Tuesday Open Thread: May 11, 2021

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Alright! A couple of veteran potential signees to argue about, woo-hoo!

I mentioned yesterday that I made country style ribs on the smoker this past Sunday, and I meant to elaborate a bit but forgot to. So, I’ve had the smoker for about 7 or 8 years now, and I use it A LOT. You learn something each time you smoke a particular meat, and your results tend to improve, and the food gets better and better. Well, ribs have been...

Warren’s Minnesota Vikings Draft Pick Breakdowns

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All in one easy-to-find place

The Minnesota Vikings drafted 11 new players over the course of the 2021 NFL Draft, and Warren. . .or wludford, as you might know him on here. . .has been breaking down each and every one of them so that you can get to know them better.

I wanted to make sure these got sufficiently highlighted, so I’ve started a stream to put them all in one place so that they can be more easily found.

In case you had forgotten, here is the...

Vikings linked to pair of veteran free agents

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Will either of them end up in purple?

With the 2021 NFL Draft firmly in the rearview mirror, the Minnesota Vikings still need to add a few more pieces to get their roster to 90 players before Training Camp. To that end, they have been linked with a couple of veteran free agents that could help shore up both sides of the football.

The first player is defensive end Ryan Kerrigan, who the Vikings have expressed an interest in according to Darren Wolfson of...

Monday Open Thread: 10 May 2021

Happy belated Mother’s Day!

I’ll start with a belated Happy Mother’s Day to all moms, thank you for all you’ve done and all that you do every day, and I hope you all had a special day yesterday. Kiddo and I got up early, ran to the store to get things to cook (we also had to buy a card, because we hadn’t gotten one yet, but we won’t mention that), then came home & cooked breakfast for Mrs. Fishin and ourselves, then I made country style ribs on the smoker...

Breaking Down DE Janarius Robinson

A closer look at the Vikings’ 4th round defensive end

The Vikings drafted defensive end Janarius Robinson with the 134th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. This was the remaining draft pick sent to the Vikings in the Stefon Diggs trade. Robinson was ranked 162nd on The Athletic’s consensus big board as the 20th ranked defensive end.

Robinson has prototypical size, length, and athletic traits for an edge rusher. 25 bench press reps with 35.25” arms is very impressive- should be...

SB Nation Reacts: Vikings fans express optimism following 2021 NFL Draft

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And. . .well. . .you know what that usually means.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Each week, we send out questions to the most plugged-in Minnesota Vikings fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to join Reacts.

According to the most recent SB Nation Reacts survey, nearly a full 100 percent of responding Vikings fans are confident the team is headed in the right direction.

That level of confidence in the team comes...

Breaking Down S Camryn Bynum

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A closer look at the Vikings 4th round pick to play safety

The Vikings selected CB Camryn Bynum with the 125th pick of the NFL Draft. The Vikings acquired this pick during the draft last year, in a trade down with Chicago. Bynum was ranked 167th on The Athletic’s consensus big board, as the 16th ranked cornerback.

The Vikings intend to move Bynum to safety, however, where he’s better suited to play in the NFL. I like the approach the Vikings took to...

Minnesota Vikings News and Links: May 8-9, 2021

just_rob is busy so I’ll be filling in this weekend. I haven’t posted an open thread in a while. I am still trying to wrap my head around the draft and all the new players. The long part of the offseason is starting. With limited in person activities, there won’t be much reporting until we get closer to the preseason. Schedule release is next week so we have that to look forward to.

Vikings sign TE Shane Zylstra

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Yeah, that name is familiar

On Friday, the Minnesota Vikings showed that they weren’t quite done signing Undrafted Free Agents yet, adding a player with a familiar name from a familiar school.

The team announced earlier today that they were signing tight end Shane Zylstra, who went undrafted after playing his college ball at Minnesota State in Mankato.

Shane Zylstra, as you’ve probably guessed, is the younger brother of Brandon Zylstra, who spent the 2018 season...

Projecting the Vikings 53-Man Roster

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An early look at how the Vikings roster could shake out

With the Vikings draft and most of the (likely) free agency moves completed, let’s take a look at how the Vikings roster may shake out after the last cuts before the regular season begins.

Kirk Cousins, Kellen Mond.

