The Vikings made a series of Saturday roster moves ahead of their must-win game against the Lions, elevating three players from the practice squad to the gameday roster — cornerbacks Tye Smith and Parry Nickerson and guard Dakota Dozier — and waiving special teamer Dan Chisena.
Smith was a standard elevation, his first of the year. Nickerson and Dozier have already been elevated the maximum two times, but this week they're designated as COVID-19 replacements with cornerbacks Cameron Dantzler and Harrison Hand on the Reserve/COVID list.
This confirms that Dantzler and Hand won't be activated off the list to play against the Lions. The Vikings' corners will be Patrick Peterson, Mackensie Alexander (slot), Bashaud Breeland, Kris Boyd, Nickerson, and Smith. The latter three will likely only play on special teams unless someone gets banged up.
The same goes for Dozier, whose elevation is merely about adding some extra offensive line depth in case of injury.
It's interesting to see the Vikings waive Chisena just a few days after activating him from injured reserve. They must feel okay about the way their gunners have performed so far this season. The Vikings were going to clear up roster spots soon anyways. Waiving Chisena gets them down to 51 players on the active roster, with Dantzler, Hand, and Kene Nwangwu set to come off reserve lists shortly.
Also, it's worth noting that the Lions elevated former Vikings tight end Shane Zylstra from their practice squad to their gameday roster. Zylstra spent training camp with the Vikings. That could suggest that they have some concern about starting tight end T.J. Hockenson's availability. Hockenson is officially questionable with a knee injury.
Kickoff between the Vikings and Lions is at noon central time Sunday on FOX.
More must-reads: