The Race to 53: Vikings Cuts Roll In
By Dan Zinski
The Vikings and the other 31 NFL teams are required to have their rosters set at 53 men by 5 PM CT Saturday. Already a few cuts have trickled out. We’ll keep track of all the cuts here, because doing multiple posts on these would be shameless milking (and we know I’m above that):
David Akinniyi – A defensive lineman who made no impression outside of his weird name.
Byron Isom – Offensive guard. Even with the Vikings’ O-line issues, Isom had no shot to stick.
Tristan Davis – Running back. He had one nice big run late in a preseason game. It wasn’t enough.
Devon Torrence – Cornerback. Hurt. Gone.
Stylez G. White – The “G” is for goodbye. Adrian Awasom, welcome to the Vikings for real.
Ryan Hill – Safety. If there’s any justice Tyrell Johnson will soon be following him out the door.
Jaymar Johnson – Wide receiver. Went from near-lock to out the door in four short weeks. Look on the bright side Jaymar: At least you didn’t break your thumb this year. Without Marcus Sherels’ emergence as a punt returner Jaymar might very well have made the squad. Johnson showed little as a receiver throughout the preseason.
Emmanuel Arceneaux – Wide receiver. He got a $75,000 bonus after jumping over from the CFL. With Johnson and Arceneaux gone, we can now safely assume Devin Aromashodu and Greg Camarillo have made the squad. Juaquin Iglesias remains as a dark horse candidate.
Alexander Robinson – Running back. I got nothing.
Ryan D’Imperio – The Vikings have cut both pure fullbacks they had on the roster. Jeff Dugan and Jim Kleinsasser can line up at the position and get the job done, but the Vikings might still opt to pick up a true fullback. Not stumping for anyone in particular but I will note that today the Cowboys cut FB Chris Gronkowski who is a decent blocker and brings some pass catching skills to the table.
Stephen Burton – Notorious for slapping a hail mary pass away from his own receiver teammate during a camp drill. Showed enough in preseason to earn a practice squad invite.
Juaquin Iglesias – Not Enrique. The receiver corps is now set: Harvin, Berrian, Jenkins, Armoashodu and Camarillo.
Ross Homan – Linebacker. Vikings have now cut two 2011 draft picks, though Stephen Burton is expected to be on the practice squad. Homan looked like an almost sure-thing at linebacker, then he suffered a concussion.
Jeff Dugan – More on Farwell and Dugan.
Tremaine Johnson – Defensive tackle. He’s supposedly not better than Remi Ayodele. I’m not sold.
Cedric McKinley – McKinnie and McKinley both gone.
Tony Carter – When the Vikings signed him he became the third 5-9 corner on the roster. Three 5-9 corners was one too many.
Caleb King – Running back. Looked good in the final preseason game against Houston’s defensive scrubs.
Ryan Cook – The Human False Start finally gets his walking papers from the Vikings. Another relic of the Chilly era is shown the door.
Chris DeGeare – Here’s a minor shocker. Or maybe it’s not a shocker at all. At the start of camp he seemed a legit candidate to win the right guard spot, but as the preseason progressed he became more-and-more irrelevant. Obviously the new offensive staff wasn’t that impressed with what he brought to the table.
Thomas Welch – Um.
David Herron – Was brought in late to fill out the linebacker corps. Lasted until the final cuts.
Cord Parks – Looked okay on kick returns, played a little bit at corner, was not as good as Marcus Sherels or Brandon Burton.