Tag: Kenny Willekes

Vikings make several roster moves

The Vikings announced a few moves on Saturday.

The Vikings defense is thinning out as it heads towards the last stretch of the 2021 regular season.

Minnesota already saw DE Danielle Hunter go down with a season-ending injury. The Vikings placed Everson Griffen on the NFI list as well. The team also waived starting cornerback Bashaud Breeland.

Minnesota hit another obstacle on Saturday: the team downgraded DT Michael Pierce to out for the Week 17 matchup in Green Bay on Sunday night.

The Vikings were not done there. Minnesota activated Oli Udoh off COVID-19/Reserve. With OL Mason Cole on IR, Udoh can be a useful player if he makes a speedy return to the starting lineup.

The team also called up S Myles Dorn, CB Tye Smith and DE Kenny Willekes to the active roster via COVID-19 replacement. Minnesota elevated  DT T.Y. McGill and DE Eddie Yarbrough from the practice squad, too.

Pierce, the Vikings’ biggest free agency signing of 2020, was a high-risk opt out last year. This year, he returned to playing in games, but has dealt with injuries for much of the season.

Pierce has played in just eight games for the Vikings so far. This week, Pierce will be out with an illness. The nose tackle was previously tabbed as questionable for the Packers game.

Vikings elevate two players for Week 14

The Vikings elevated two players from the practice squad for Week 14.

Minnesota made a familiar roster call-up for its game against Pittsburgh.

The Vikings elevated DE Kenny Willekes to the active roster for the Thursday game. Minnesota also elevated LB Tuf Borland.

Willekes has four QB hits in just three games this year. He showed promise in the preseason, which landed him a spot on the practice squad. With the Vikings lacking depth on the defensive line — Danielle Hunter is out for the year and Everson Griffen is on NFI list — Willekes has made the most of his new role.

The Vikings currently have LB Blake Lynch tabbed as questionable for the Steelers matchup. He had a big game last week in the absence of linebackers Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr. Lynch had two sacks and a forced fumble. But the Vikings can’t count on him for this week, because he’s dealing with a hip injury.

At 5-7, Minnesota need this game if the team wants to keep most of its playoff hopes alive. Maybe Willekes and Borland can make an impact.

Three lineup changes the Vikings can make going forward

Here are three lineup changes the Vikings can make:

At 5-5, the Vikings are at a crossroads: Minnesota can falter under high expectations or win more games to secure a postseason berth.

Minnesota has a plethora of crucial decisions to make if it wants to be successful the rest of the way. With how difficult the Vikings’ schedule is, it seems more than likely that the team will need to pull off upsets if it has any hope of turning 2021 into something memorable.

Here are three lineup decisions the Vikings can make down the road:

Vikings DE Kenny Willekes to miss second straight game

Vikings DE Kenny Willekes, despite being activated off the COVID-19/Reserve list, will miss his second game in a row.

Despite being activated off the COVID-19/Reserve list, Kenny Willekes will miss his second consecutive game, according to a report.

As reported by Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press, Willekes reverted to the practice squad and will not be called up for the Week 11 game against the Packers. 

It seemed likely that Willekes would be called up for the game. The edge rusher performed well against the Ravens and Cowboys in previous weeks.

Instead, Minnesota activated S Myles Dorn via COVID-19 replacement. The Vikings did that in the wake of S Josh Metellus going on the COVID-19/Reserve list. Minnesota currently has three players — on either the active roster or practice squad — who reside on the aforementioned list.

The Vikings will need to find a pass rush in the absence of Danielle Hunter. Hunter went down with a season-ending pec injury earlier in the year. D.J. Wonnum and Everson Griffen will have to step up on Sunday — without the help of Willekes.

Vikings activate DE Kenny Willekes off COVID-19/Reserve

The Vikings announced Friday that they activated DE Kenny Willekes off the COVID-19/Reserve list.

Vikings DE Kenny Willekes has had quite the 2021.

