Tag: Bisi Johnson

Report: Patriots host three players for visit on Thursday

New England hosted a linebacker, safety, and a wide receiver for a visit on Thursday.

The New England Patriots are reportedly hosting three free agents on visits Thursday. Wide receiver Bisi Johnson, safety Taylor Rapp, and linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel are the three visitors, via Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan.

Johnson was placed on injured reserve last August after suffering a torn ACL. He played two seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, recording 45 catches for 483 yards and three touchdowns.

Rapp has spent the last four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. He recorded 92 tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery in 16 games last season.

Van Ginkel last played for the Miami Dolphins. He reported 47 combined tackles and an interception for Miami last season. He played in all 17 games.

These players could bolster their respective positions. Rapp could be vital for safety depth, while Van Ginkel could provide a solid presence in the linebacker room. Johnson would be able to add additional depth to a wide receiver room that is looking to retool.

New England has several areas to fill, as the free agency whirlwind continues. Here’s to hoping they will be able to make some additional moves.

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5 Things to watch for in Vikings preseason opener against Raiders

Here are five things to watch for in the Vikings’ preseason opener.

On Sunday afternoon at 3:25 central time, the wait for live Minnesota Vikings football is over.

The 2022 preseason will kick off for the Vikings as they face the 1-0 Las Vegas Raiders on NFL Network. Along with the start of the 62nd season in franchise history, it also officially dawns a new era of Vikings football with the debuts of head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.

As we look forward to the game itself, here are five things to watch for during Sunday’s matchup.

Vikings 2022 offseason preview: Where does Minnesota stand at WR?

The firepower at receiver is unreal

For the Minnesota Vikings, the 2021 season was a teaser to what should be one of the best receiving units in 2022 and beyond. It doesn’t matter who starts under center—Kirk Cousins, Kellen Mond, a rookie or some veteran free agent the Vikings decide to bring into the fold.

Some quarterback will be playing with the Infinity Gauntlet of offensive firepower.

The opportunity will clearly be there for the Vikings to morph into one of the most explosive teams on the field with an offensive-minded head coach like Kevin O’Connell leading the charge.

They aren’t going to be a team afraid to take risks, and they’re going to consistently push the ball downfield. You can also expect plenty of pre-snap movement in order to bait and confuse opposing defenses.

Grab a cold beverage, a bowl of popcorn and pull up a chair. Things are about to reach new levels of excitement in Minnesota.

Here’s where the Vikings stand at wide receiver.

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Report: Vikings WR Bisi Johnson tears his ACL

Some bad news for the Vikings.

Minnesota has not had a defined wide receiver three for several seasons.

Oftentimes, Bisi Johnson has fulfilled that role. But now, Minnesota could be without the wide receiver for a long time.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Johnson tore his ACL during a Friday practice.

”Rough break for a promising young player who has 45 catches over his first two NFL seasons,” Pelissero wrote on Twitter.

The Vikings recently shored up the wide receiver position, signing Dede Westbrook in free agency. Westbrook will likely be the wide receiver three, but Johnson still could have been an important wideout without the injury.

Chad Beebe, Ihmir Smith-Marsette and others can step up and fill the void Johnson will ostensibly leave behind.

This is still bad news for the Vikings. The team is thin at wide receiver outside of Adam Thielen, Justin Jefferson and Westbrook. The Vikings can’t take any serious injuries at the top of the wide receiver depth chart.

 

 

 

Four Vikings on offense and special teams who need to bounce back in 2021

Here are four Vikings players who need to bounce back in 2021.

The Vikings don’t have many bounce-back candidates on offense. That’s because the team’s offense was so good in 2020.

Really, the group just has to stay healthy for 2021, and surely they will be at least decent. The special teams, on the other hand, were horrendous.

The Vikings struggled in pretty much every aspect of special teams in 2020. They gave up blocked punts, they had fumbles on returns, they had costly missed field goals. You name it, the Vikings did it wrong on special teams at times.

This offseason, Minnesota did not renew the contract of special teams coordinator Marwan Maalouf. The new special teams coordinator, Ryan Ficken, has a lot of work to do.

Here are some possible bounce-back candidates on special teams and offense:

Vikings’ question marks heading into training camp

The Minnesota Vikings still have some question marks. Here they are:

Minnesota is a team with a high variance for the 2021 NFL season.

The Vikings have plenty of talent on paper. But due to all the free agency signings this offseason, many of those players have yet to be on the same team in an NFL game.

