s completely new structures of defense,” Brosmer said. “But it’s also just how he talks about ball, how he thinks about it.”

That’s where the three other quarterbacks in the room, particularly Brett Rypien (also undrafted out of college in 2019), have come in handy. Brosmer said he peppers Rypien with questions, so much so the older QB probably wants to lock him up and throw away the key.

According to O’Connell, Brosmer and McCarthy are often the first and last people in the building, joking that quarterback coaches Josh McCown and Jordan Traylor must not be getting a lot of sleep thanks to the pair.

“Max is the man. Just super detail-oriented, works his butt off,” McCarthy said July 30. “I can’t say enough good things about that guy.”

Brosmer’s performance Saturday wasn’t perfect by any stretch. He still showed the growing pains of first-year pro. His second drive in particular was a struggle, and on some of the best chances the Vikings had to find the end zone — midway through the fourth quarter after Myles Price’s 81-yard kick return — Brosmer threw incomplete twice.

But the Vikings will have a decision to make about Brosmer in the next two weeks: Leave the rookie with local ties and potential off the 53-man roster and risk another team claiming him off waivers before he can be signed to the practice squad, or keep three quarterbacks on the active roster. It’s still not likely Brosmer would jump to No. 2.

There is a door open, though. Howell, the current No. 2, closed three drives Saturday 1-of-5 for 13 yards with an interception. The Vikings never played Rypien in the regular season last year, using him only as emergency third QB.

Brosmer said Saturday he doesn’t think about having something to prove to coaches or anyone. If bringing his best every single day doesn’t do the job, it’s not meant to be.

“There’s so much you can’t control,” Brosmer said. “If you just focus on yourself and control what you can control, you can rest on the outcome. You can be OK with the outcome.”

Brosmer’s demeanor postgame reflected that. He spoke with the same poise he did after sealing a win last week against the Texans.

“Whether that’s me playing in the NFL or not, I’ll be OK because of the work that I’ve put in,” he added. “If it’s good enough, it’s good enough.”