Willekes suffered a season-ending injury in 2020. In 2021, he didn’t make the 53-man roster after a promising preseason. However, the edge rusher eventually found a way to contribute to the team in the pass rush after getting elevated to the roster.

Willekes’ comeback story was derailed by him getting placed on the COVID-19/Reserve list a week ago. This week, though, the Vikings activated Willekes off the list.

Minnesota had originally promoted Willekes to the active roster via COVID-19 replacement before the team placed him on the COVID-19/Reserve list. If he is healthy enough, he will likely be on the active roster for game day against the Packers. Danielle Hunter suffered a season-ending injury this year. With depth at edge rusher lacking, Willekes can step up — just like he did earlier in the season.

Willekes had one hurry in 16 snaps against the Cowboys. He had two hurries in 41 snaps against the Ravens. He’s made his presence felt in the pass rush at times.

Vikings place DE Kenny Willekes on Reserve/COVID-19

The Vikings placed DE Kenny Willekes on the Reserve/COVID-19 list Friday.

The Vikings have mostly been disappointing in 2021, but there have been occasional silver linings, such as DE Kenny Willekes.

Willekes, who suffered a season-ending injury in 2020, has worked his way into the defensive line rotation recently, despite being on the practice squad still. Minnesota promoted him to the active roster as a COVID-19 replacement this week.

Then, Willekes hit a snag in his comeback story. The Vikings announced that they placed the defensive end on the COVID-19/Reserve list on Friday. Minnesota signed DE Eddie Yarbrough in Willekes’ place.

Willekes played in both the Cowboys and Ravens games and had a solid pressure rate in limited snaps. With Danielle Hunter out for the year, the Vikings still need depth edge rushers to step up.

Yarbrough signed with the Vikings last year and played in four games. Like Willekes, Yarbrough will be expected to provide an edge rush in limited reps on Sunday.

The Kenny Willekes story just keeps getting better

Vikings DE Kenny Willekes has stepped up recently.

In the seventh round of the 2020 NFL draft, the Vikings took an enticing edge-rushing prospect.

Minnesota drafted Kenny Willekes, a Michigan State product with 16 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks for the Spartans in 2019.

Willekes’ rookie year in the NFL was derailed by a season-ending injury. With a chance to prove himself in 2021, the second-year defensive end has delivered.

Willekes showed promise in the preseason this year. He ended up getting waived, but the Vikings signed him to the practice squad for 2021. Then, the Vikings took a hit to their defensive end depth: Danielle Hunter went down with a pec injury.

Willekes has stepped up with Hunter out. He had one hurry in 16 snaps against the Cowboys. He had two hurries in 41 snaps against the Ravens. He’s made his presence felt in the pass rush at times, despite being a practice squad player.

On Monday, the Vikings rewarded Willekes for his efforts. The team promoted him to the active roster as a COVID-19 replacement. So Willekes doesn’t have his permanent move to the 53-man team just yet, but this is a step in the right direction.

Vikings co-defensive coordinator said of Willekes:

“He did the things in the game that I told you guys I’ve been seeing in practice,” Patterson said. “He played at a different tempo than pretty much everybody else on the field. I don’t know how you couldn’t not notice him. It’s too bad his one sack got taken away on the penalty.”

With Hunter out for the year, Willekes will have plenty of more opportunities to get sacks. He could be looking at a full-time roster spot down the road.

Vikings make an obvious elevation to the active roster

Surprise, surprise: the Vikings elevated Kenny Willekes for the Week 9 game.

For the second year in a row, the Vikings lost DE Danielle Hunter to a season-ending injury. Once again, Minnesota needs a young defensive end to step up in Hunter’s absence.

Kenny Willekes could be that defensive end. The Vikings elevated Willekes for the second consecutive week. Minnesota added him via COVID-19 replacement this time. When he played against the Cowboys in Week 8, Willekes had a hurry in 16 defensive snaps.

Besides Willekes, Minnesota has Everson Griffen, D.J. Wonnum and Patrick Jones II as the only edge options on the active roster for the Week 9 game against the Ravens. The Vikings lack depth at defensive end with Hunter out. That makes Willekes an obvious candidate for a call-up.

