Ahead of the Vikings' 2023 training camp beginning in late July, we'll be taking a look at every player on the 90-man roster, counting down from 99 to 0 (excluding the UDFAs, who we already profiled). For every player, we'll look at the best and worst-case scenarios and their realistic outlook for the upcoming season.
No. 96: Ross Blacklock, DT
Age: 25 | Size: 6'3", 290
Last year, right around roster cutdown day, the Vikings made the surprising decision to waive defensive tackle Armon Watts, who was seen by some as a possible breakout candidate. To replace him, they traded a sixth-round pick to the Texans for Ross Blacklock and a seventh. Blacklock was the No. 40 overall pick out of TCU in 2020 who had disappointed during his two seasons in Houston.
A change of scenery didn't spark his career in 2022. Blacklock appeared in the first 11 games of the season, typically playing between 10-19 snaps with unremarkable results. He was a healthy scratch down the stretch and took a pay cut of roughly $680K this spring in order to stick around for another year. Blacklock missed OTAs and minicamp due to injury, so he needs to get healthy and have a big training camp and preseason to make the roster this year.
Best-case scenario: Blacklock impresses this summer, makes the 53-man roster, and carves out a rotational role.
Worst-case scenario: He either can't get healthy or struggles to stand out and winds up being cut before the season without even landing on the practice squad.
Outlook for 2023: This is make-or-break time for Blacklock, who was an early second-rounder in 2020 after recording 3.5 sacks and nine total TFL as a junior at TCU. The 25-year-old does have some legitimately intriguing potential as a pass rush specialist; he had 25 pressures in 2021 and 11 more last season in limited reps. However, run defense and tackling woes have kept Blacklock from ascending in the NFL. It would be quite surprising if he turns it on and has a breakout year, but it isn't completely out of the question.
Previous Vikings player profiles
Danielle Hunter | D.J. Wonnum | Harrison Phillips
UDFAs
Ivan Pace Jr. | Andre Carter II | Ben Sims | Jaylin Williams | C.J. Coldon | NaJee Thompson | Thayer Thomas | Cephus Johnson III | Malik Knowles | Calvin Avery | Jack Podlesny | OL Jacky Chen | Alan Ali | Wilson Huber | Abraham Beauplan
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