For Minnesota, cohesiveness, health and luck will be key. The Vikings have the potential to deploy one of the best defenses in the NFL this season. The team also has an already-explosive offense from 2020; that group just needs to not suffer any regression.

The Vikings’ 2021 NFL season could really go either way, depending on a few factors. Here are some question marks still remaining on the team with training camp fast approaching.

Vikings WR Bisi Johnson should be demoted, says B/R

After Justin Jefferson’s big day, do you think it’s time for him to be the permanent second wide receiver?

The Vikings suffered a frustrating loss, but in that defeat, a promising rookie stood out.

Wide receiver Justin Jefferson, drafted in the first round this year, went for 175 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Minnesota wideout Bisi Johnson might be affected by that performance. Bleacher Report thinks that Johnson should be fully demoted, with Jefferson replacing him. Here’s what they said:

“As was the case with Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle, this has less to do with Minnesota Vikings wideout Olabisi Johnson and everything to do with rookie receiver Justin Jefferson.

Jefferson finally caught fire in Week 3, catching seven passes for 175 yards and a touchdown. He now has 12 catches for 245 yards and the score on the season. Johnson, who has played 46.8 percent of the offensive snaps compared to 67.8 percent for Jefferson, has just four catches on seven targets for 80 yards.”

The outlet doesn’t seem to be totally down on Jefferson, saying “Johnson can be a fine No. 3 receiver, but the Vikings should not be taking away [Jefferson’s] reps to get him on the field.”

Justin Jefferson wants the Vikings to spread the ball out more

Through two games, the rookie has five catches for 70 yards. On the season, Jefferson has just six total targets.

It would be nice for the Vikings to get a receiver not named Adam Thielen involved in the passing game.

How about rookie receiver Justin Jefferson, who the team drafted in the first round of the 2020 draft?

Through two games, Jefferson has played more than 50% of offensive snaps, but has just five catches for 70 yards.

He’s looking to do more and help the Vikings to their first win of the 2020 season.

“Anything to help this team,” Jefferson said via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. “I’m here to make those big plays and bring a lot of excitement to this organization. We just have to do a lot more different stuff to get the ball in different people’s hands, and let the playmakers work.”

To put things in perspective, Thielen has 16 targets through two weeks. Bisi Johnson is next with seven. Jefferson has just six.

Kirk Cousins needs to spread the ball around offensively. We saw him get into trouble in Week 2 against the Colts, trying to continuously force passes to Thielen.

Why not put some faith in the rookie?

Maybe we’ll see a more balanced passing attack in Week 3 against the Titans.

B/R’s advice for the Vikings? Spread it around

Bleacher Report thinks the Minnesota Vikings need to get other players besides Adam Thielen involved more in the passing game.

The Vikings suffered a disappointing defeat to the Packers on Sunday, but it wasn’t all bad: Adam Thielen found his stride.

Thielen tallied 110 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions.

Now, Bleacher Report wants the Vikings to find other targets. The outlet said “spread it around” in regards to what Minnesota should change from Week 1. Here’s what it said about the Vikings:

“One of the big questions entering the season for the Vikings was how the offense would mask the loss of Stefon Diggs. Bisi Johnson and Alexander Mattison can’t be the two receivers after Thielen on the receiving chart in a shootout with Aaron Rodgers—Cousins and the coaches have to get Irv Smith Jr. and Justin Jefferson more involved.”

I’m fine with Johnson finding himself near the top of the receiving chart, especially if he’s the wide receiver two. However, players like Johnson, Jefferson and Smith Jr. need to get more targets in order for the offense to attack secondaries in a variety of ways.

Vikings punt returner update

Vikings punt returner was trimmed down to four returners in practice recently.

The Vikings were reportedly utilizing seven punt returners earlier in training camp.

Recently, that number has been trimmed down to just four players, according to Vikings team reporter Eric Smith. Minnesota has been giving Ameer Abdullah, Chad Beebe, Bisi Johnson and K.J. Osborn reps at punt returner in practice.

Also per Smith, the Vikings did team drills in punt return. Beebe and Johnson were back deep for those drills.

Abdullah, Osborn, Alexander Hollins, Jeff Gladney, Tajae Sharpe, Tony Brooks-James and Dan Chisena took reps at the gunner spots.

Before this Chad Graff of The Athletic reported that Quartney Davis, Mike Hughes, Sharpe, Osborn, Abdullah, Beebe and Johnson were receiving punts.

That means Hughes, Davis and Sharpe could be out of the punt return job unless anything changes. The punt returner position will be interesting to watch now that longtime return man Marcus Sherels is no longer on the roster. It appears to still be a relatively open competition.