Willekes showed promise in the preseason this year. He can add something to the pass rush as Minnesota’s depleted defensive line faces Baltimore this week.

Minnesota also signed C Cohl Cabral and C Spencer Pulley to the practice squad on Saturday. The Vikings released DE Nate Orchard from the practice squad.

Once again, Vikings’ young defensive ends face pressure to step up

The Vikings face a familiar problem: the team needs a young defensive end to step up.

Minnesota’s pass rush improved in basically every facet from last season.

PFF ranked the Vikings’ 2020 pass rush dead last in the league. With Ifeadi Odenigbo, Jalyn Holmes, D.J. Wonnum and others — Minnesota could not generate much pressure off the edge with Danielle Hunter absent.

Now, Hunter is absent again. The Vikings’ star defensive end went down with a pec injury that will sideline him for the rest of 2021. Minnesota is looking at an all-too-familiar problem: who will rush the passer now that Hunter is gone?

Everson Griffen’s resurgent year has been crucial to the Vikings defense. Griffen has five sacks and nine QB hits so far. Griffen won the starting edge rusher job opposite Hunter during the season. He seems poised to keep it, barring anything unexpected. But who will start opposite him?

Griffen earned the starting position, but the Vikings helped him by not investing too much in edge rushers outside of Hunter.

The Vikings didn’t draft an edge until the third round this year. Minnesota took Patrick Jones II in that spot. 

The team ruled Jones inactive for the Cowboys game in Week 8. He has a chance to win a starting edge rusher spot if he improves during his rookie season. But currently, Jones has yet to make his NFL debut. There’s also Wonnum.

Wonnum showed promise in his rookie 2020 campaign. He finished that season with three sacks and nine QB hits. Look around, and you’ll see plenty of articles tabbing Wonnum as a potential breakout player in 2021. The team kind of needs him to be now.

So far, though, Wonnum has one sack and three QB hits in seven games of 2021. He’s the most likely candidate to win the spot, but he may not be a starting-caliber defensive end in the league yet, despite how many games he’s started for the Vikings already.

Griffen, Wonnum and Jones are the only three defensive ends on the active roster. Minnesota also has Kenny Willekes, a defensive end they protected on the practice squad this week. Willekes showed promise this preseason. He played against the Cowboys in Week 8 after getting elevated to the game day roster.

Last offseason, Minnesota seemed like it needed a young defensive end to make strides and step up. That didn’t happen. Instead, the Vikings ended up going with Griffen and Hunter once Griffen proved himself again. Now, Minnesota needs another defensive end to step up. Or else, the Vikings’ pass rush could look like it did in 2020.

Vikings make a pair of practice squad protections

The Vikings protected two players on the practice squad for this week.

With depth lacking at corner and defensive end, Minnesota made a pair of practice squad protections on Tuesday.

The Vikings protected DE Kenny Willekes and CB Tye Smith for this week. Last week, the team elevated Willekes for the Cowboys game.

Willekes proved to be a very timely addition to the game-day roster. Fellow defensive end Danielle Hunter suffered an injury during the game.

Minnesota ruled Hunter questionable to return. Then, the Vikings downgraded Hunter to out. Then, the Vikings placed Hunter on IR this week. He is out for the year.

Willekes played 16 defensive snaps on Sunday night. He had a hurry, no tackles and a PFF grade of 57.6.

The Vikings traded DE Stephen Weatherly during the team’s bye week. As the Tuesday trade deadline passed, Minnesota did not make any new additions.

That means Willekes could be playing a lot. Currently, the only defensive ends the Vikings have on the active roster are Everson Griffen, D.J. Wonnum and Patrick Jones II. Hunter’s injury was debilitating to this position group.

Minnesota placed Patrick Peterson on IR earlier this year. Peterson will have to miss at least the next two games. Smith can help out as a bottom-of-the-depth-chart option.