No surprises here. Mond takes over the backup role from Sean Mannion.

Between Nate Stanley and Jake Browning, one will make the practice squad, the other will be cut.

Vikes sign undrafted ex-Minnesota St. TE Zylstra

The Vikings have signed tight end Shane Zylstra out of the Division II program at Minnesota State that produced two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Adam Thielen.

Vikings Discussed Trading Up For Justin Fields

Justin Fields will begin his NFL career in the NFC North, with the Bears having traded up to land the Ohio State passer with hopes of ending their run of quarterback struggles.

Vikings Announce Off-Season Schedule

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The Vikings have announced their 2021 off-season schedule, as follows:

ROOKIE MINI-CAMP: May 14-16.

OTAs: May 24-26; June 1-3, 8-11 and 15-17.

MANDATORY MINICAMP: June 15-17

This coming weekend will be the Vikings’ coaches first opportunity to work with their new draftees and college free-agent signings, and will be an important first step in getting them acclimated to the Vikings and allowing coaches to see what they can and cannot do.

The NFLPA has been taking a...

Breaking Down RB/KR Kene Nwangwu

A closer look at the Vikings 4th round RB/KR/PR selection

The Vikings selected RB Kene Nwangwu (kuh-NAY new-WAHN-goo) with the 119th pick of the 2021 NFL Draft. Apparently he came highly recommended by Vikings RB coach Kennedy Polamalu, and also will likely compete for kick and punt return duties.

Nwangwu was ranked 293rd on The Athletic’s consensus big board, suggesting he should’ve gone undrafted, so the Vikings taking him early in the 4th round on Day 3 wasn’t a particularly...

Friday Open Thread: May 7, 2021

It’s finally Friday!!!!

Rob needed a relief pitcher, so you’re stuck with me today, but hey, at least it’s Friday. Anyone have anything fun planned for the weekend or planning anything for the smoker? I plan to spend as much time out on the water as the weather will allow. For some reason, the Bismarck traffic seems to have doubled from its usual amount since yesterday, and I assume that will continue over the weekend, so I am going to avoid doing anything...

Breaking Down DE Patrick Jones II

A closer look at the Vikings 3rd round DE pick

The Vikings selected defensive end Patrick Jones II out of Pittsburgh with the 90th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. This was the pick the Vikings acquired from Baltimore after trading Yannick Ngakoue to the Ravens mid-season last year.

The Vikings are looking to upgrade the right defensive end position, and between the re-acquisition of Stephen Weatherly in free agency, the selection of Patrick Jones, and Janarius Robinson later in the 4th round,...

The Vikings wound up signing Sports Illustrated’s “Prospect X”

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And they have a nice story about him

Each year, the folks at Sports Illustrated take one prospect for that year’s draft and give him the label of “Prospect X.” They keep his identity secret in order to protect teams that might be interested in him, and once the dust settles and the smoke clears from that year’s draft, they reveal who that prospect is.

The identity of this year’s Prospect X was revealed earlier this morning, and it turns out that he...

The Daily Norseman Mailbag, May 6th, 2021

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Post Draft Mailbag

This is probably the future of the mailbag going forward with my new schedule, article on the front page soliciting for questions on Monday, with the follow up post on Wednesday or Thorsday depending on what’s going on in my life.

We got a Twitter question this week!

For salary cap questions I’ll continue using overthecap.com so I’m consistent with the numbers I throw out there.

Any trades involving draft...

Minnesota Vikings News and Links: Thursday May 6th, 2021

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Thursday Open Thread

Meanwhile, we’ll carry on with our news and links open thread full of crockpot recipes, nap strategies and beer recommendations; drop by for some fan wisdom, snark and it’s Thursday, one more day until it’s weekend eve and time to plan the beer and meat menu for the weekend.

Minnesota Vikings 2021 NFL Draft Tracker by the Daily Norseman staff.

Vikings finalize 11 Undrafted...

Vikings finalize 11 Undrafted Free Agent signings

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And there are still some roster spots open

On Wednesday, the Minnesota Vikings finalized the signing of 11 Undrafted Free Agents, courtesy of the post-2021 NFL Draft signing frenzy. If you were following our Undrafted Free Agent Tracker, you know who most of them are already, but here is the full listing of them from the team’s website.