Minnesota Vikings: Top 5 cut day takeaways
By Josh Clarke
Unlucky Odenigbo
Throughout the preseason I often praised the quality of the depth the Vikings have managed to accrue across the defensive line, against the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks the starters and back-ups were particularly impressive. Unfortunately with multiple players performing above expectations this led to some difficult choices for the franchise’s decision makers.
At defensive tackle the releases of Chunky Clements and Dylan Bradley may have been predictable but few would have expected the Vikings to release both Will Sutton and Datone Jones at the start of training camp. Both players signed during free agency but were outplayed by 4th round draft pick out of Iowa, Jaleel Johnson. Johnson’s play in pre-season was one of major positives for the Vikings as he constantly impressed observers and his play was surely a deciding factor in the decision to waive the two veterans. I would expect Jaleel to split time with his namesake Tom alongside Linval Joseph to begin the year, but don’t sleep on him surpassing another veteran in the pecking order by the end of the season.
The battle of make the roster at defensive end was also hotly contested. The Vikings chose to keep 5 players at the position but that still meant that there wasn’t room for everyone who had impressed in preseason. After some dominating performances against the opposing teams back-ups undrafted free agent phenom Tashawn Bower secured a roster spot, but 7th round draft pick Ifeadi Odenigbo wasn’t as fortunate.
Although not quite as impressive as Bower, Odenigbo may feel hard done and based on his pre-season performance against Seattle (1 sack, 2 QB hits), he may well have a case. Unfortunately despite flashing briefly against Miami (2 QB hits) Odenigbo was unable to demonstrate the consistency needed across the 4 games to secure a place on the roster.
The future looked bright for the Vikings defensive line before the above tweet but with Odenbigo on tucked away on the practice squad for the coaching staff to develop, the future looks even brighter.