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.
After a successful first year with the Minnesota Vikings, Khyiris Tonga looks to win the starting nose tackle job
Welcome to the beginning of our 2023 season preview content!
Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at each player on the 90-man roster in-depth with backgrounds and how they currently project forward on the Minnesota Vikings roster.
What is the best-case scenario? What is the worst-case scenario? What should we expect from them during the preseason and beyond? We will break all of that down here.
As a staff, all of us at Vikings Wire ranked the entire 90-man roster 1-90 and will be releasing player profiles in reverse order.
After losing Dalvin Tomlinson, can the Minnesota Vikings defensive line take a step forward with Harrison Phillips and Dean Lowry?
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, begins 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 defensive line.
As the Minnesota Vikings approach training camp, these five defensive players could make an impact while flying under-the-radar.
The Minnesota Vikings will see their rookies report to training camp on July 23rd with veterans reporting on July 25th. Training camp will be very interesting one for the Vikings this year, as it will be about building upon a 13-4 2022 season.
After a disastrous season under former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, Kevin O’Connell handed the reins over to former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores who brings a major culture shift on defense from conservative to incredibly aggressive.
Going into training camp, we identified five defensive players that are flying under the radar that could make some noise this August.
With 95 days remaining until the start of the Vikings season, we take a look at all the players to wear No. 95 for the Vikings.
It’s the final countdown…
Well, sort of.
The Minnesota Vikings will kick off their 2023 regular season in 96 days at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 10.
From now until then, we will take a trip down memory lane and count each day by revisiting the players that have worn that specific jersey number.
Defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga currently wears the number, but it’s a number that has switched hands more than once. Six players have worn the number since 2013, including two players during the 2022 season (Tonga and Janarius Robinson). Kenechi Udeze wore the number for four seasons, which makes him the longest-tenured No. 95 in Vikings history.
With 95 days until kickoff, here’s a look at every player to wear No. 95 with the Vikings (via Pro Football Reference):
After picking him up on waivers last season, the Minnesota Vikings have a potential gem in Khyiris Tonga.
If the Minnesota Vikings are going to improve on their 13-4 season, they will need young players to step up. The defense especially needs that after finishing 31st in the NFL last season.
Zoltan Buday of Pro Football Focus identified a breakout candidate from each team and believes the Vikings’ candidate will be defensive lineman Khyiris Tonga.
The Vikings brought the third-year defensive lineman back on a team-friendly one-year deal, but he is expected to play a big role on the Minnesota defense as a starting interior defender.
While he only played 300 snaps for the Vikings in 2022, he carved out a role as their top interior run defender. His 73.3 run-defense grade ranked 16th among interior defenders, and the former seventh-round pick can take another leap in his first full season as a starter in 2023.
Not only was Tonga good against the run, but he also excelled as a pass rusher. He finished 35th among defensive lineman in pass rush grade and excelled for a nose tackle.
With Tonga being a nose tackle, these are good numbers and they have a potential gem in Tonga.
One of the easiest ways that you can build a championship contender is by hitting on both late draft picks and both UDFA’s and the waiver wire. That is how they got both Brandel and Tonga.
Brandel was a sixth-round pick in 2020 out of Oregon State and was a guy that you can hope to develop into a swing tackle. It took three years, but he has done just that. In place of Christian Darrisaw when he was out with his two concussions, Brandel was a stalwart player and did a really solid job at left tackle.
On the defensive line, Tonga was better. He was a top-15 pass rusher per Pro Football Focus grade and had 14 pressures from the interior. He looked more explosive than the average nose tackle and became an important role player.
The important thing for the Vikings is they got both of these players for well below market value due to the exclusive right free agent tag.
The Vikings have 22 players set to be free agents. Who will re-sign and who will find a new home?
The Minnesota Vikings have a lot of needs heading into the 2023 season and one of the ways they can address those is by re-signing their own free agents.
The Vikings have 22 free agents that haven’t signed a futures contract. WR Dan Chisena (Steelers) and OL Kyle Hinton (Falcons) chose to go elsewhere while DT T.J. Smith chose to stay in Minnesota.
We’re predicting whether the Vikings’ free agents will come back with the team or leave come March.
The Minnesota Vikings have been dealing with a rash of injuries this season and it isn’t slowing down. Per The Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling, defensive end James Lynch will miss the rest of the regular season with a shoulder injury.
Lynch has been a valuable rotational piece for the Vikings and has been improved from last year due to a shift in scheme. Lynch has 31 tackles, 2.0 sacks and 1.0 tackles for loss this season.
In his place, backup nose tackle Khyiris Tonga will be getting more snaps in pass rush situations as well as rookie defensive end Esezi Otomewo, who just played 18 snaps on Saturday.
Source confirms the #Vikings will be without defensive tackle James Lynch for the final two regular season games because of a shoulder injury. There’s hope he can get back for the playoffs.
Along with the signing of Tonga, they officially made three other roster moves as well, including waiving linebacker Ryan Connelly who the Vikings just activated from the Physically Unable to Perform list on Tuesday.
The #Vikings have signed DL Khyiris Tonga and added S Mike Brown to the practice squad.
LB Ryan Connelly has been waived and WR Blake Proehl has returned to practice.
Ryan Connelly was activated yesterday by the Vikings and they officially moved on from the fourth-year linebacker from Wisconsin.
Blake Proehl having his practice window activated gives the Vikings 21 days to make a decision on if they want to keep him on the roster. With Travis Toivonen being released from the practice squad, that is the likely spot for Proehl. However, the Vikings only have five wide receivers on the active roster so they could keep Proehl.
The Vikings bring back Mike Brown whom they signed as an undrafted free agent from Miami OH. They moved on from Brown during roster reductions this August and decided to bring him back with the injury to Lewis Cine.
