Why Chad Beebe will make the Minnesota Vikings’ 53-man roster

As the Minnesota Vikings get set to play their final preseason game Thursday night against the Tennessee Titans, undrafted rookie wide receiver Chad Beebe is trying to prove he belongs on the Viking 53-man roster.

Without a doubt, there is some serious speculation in regard to wide-receiver positions four and five on the Minnesota Vikings. With wideouts Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs cemented at one and two, and Laquon Treadwell unofficially assumed as the number three, which other receivers deserve the last two spots?

Since head coach Mike Zimmer views the preseason games with great priority in analyzing these position battles, just who has been making hay?

For one, it is Chad Beebe, the undrafted rookie from Northern Illinois University.

Beebe has caught nine balls for 95 yards and 2 touchdowns in the 2018 preseason, the last touchdown being a slingshot from running Viking quarterback Kyle Sloter to win the game against Seattle.

Beebe also set up the Minnesota Vikings’ victory drive with a 34-yard punt return to midfield.

Zimmer has watched the rookie make such plays and has taken notice.

Beebe seems to have one qualification, or perhaps pedigree, to older NFL fans, as he is the son of former Buffalo Bill and Green Bay Packer wide receiver and punt returner, Don Beebe.

Don Beebe’s claim to fame himself is his participation on six Super Bowl teams. For the record, he won one and lost one with Green Bay and lost four-in-a-row with Buffalo.

Father Don Beebe was also once clocked at 4.21 in the 4o yard dash by the New York Jets who drafted him in 1989 in the 3rd round.

Son Chad is not that incredibly fast, clocking a pedestrian 4.47 at the same distance, but Dad Don thinks he’s worth a look as a contributing player on the right team.

"“He’s more quicker and explosive and quicker in and out of his cuts than I was, he’s more elusive than I was. I wasn’t a run-after-the-catch guy,” Don said of his son. “He’s a punt returner, I was a kick returner, so that kind of gives you an idea of the two different styles of receiver. He’s very gifted and I’m just glad he was able to get a shot with the Vikings.”"

Chad Beebe ideally reminds an optimistic Minnesota Vikings fan about other guys who are short (Beebe is 5’ 9”), do not possess blazing speed, and were drafted late or not drafted at all.

Guys like–Wes Welker, undrafted, (4.52)
Julian Edelman, 7th round, Patriots, (4.365)
Danny Amendola, undrafted, (4.58)

Just for the record: Stefon Diggs, 5th round, 2015, (4.46).

None of these listed athletes impressed anyone with a stop-watch with their downfield speed, however watching each of them play against starting cornerbacks in this league is sometimes like watching a cat skirt around dogs.

Players with quick-twitch agility and punt-returner brains make plays.

Chad Beebe, no doubt ideal for the slot receiver position with great hands, quickness and run-after-the-catch abilities, has shown coach Zimmer another thing that the guys competing for his spot have yet to do.

Great value on special teams and preseason production.

Receivers Brandon Zylstra, Jake Weinke, and Stacy Coley have been nothing but names on the preseason stat sheets, while fellow newly-signed wide-out Kendall Wright (who does not play on special teams) has one catch in three preseason games.

Incumbent ‘third’ wide-receiver Laquon Treadwell–who in two previous combined seasons has 21 catches for the team–has six catches for 44 yards in three preseason games.

If Beebe is put on the Vikings practice squad, he will not be there long. There can be little doubt that scouts from other NFL teams already have their eye on him.

If he gets plucked from that practice squad, he will augment another team’s roster and most likely make plays for that team in the 2018 season.

Maybe they’ll be big plays.

Do the Minnesota Vikings want to miss out on that?