5 Vikings who boosted their stock the most during preseason action

Brosmer will keep developing as the Vikings' QB3 behind McCarthy and newly-signed veteran Carson Wentz. He's proving that the rest of the NFL made a mistake in letting him go undrafted.

G Joe Huber

Let's go from a Gopher to a Badger. Huber, another member of a fascinating Vikings UDFA class this year, made a strong first impression in the preseason. He played a whopping 185 snaps, seeing time at both guard spots, and earned a 74.1 PFF grade, led by an elite 88.6 grade as a run blocker. Huber's best game came in the opener, and he was merely good in the two following games — three penalties were his biggest blemish — but the overall body of work was high-quality. Although it may not have been enough to get him onto the 53-man roster, Huber will be a practice squad lock if the Vikings get him through waivers.

RB Zavier Scott

Unfortunately, a couple players on this list suffered injuries in the Titans game that might complicate their status ahead of Tuesday. Scott is one of them. He had an impressive 23-yard run early in that game, but then came up limping on a carry due to an ankle issue. Still, he deserves to be highlighted here. Scott ran 22 times for 96 yards in the preseason (4.4 YPC), which is more impressive when you consider that 81 of those yards came after contact (via PFF). He also caught five passes for 61 yards, showing his abilities as a former collegiate wide receiver.

If he's healthy, Scott has a good chance to make the roster as the Vikings' RB3.

DT Elijah Williams

Williams is another player who left the Titans game with an injury, which in his case was a hamstring. It would be a bummer if that's a significant setback, because he was flat-out awesome in the preseason. The former rookie tryout player earned an 80.4 PFF grade on 79 snaps, tying Gabriel Murphy for the team lead with eight pressures. For good measure, he added a big hit on kickoff coverage in Friday's game. Williams is more than just a fun underdog story at this point; he looks like a guy with a chance to force his way into the Vikings' Harrison Phillips-less defensive tackle rotation sooner or later. Hopefully he avoided a serious injury.

DT Levi Drake Rodriguez

We'll end with another small-school DT who impressed. Rodriguez, a seventh-round pick last year, looks poised to earn a real role in his second NFL season. He didn't do a ton in the first game, then missed the second one with an ankle injury, but he he really shined in Friday's game. Rodriguez earned an elite 90.4 PFF grade in that contest against the Titans, recording a sack and two other pressures while also playing strong run defense. He'll be on the 53 and in the mix for playing time.

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