Who are five surprise players who could make the 2020 Minnesota Vikings?
The Minnesota Vikings are more than halfway through this year’s training camp and their opening game against the Green Bay Packers is just over the horizon.
It’s been a pretty exciting camp for the Vikings with plenty of players stepping up and impressing every day in practice. Some of these guys are rookies or second-year players whose spots on the roster were never in doubt.
However, there have been a handful of guys who have come out of nowhere and played so well that their chance of making Minnesota’s final 53-man roster this year has almost become a certainty.
Heading into this year’s training camp, many fans and folks in the media already have a solid idea of who will be on the Vikings’ final roster.
None of the following players were on that list and a few weren’t even on the team back then. So who are the five guys that surprisingly could make Minnesota’s final roster this season?
Steven Parker – S
The Vikings signed Steven Parker earlier this month and when hearing the news, many fans said, “who?”
It was a fair question to ask because Parker is by no means a familiar name in NFL circles. When doing research on the young safety, the numbers show that he could be a nice depth piece for the Minnesota safety group this season.
Parker was undrafted out of Oklahoma and he was signed by the Los Angeles Rams following the 2018 NFL Draft. He spent his rookie year on the Rams practice squad, but he couldn’t crack the starting lineup in 2019, and he was cut.
The Miami Dolphins picked him up and he ended up starting four games for them last season. During his four starts and 14 appearances last year, Parker had 20 total tackles, three pass breakups, and two interceptions.
He clearly has some ball skills and he isn’t afraid to come up and make a hit. The Vikings were wise to bring him in since they only had rookies as the primary backups to safeties Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris. Having a safety on the depth chart with even a little experience is huge.
When Smith got a day off in practice this summer, it was Parker who played with Minnesota’s first-team defense. That shows how highly thought of he is in Vikings camp and with Brian Cole II already released, the veteran’s chances of making the team this year are quite high.
Eddie Yarbrough – DE
The Vikings signed Eddie Yarbrough at the end of the 2019 season. When the move was made it didn’t make waves on social media or any other news outlets. Not that it should have, but looking at Yarbrough’s stats, should’ve given many the indication that this kid can play.
In two seasons with the Buffalo Bills, Yarbrough had a sack and 63 total tackles. He also broke up a couple of passes and accumulated eight tackles for a loss. Those numbers show that he is a complete defensive end, who can do more than just get after the passer.
When the Vikings drafted D.J. Wonnum and Kenny Willekes this year, many assumed they’d be strong candidates to be the backups to Danielle Hunter and Ifeadi Odenigbo.
Yarbrough and free-agent signee Anthony Zettel were basically written off as having slim to no chance of making the team. While that seems to have been proven true in Zettel’s case, Yarbrough has been a surprise.
Plenty of reports coming out of practice rave about Yarbrough and his impressive play. He pressures the quarterback on a daily basis and has been living in the backfield.
He has played with Minnesota’s first-team defense while Hunter has been out with an injury and he is clearly above both Wonnum and Willekes on the depth chart.
While it would suck to see Willekes get released, if Yarbrough truly has been the better player in camp this year, he deserves a spot on the Vikings roster and it looks almost like a guarantee that he has it at this point.
Chad Beebe – WR
Chad Beebe is an interesting story for the Vikings. He was undrafted in 2018 and he went on to have an impressive preseason later that year.
The son of former Bills great, Don Beebe, was much like the old man, running crisp routes and catching everything in sight. He earned a spot on Minnesota’s practice squad as a rookie and he was called up to the active roster late in the 2018 season, catching four balls for 39 yards.
Last year, he made the Vikings’ final roster and he was also the team’s primary punt returner. However, the sure-handed Beebe started showing some cracks in those glue-like hands of his. He had some uncharacteristic drops in the preseason and he also ran some of the wrong routes.
That carried over into the regular season as Beebe suddenly had a fumbling issue that resulted in him muffing three punts in a span of a couple of games. He then got hurt and missed the rest of the season due to his injury.
With the new additions of Justin Jefferson, Tajae Sharpe, K.J. Osborn, Quartney Davis, and the emergence of Alexander Hollins, many figured Beebe’s chances with Minnesota were over. Apparently the Vikings coaching staff has other ideas.
Minnesota offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak has gone out of his way to praise Beebe this offseason. He basically has already anointed him the third wide receiver and he raves about how much he loves the kid.
The young receiver appears a lock to make the Vikings’ 2020 roster. But for the sake of the team, let’s hope we see the Chad Beebe of 2018 and not last season’s version.
Hardy Nickerson Jr. – LB
The Vikings have been going through a plethora of linebackers during training camp this summer. They’ve lost Cameron Smith for the year (potentially for good) and Ben Gedeon hasn’t been able to play yet either.
So Minnesota signed Quentin Poling, David Reese II, and Hardy Nickerson Jr. during the last few weeks. Of these three, Nickerson could be the one that sticks, and it might not even be of his own doing.
Nickerson could make the Vikings’ final roster by default. It really depends on if Gedeon comes back this year. The guy has had multiple concussions and he failed his pre-training camp physical.
It isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Gedeon decides to hang up the cleats for good. If that’s the case, Nickerson should be the favorite to be the fifth linebacker.
The top three are set with Eric Kendricks, Anthony Barr, and Eric Wilson. Rookie linebacker Troy Dye should make the team since he’s a highly touted fourth-round pick, and then one spot will be up for grabs. At this point, it is Nickerson versus three undrafted rookies.
While Nickerson hasn’t lit up the world during his career so far, he does have 81 career tackles, one tackle for a loss, and two pass breakups. So he does offer some veteran experience and that could be enough to land him a spot on Minnesota’s final 2020 roster.
Jalyn Holmes – DE
Heading into training camp this season, Jalyn Holmes was a guy many looked at as being on the wrong side of the Vikings roster bubble. He has a measly seven career tackles with one sack during his two years in Minnesota.
This offseason, the Vikings had brought in new faces like Michael Pierce and James Lynch, and Holmes was looked at as being the odd man out.
A funny thing happened once camp started though as Holmes moved back to his original position at defensive end. He played this in college and having him move to the outside gives Minnesota an experienced depth piece behind the two studly starters.
Holmes hasn’t exactly been a beast on the edge, but he has been able to accumulate a few pressures. He also has been kicked back inside every now and then.
This added versatility drastically increases his chances of making the Vikings’ final roster and it makes him much more valuable than a guy like Hercules Mata’afa. As far as ends go, Holmes is probably fourth on the depth chart at this point and that should be high enough to make it.
Holmes may never reach the potential he showed in college that made him a fourth-round pick. But chances are extremely strong that he’ll get one more shot to do just that in purple this year.