"Mr. Mankato" Candidates

I thought Chuck D was a lock, but he's regressed to the rookie mean a bit.

I don't consider Price a candidate.....did decently last year (sans the fumbles) and now seems to have taken a big step, so much in fact that he might get WR4. He's also not a rookie. The rookies who pop early almost always come back to the mean.

Perhaps silly in retrospect but I think a lot of us were getting big Chazz Shurrat vibes from Tai Felton. It's been great reading that he's flashing and isn't a lost cause.

Felton belongs on that list. Showing up big in camp, but not so much in games. Hopefully he can keep ascending, bug Felton is my Mr. Mankato.

StickierBuns wrote:

I don't consider Price a candidate.....did decently last year (sans the fumbles) and now seems to have taken a big step, so much in fact that he might get WR4. He's also not a rookie. The rookies who pop early almost always come back to the mean.

I think his growth at WR makes him a candidate.

Minnesota Vikings' training camp is wrapping up, and Mr. Mankato will be awarded soon.

Here are my top five candidates @AtoZSportsNFL https://t.co/FTu9aXAes6

— Tyler Forness (@TheRealForno) August 21, 2026

The next Mr. Mankato will be crowned shortly, and there are some really interesting candidates for the award.

If you’re unfamiliar, Mr. Mankato is an award created by Judd Zulgad and Phil Mackey of SKOR North to honor the best unheralded player throughout the course of training camp. The rules are pretty simple: you have to be a third-round draft pick or later and have played fewer than 100 offensive or defensive snaps in the NFL. 

We broke down the top 10 Mr. Mankato candidates going into training camp, but who are the top candidates at the end of it? Here are the top five potential players to win Mr. Mankato as Minnesota heads into its second preseason game.

5. DT Elijah Williams

Elijah Williams was my top candidate to win Mr. Mankato going into the process because of how great his preseason was last year. He played 42 snaps during the course of the regular season. Another great training camp could have propelled him to that award, but with the additions of Domonique Orange and Caleb Banks, it became harder for him to get that recognition.

Even so, Williams has had a really good training camp and showcased a lot of positive plays against the New York Giants in that first preseason game. He also shone during joint practices with the Ravens. Williams isn’t going to win, but he is positioning himself well to make the 53-man roster and become a real contributor on the defensive side of the football.

4. S Jacob Thomas

We thought this spot might belong to Jakobe Thomas coming into training camp, but unfortunately he hasn’t gotten to practice much over the past couple of weeks due to a back injury. Jacob Thomas, on the other hand, has been thriving. He got an interception against the Giants, and then right when Minnesota returned to practice, he started getting work with the first team.

Oftentimes you will see players get elevated to see how they handle it. Is this just a flash in the pan, or is there something consistent worth developing? Thomas has proved he can hang, and more than that, he looks like he belongs. That is going to go a long way in helping him earn a spot on the roster. Thomas has thrived in a multitude of ways and will continue to do so over the course of camp, but a really good finish could vault him even higher on this list.

3. WR Tai Felton

After blossoming over the course of the first couple weeks of training camp, the momentum has slowed down a little bit for Felton. He was getting open in every which way, catching balls in traffic, and creating really good separation. Then he had that drop on the fade stop thrown by quarterback J.J. McCarthy in the preseason game, and it halted his momentum. Other players at the position have started to shine, casting a shadow on Felton.

Even so, the beginning of his training camp was so good that it vaulted him to a spot we didn’t necessarily think he would reach, and that in itself is a big deal. I’m excited about Felton’s potential future now, and that is not something I was saying just a few months ago when I thought he might be a cut candidate.

2. CB Charles Demmings

If you want to go by the best story of training camp, it’s Demmings. The rookie fifth-round draft pick out of Stephen F. Austin has thrived across multiple practices and even thrived against the Giants. One of the big things he brought to the table was consistency and physicality.

Demings got a shot with the first team in 7-on-7 drills on the first Saturday practice, which was also the first open to the public. He stood toe-to-toe against wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison in 7-on-7 and showed he belonged. Then he stacked great days on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday the following week. Going into the night practice, he looked like a guy to be reckoned with, and he continued that momentum all the way through joint practices with the Ravens. Demings is a little overly physical and will have to find a way to curb that, but make no mistake about it, he has been one of the best stories in the entirety of camp and could play a serious role as a fifth-round draft pick rookie.

1. WR Myles Price

It should be no surprise that Myles Price is the top contender for Mr. Mankato. He came out of relative nowhere to prove he was a good receiver. We talked during the beginning of training camp about how Felton might be the next K.J. Osborn, coming out of relative obscurity. Nobody expected Price to be much of anything in terms of actually contributing as a wide receiver, and now he’s doing exactly that.

It’s been an impressive journey for Price. He is winning with separation. He’s winning at the catch point. He’s not letting cornerbacks bully him with physicality. Price is doing everything at 5-foot-8.5, 180 pounds. The fact that he’s able to showcase all of this in a role not specifically built for him (he is probably a slot receiver at the NFL level) shows how much he’s grown and what he could potentially be. He’s probably still a wide receiver four and punt and kick returner long-term. But this leap has been glorious to watch, and he has shown that you can’t overlook him.

What is Mr. Mankato? Is he a young player who stands out in camp? Or his he fool's gold? A young player who stands out in camp and then disappears, never to be heard from again?

I have a different answer for each. Felton for the first. Demmings for the second. But I don't think he disappears. I think he makes the roster and contributes.

1). Price

2). Thomas

3). Demmings

So much for my $ on Bell...

