Vikings 53-man roster prediction after preseason Week 1

Jaren Hall
Jaren Hall / Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
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Vikings 53-man roster projection

Defensive line (6)

  • Harrison Phillips
  • Khyiris Tonga
  • Dean Lowry
  • Jaquelin Roy
  • Ross Blacklock
  • Jonathan Bullard

It still feels weird not including edge rushers with the defensive linemen considering how long the Minnesota Vikings placed those individuals at defensive end before moving them to outside linebacker under the new regime.

The big men in the trenches will have a lot of work to do. Dean Lowry, Khyiris Tonga, and Harrison Phillips will likely be the starting unit when the season begins but that shouldn't be written in ink quite yet.

Since there are only three spots on the line now, fewer backups are necessary. For that reason, two players the team seems to really like in Ross Blacklock and Jonathan Bullard can be penciled in as the primary subs at defensive end.

Defensive tackle is a bit more complicated. The Minnesota Vikings don't have a surplus of extremely large bodied defenders to take up space, so it will be interesting to see what the final depth chart looks like in that spot when it is released.