Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Ahead of Thursday night’s preseason opener, our staff at Vikings Wire identified one Vikings player to keep your eye on vs Seahawks
On Thursday night, the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks will kick off on Thursday night at 9 pm central and the 2023 season will officially kick off. Going into the game, there are a few storylines worth watching, including the development of the cornerback position.
The first depth chart of the year was released on Monday and it showed us a few things. As we look forward to Thursday night’s game, our staff identified one player to keep your eye on.
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.
Booth is the next Mike Hughes. Never healthy and don’t live up to draft hype
— ken hanson (@kgs6788) June 23, 2023
What if Booth is another Mike Hughes. Only difference is Hughes didn’t have a red siren flashing that said pick at your own risk. Ingram was a major reach according to analysts and was worst rated Guard in football. His top 3 picks are flops so far
— PurplePeopleEater (@PurpleKoolaid70) February 3, 2023
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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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.
The Minnesota Vikings are set to kick off their first night practice on Thursday night. Here are the six things you need to watch for.
The Minnesota Vikings are going into their seventh full practice of training camp on Thursday night, with their first night practice at TCO Stadium.
These practices are more of a scrimmage than anything, giving the fans something fun and unique to watch. There will be fireworks and concert after the players leave the field, but what should you be watching for while the Vikings are practicing?
While watching practice, here are the six things that are worth keeping your eye on.
The Minnesota Vikings have a very intriguing cornerback room, but injury concerns could derail it early and often.
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.
After Byron Murphy Jr., there isn’t a lot of love from Madden for the Minnesota Vikings cornerbacks.
On Monday, the first batch of Madden 24 rankings and the first 99 overall in this year’s game were released.
They are currently releasing two position groups per day and started with wide receivers and safeties. On Tuesday, they released edge rushers and defensive tackles. On Wednesday, they ranked the offensive lineman and the running backs. On Thursday, they started with the tight end rankings. Here are the cornerback rankings.
Draft reaction: Minnesota Vikings select USC CB Mekhi Blackmon in the third round
The Minnesota Vikings continue to regroup their middling secondary by adding yet another young defensive back with the selection of USC cornerback Mekhi Blackmon.
A fifth year senior who made the transfer from Colorado to USC during his final year, Blackmon showed he has what it takes to compete with top level athletes. The aggressive man corner has always been productive, but he experienced a true breakout year in his final college season, where he was able to put up seven pass breakups, three interceptions, and surrendered a quarterback rating of 47.6 when targeted.
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The Vikings cornerback room is full of young and rather unknown talents, there is no doubt Blackmon will have a chance to start should he open with a strong camp and pre-season. Should Blackmon get the starting nod early, he will need to prepare to be tested early and often, and learn to develop with the growing pains that come with that.
Mekhi Blackmon was selected in the third round of the NFL Draft, but will he be an instant starter for the Vikings?
Welcome to the beginning of our 2023 season preview content!
Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at each player on the 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.
Mekhi Blackmon is 1 of 2 “Minnesota Trojans” alongside Jordan Addison. He should do well in the NFL with the Vikings.
The NFL preseason is roughly one month away. Mekhi Blackmon and Jordan Addison are both preparing for their NFL rookie seasons with the Minnesota Vikings.
USC football analyst Josh Webb explained why Blackmon is likely to be a good pro in Minnesota, using last season’s Oregon State game as an example:
“Mekhi Blackmon set up USC’s victory against Oregon State last season by preventing OSU from scoring on one of its threatening possessions,” Webb wrote. “Though the Beavers would later score to take the lead, this interception gave USC a chance to head down the field with the game still being a one-score contest.
“Blackmon defended that route beautifully. Rather than getting aggressive by fighting with Tyjon Lindsey and risking a flag, he works his positioning knowing he only has him to worry about. He gains the inside and continues to work until rather easily picking the ball off as though he had been the intended receiver the whole time. It looked like he was the receiver because he occupied that position on the field instead of ceding it to Lindsey and allowing him to dictate the 50-50 ball. It’s a veteran play by a guy with four years of experience.”
This is what happens when you have a quality coach & veteran players. Mekhi Blackmon had this play read the whole way & Nolan should've seen this route was a no-go, instead he chances it & ends up getting intercepted. pic.twitter.com/D9qVPDIZUi
— Kane “The Conqueror” Webb (@FightOnTwist) October 4, 2022
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Not every draft pick will find immediate playing time, but if they do, @TheKevinFielder offers one hot take on their performance as a rookie.
Although the Minnesota Vikings did not have a lot of draft picks, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was active during the three-day event.
The Vikings wasted no time finding a partner-in-crime for Justin Jefferson, selecting USC wide receiver Jordan Addison in the first round.
Then, the Vikings began upgrading their secondary with the selections of Addison’s college teammate Mekhi Blackmon and LSU safety Jay Ward.
In total, the Vikings selected six rookies over the three days. While all of those rookies won’t get immediate playing time, there is at least a pathway for each to get onto the field.
Examining each rookie’s immediate impacts will be challenging, but it’s worth examining their ceilings as rookies through bold predictions and hot takes.
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