Tag: Jay Ward

Grading the Minnesota Vikings’ 2023 rookie draft class

With their rookie seasons under their belt, let’s revisit the Minnesota Vikings’ 2023 NFL draft and hand out some rookie grades.

The 2023 season for the Minnesota Vikings was the ultimate rollercoaster ride. Not even just week-to-week, but seemingly quarter-by-quarter and even series-to-series. You never knew what you were going to get from this iteration of the Vikings on any given day, and it made for some wild moments.

The season may not have ended the way the team, or the fans, wanted, but that disappointment shouldn’t overshadow the many good things that happened this year, least of all the many great contributions from the team’s rookie class.

There are a number of different ways to build a successful franchise in the NFL, but still the prevailing thought process is that it’s best to utilize the draft to build your base, and to supplement that base through free agency, trades, and the like.

Over the past few years, the Vikings have used the draft well to build up their base, including nabbing arguably the best wide receiver in football just a few short years ago when taking Justin Jefferson.

That success in the NFL draft continued in 2023, with the Vikings getting some major contributions from a number of their selections. Perhaps even more impressive, arguably their best rookie this season came in the form of someone who wasn’t drafted at all – instead being a true diamond-in-the-rough as an undrafted free agent.

With that as our backdrop, let’s revisit the 2023 Minnesota Vikings NFL draft class and hand out some grades now that their first season is officially behind them.

One year later: Looking back on the T.J. Hockenson trade

One year after the Vikings traded for T.J. Hockenson, how does that move look today?

The Minnesota Vikings were 7-1 at the trade deadline in 2022 but needed something on offense to keep the momentum going. They chose to upgrade their passing game in a major way by trading with the Detroit Lions for tight end T.J. Hockenson.

The Lions weren’t in a great spot at the trade deadline last year sitting at 1-6 on the season. They were in positions to be sellers and move on from a player that didn’t factor into their long-term plans.

After dealing with each other during the 2022 NFL draft, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Lions general manager Brad Holmes struck another deal to sent the former Iowa Hawkeye to Minnesota.

Exactly one year later, how does the trade look for both sides? Let’s break it down from all angles from on-field play to assets acquired.

5 cornerbacks the Vikings can sign after initial cuts

With only five cornerbacks on the roster, @TheKevinFielder looks at who the Vikings could target

As the Minnesota Vikings began to cut their roster to 53 players, a gaping hole was left at the cornerback position.

As the clock struck 3 P.M. central time, the Vikings only had five cornerbacks on their roster: Byron Murphy Jr., Mekhi Blackmon, Akayleb Evans, Andrew Booth Jr., and NaJee Thompson.

Considering that Thompson has only played a handful of snaps at cornerback in college, the Vikings only have four out-and-out cornerbacks. While the Vikings could run into next season with that group, the injury history of Booth should bring concern to that front.

As a result, the Vikings are likely window-shopping the waiver wire and free agency to find another reliable option for the room. Here are x options that could help fill the position out for the start of the season.

The good, bad, and ugly from the Vikings’ 18-17 loss to the Cardinals

The Vikings final preseason game against the Cardinals had plenty of ups and downs.

Let the games officially count.

The Minnesota Vikings concluded their preseason with a one-point loss against the Arizona Cardinals.

The Vikings quickly jumped out to a 14-point lead but struggled to find much offensive output after. While the defense kept them competitive, it wasn’t enough after a nine-point fourth quarter pushed the Cardinals ahead.

Although the results from preseason do not matter, there is plenty of good and bad to take from these games, especially when backups get most of the snaps.

5 Takeaways from Vikings 18-17 loss vs. Cardinals

Despite most of the starters not playing in the Vikings’ preseason finale, there were still plenty of takeaways.

The Minnesota Vikings closed their preseason with a one-point loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday.

While results do not count towards anything, the loss marks a second-consecutive winless record in preseason. However, the mission of preseason remains the same: evaluating players on the roster bubble.

It’s partly why the Vikings didn’t play many of their starters during the games. For example, Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson spent their time on the sideline without pads, while Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall saw a bulk of the team’s snaps.

Saturday’s game marked a different approach. More and more projected starters or key backups did not appear in the Vikings preseason finale, instead, undrafted free agents and likely roster cuts earned a tryout.

Here are 5 takeaways from those players, who saw most of the first-half snaps.

 

WATCH Jay Ward strip sack leads to fumble recovery

Jay Ward made his presence known during the first quarter

Former LSU Tiger defensive back Jay Ward had not yet had a signature play this preseason.

Now he does.

