Minnesota Vikings form their practice squad using multiple strategies, but one could bite them during the season

One day after finalizing the initial 53-man roster, the Minnesota Vikings formed their initial practice squad with 16 players.

• RB Xazavian Valladay
• WR Dontae Fleming
• WR Lucky Jackson
• WR Jeshaun Jones
• WR Tim Jones
• TE Bryson Nesbit
• TE Nick Vannett
• OL Henry Byrd
• OL Vershon Lee
• OL Max Pircher (International Pathway Program roster exemption)
• EDGE Gabriel Murphy
• DL Jonathan Harris
• DL Taki Taimani
• CB Fabian Moreau
• CB Zemaiah Vaughn
• S Kahlef Hailassie

There are a lot of interesting elements with this practice squad, especially in it's construction. Tim Jones made the initial 53-man roster, but was added to the practice squad after the Adam Thielen trade. Let's break it down.

Minnesota Vikings practice squad takeaways

There is still one spot left

Usually, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah fills the practice squad once he can compile players after initial waivers are run after cutdown day. Having those players in place is important before the start of the regular season so head coach Kevin O'Connell can hit the ground running in preparing for the Chicago Bears in week one.

The intrigue in how the Vikings built this out is how they left one spot open. That would be a signal for something else on the way: a big move. On the initial 53-man roster, the Vikings kept seven undrafted free agents. That's a lot of UDFAs for the Vikings to have. Over Adofo-Mensah's three seasons as the general manager, he's kept a total of nine. With the weakness for the Vikings at cornerback, one of the seven UDFAs is likely to drop back to the practice squad.

Continuity

During my prediction of the practice squad after initial cuts were made, I had the Vikings keeping 14 players who were on the training camp roster for the practice squad. I left room for two unpredicted outside signings and running back Cam Akers, whom I thought O'Connell couldn't resist bringing in. Adofo-Mensah has historically kept the majority of the practice squad spots for players who were with the team for training camp, but he has always brought in outside help.

This year, the outside help comes in just two different ways. They brought back Moreau who spent the majority of last season with the Vikings. They also didn't retain punter Oscar Chapman as their International Pathway Player, instead prioritizing offensive tackle Max Pircher for the spot. Adofo-Mensah likely will still give Chapman a call to be the punter if Wright struggles or gets hurt, but developing an offensive tackle seemed to be more appealing.

Vikings stay heavy in one main area

There are some interesting groupings within this practice squad. The trenches are not very represented with just five players overall. Where the Vikings have loaded up is with their weapons. They kept one running back, four wide receivers, and two tight ends, including established veterans at the latter two positions, which makes sense given the amount of youth at wide receiver and tight end.

O'Connell is likely going to be using a lot of elevations over the course of the first few weeks to help the young players get some more practice under their belt. However, there aren't a lot of veterans, and the lack of true outside talent could bite them early on. Despite running with the first and second-team during training camp, Jackson did not do enough to impress the coaching staff, and the same goes for both Jeshaun and Tim Jones. Not adding another player with more experience could be a hindrance for the Vikings.