I'm hoping Felton can recapture some of that momentum he had at the start of camp...

purplefaithful wrote:

1). Price
2). Thomas
3). Demmings
So much for my $ on Bell...
I'm hoping Felton can recapture some of that momentum he had at the start of camp...

Yeah, Bell really fell off. He made an appearance today though.

Canthony wrote:

Yeah, Bell really fell off. He made an appearance today though.

Thomas is making a name for himself.

Loss of Adams was his opportunity

Could be a great find!!

MaroonBells wrote:

What is Mr. Mankato? Is he a young player who stands out in camp? Or his he fool's gold? A young player who stands out in camp and then disappears, never to be heard from again?
I have a different answer for each. Felton for the first. Demmings for the second. But I don't think he disappears. I think he makes the roster and contributes.

This. But the media doesn't want yo be negative, so they co-opt the term for their own use.

Felton is my pick.

His final ballot.

It's time.

Here is my (completely unofficial) 2026 Mr. Mankato ballot, ranked from fifth through my vote for the winner.https://t.co/CIPcBLdNIm

— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) August 25, 2026

Even though the Vikings have one preseason game left this Friday, I’m ready to submit my (completely unofficial) ballot. The final game of the exhibition slate is always relatively meaningless. As someone who attended basically every meaningful practice of camp here’s who I’d vote for this year, ranked from fifth place through my winner.

Just missed the cut: LB Jacob Roberts, TE Gavin Bartholomew, RB Demond Claiborne

5. DT Elijah Williams

Williams made the Vikings’ 53-man roster last year after attending rookie minicamp as a tryout player, landing a contract, and shining in the preseason. He remains eligible for this year’s Mr. Mankato because he only played 42 defensive snaps as a rookie. For the second straight year, the former Morgan State (FCS) star has had a great August.

It’s always tougher for linemen to stand out in training camp practices, but Williams has done so on multiple occasions. He’s also had a second consecutive excellent preseason. In 34 snaps across two games, Williams has three pressures, a sack, an additional tackle for loss, and an 87 PFF grade. Once the ultimate long shot, he has likely secured his spot on the regular season roster once again.

4. WR Tai Felton

Felton is a 2025 third-round pick who is eligible after playing 46 offensive snaps as a rookie. The Vikings hoped to see him take big strides in his second season, and while he hasn’t been perfect, there have been quite a few highlights from the former Maryland star this summer.

One reason Felton makes the top five is that he made the play of training camp with a one-handed catch in the end zone in early August. He’s also been on the receiving end of a few deep balls. That carried over to the most recent preseason game, when he caught a 50-yard bomb from J.J. McCarthy. The one limiting factor keeping Felton from being higher on my ballot is that drops — which were a bit of an issue in his final college season — have continued to happen a bit more than you’d like to see.

3. WR Myles Price

Felton hasn’t been the most impressive of the Vikings’ non-big-three receivers. That would be Price, a 2025 UDFA who played a ton on special teams as a rookie but only saw 17 offensive snaps. The former Texas Tech and Indiana receiver, who is the shortest player on the Vikings’ roster at 5’9″, has made massive strides as a receiver in his second NFL season.

Kevin O’Connell described Price’s development as honing in on “the artwork” of the receiver position. He’s been sharp as a route-runner all training camp long, making plays at all three levels of the field. His hands are reliable, and his abilities as a returner show up after the catch. Price was the star of the Vikings’ first preseason game with four catches for 51 yards and a one-handed touchdown grab.

2. CB Charles Demmings

Demmings, the Vikings’ fifth-round rookie out of Stephen F. Austin, has been a bit quieter in the latter half of training camp and the preseason. But he was such a consistent standout early on in camp that he was the runaway favorite for this award at one point, so I can’t drop him lower than second.

Not only did Demmings make play after play in the first couple weeks of practices, using his size and athleticism to shine in press coverage, his personality also became one of the big stories of camp. Demmings is among the most exuberant and quotable players on the Vikings’ roster already. When he breaks up a pass, even when covering Justin Jefferson, he is never afraid to bust out an emphatic celebration. How much “Chuck D” plays as a rookie is up in the air, but his future looks bright.

1. S Jacob Thomas

It was going to take something really impressive for anyone to surpass Demmings. What Thomas has done throughout training camp and the first two preseason games qualifies, in my humble opinion. The undrafted rookie out of James Madison was impressive early on in camp, but he came alive in the later weeks while fellow rookie safety Jakobe Thomas was dealing with an injury. Jacob Thomas has gotten a fairly remarkable amount of first-team work for an undrafted rookie in a Brian Flores defense, and not once has he looked in over his head.

It’s the two preseason games that really nudge Thomas over the top. He had an interception in the first game against the Giants, then delivered a big hit and several other impressive reps on Saturday against the Ravens. Thomas has played a team-high 76 defensive snaps and has a 92.2 PFF grade that is the best mark among any NFL defender with at least 50 snaps this preseason (there are 379 players in that sample).

If it were my decision, Jacob Thomas would be your 2026 Mr. Mankato winner.

Okay ~ So now, who's your pick? Have you changed your mind on who you initially thought it will be?

Cricket wrote:

Okay ~ So now, who's your pick? Have you changed your mind on who you initially thought it will be?

Chuck D looked pretty solid last night - from the bits I forced myself to watch.

I still think it goes to J. Thomas though.

purplefaithful wrote:

Chuck D looked pretty solid last night - from the bits I forced myself to watch.
I still think it goes to J. Thomas though.

MaroonBells wrote:

https://twitter.com/WillRagatz/status/2093762605999378604

He's aggressive and fearless lol!

Little handsy on that one?

Could go either way...