Ward came in on a safety blitz and flattened an unsuspecting Clayton Tune as he dropped back. The hit had enough force that the ball fell to the turf and was recovered by Troy Reeder deep in Arizona Cardinals territory.

Ward has been battling with safeties Theo Jackson and Lewis Cine for the final safety spot on this team.

The Vikings scored on the next play with a quick out to Abrams Smith. With that, Minnesota goes up 14-0 on the Cardinals early in the first quarter of this game.

Ward was drafted in the 4th round of the 2023 NFL draft with the 134th pick. Ward was a former captain in the LSU secondary who appeared in 146 games. He finished his career with 164 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and six interceptions.

Stay tuned to Vikings Wire for more live updates during the game.

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Concern for Andrew Booth Jr.’s future is mounting

After sustaining multiple injuries in first 16 months as a Minnesota Viking, is it time to be concerned with Andrew Booth Jr.’s future?

After a rookie season that saw Minnesota Vikings cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. play just over 100 snaps, having him take a big step in 2023 was the hope. A torn meniscus ended his rookie season and injuries are continuing to make an impact on his career.

During Tuesday afternoon’s practice, Booth got injured and walked off with a trainer. The injury itself was undisclosed and head coach Kevin O’Connell had this to say about it when speaking about his availability for Thursday’s night practice.

“I want to make sure he’s seen the folks he needs to see.”

A rather ominous quote right? That’s not a good sign for a player with a massive injury history. He tore his patella tendon in high school and played his entire college career with a sports hernia injury. That injury was a major factor in him falling down to 42nd overall.

Are we in a position where we need to worry about Booth’s future long-term? Some have started to compare his situation to former Vikings cornerback Mike Hughes.

It’s easy to see why. Hughes showed great promise before tearing his ACL against the Arizona Cardinals in his rookie season. After that, he was never the same and the Vikings ended up trading him for peanuts to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Vikings have spent numerous resources at the position over the last two offseasons with Mekhi Blackmon in round three and Akayleb Evans and Jay Ward in round four.

Booth could be going down a similar path to Hughes, especially with him sitting as the presumed CB5 in the widespread cornerback competition. The one thing we don’t know about Booth is where he was slated once the pads came on. He got injured right before team drills began on Tuesday and with Blackmon being elevated to nickel only once the pads came on, something similar could have happened with Booth.

Continuing to suffer nagging injuries won’t help Booth’s perception among both analysts and fans, especially with so many unsure about general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s ability to scout and select players.

Should we be concerned with Booth on a long-term basis? It’s a tad too soon for that. The talent is still there for Booth to be successful, but starting out his career with numerous injuries doesn’t lead to a lot of faith in him to develop into a long-term answer.

The Vikings should be fine at cornerback for now, which, even though it’s annoying and frustrating to be patient, we need to be just that and let this coaching and medical staff do their thing.

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Vikings rookie class: Grading their training camp performance

The Minnesota Vikings rookie class has been good so far during training camp so we graded their individual performances through 7 practices

We are through seven Minnesota Vikings training camp practices and the rookie class is firmly under the microscope.

General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been criticized for his drafting and it’s somewhat unfair with his draft picks having only played in 18 games thus far. This draft class only has six players in it, which is going to raise expectations for each player due to their being less players in the class.

How are the rookies currently doing in training camp? Let’s take a look at all six draft picks and the one standout UDFA.

Vikings state of the roster: Safety

Safety is arguably the deepest group on the Minnesota Vikings roster and they are proving it during training camp.

The 2023 season is inching closer and closer by the day and we here at Vikings Wire are previewing the season from every angle. Today, we continue profiling the Minnesota Vikings roster on the defensive side of the football.

We are currently writing player profiles on each Viking on the roster with projections for what their 2023 season could look like. How things look projecting forward is where the real intrigue lies.

Leading up to training camp, we will be looking at each position from a more in-depth perspective. Today, we will be looking at the edge rushers.

Vikings players who could surprise everyone in 2023

With rookies reporting to training camp on Sunday, Vikings Wire staff highlighted one Vikings player who could surprise everyone in 2023.

The Minnesota Vikings rookie class is set to report to training camp this afternoon Sunday, July 23rd. With that comes a new season and Kevin O’Connell’s chance to build upon a 13-4 first season.

With how the Vikings roster currently sits, there are some real standout players at the top with some intriguing depth players that could take a major step forward this year.

Our staff comprised of managing editor Tyler Forness, columnist Judd Zulgad, and contributors Kevin Fielder and Saivion Mixson highlighted one player each that they believe could surprise everyone in 2023.