Minnesota Vikings organized team activities (OTAs) begin in two days, and the summer will be officially off and running.
Every summer, the Vikings have intriguing players in their orbit, and these are those men in 2025.
Of course, operations really heat up at training camp at the end of July, with the preseason soon after.
And to get you ready for the Vikings’ summer, these are the five most intriguing players listed alphabetically.
Quarterback J.J. McCarthy was excluded because that’s the biggest no-brainer in the world.
Mekhi Blackmon (CB)
In 2023, Blackmon played over 400 defensive snaps as a rookie and banked a 71.8 Pro Football Focus score. Most rookie dealings that season centered around Ivan Pace Jr. mania, but Blackmon quietly balled out.
Fast forward to the summer of 2024, and Blackmon wrecked his ACL at the beginning of training camp, ruining his second season in the pros.
But Blackmon is back for 2025, and monitoring his status as a CB2 contender will be rather fascinating. The job is there for the taking.
Janik Eckardt recently wrote about Blackmon, “He was drafted in the third round in 2023 and played 435 defensive snaps in his rookie season, mostly looking like a promising defender, but like Jackson, he is unproven, and it remains to be seen if he can play a more significant role. Blackmon missed the 2024 campaign with a torn ACL suffered early in training camp.”
“He’s now cleared, but like McCarthy, there’s no guarantee that he can just overcome a year off.”
Blackmon was an “old” rookie in 2023 and is now already 26.
Eckardt added, “The Vikings re-signed Byron Murphy Jr. and added Isaiah Rodgers in free agency. Those two guys likely form the top cornerback duo. Blackmon is the next guy on the depth chart, and in the 2020s, most plays feature three cornerbacks.”
“The secondary is a weak-link system. One weakness will be attacked by opponents, and one breakdown is deadly. If Blackmon doesn’t work out, it doesn’t matter that Murphy Jr. and Rodgers do. And Rodgers hasn’t proven to be capable of the full-time starting role either, and could’ve made the list as well. Minnesota’s cornerback room is a reason for concern.”
Tai Felton (WR)
Vikings fans intently monitored the team’s second pick of the draft, which was in Round 3, fully expecting a defensive back or perhaps a defensive tackle.
But the purple team picked a wide receiver, Felton, a speedster from Maryland.
He’s intriguing because it’s unclear if he’ll have a redshirt year behind Jalen Nailor and Rondale Moore — or if he’ll oust them from their roster spots. Felton has the talent to win the WR3 job; it’s just that the coaching staff enjoys Nailor, too.
It’s worth noting that Vikings fans love rookie wide receivers.
Jalen Redmond (DT)
Redmond delivered a memorable season — out of nowhere — in 2024, becoming the team’s tackle-for-loss boss. He previously worked in the UFL, and most men who transfer from that league end up as nothingburgers in the NFL.
But Redmond was different.
Now, though, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah signed other defensive tackles from free agency, Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. Those additions obviously don’t help Redmond’s quest for playing time.
Still, Redmond should be in line to prove if his 2024 campaign was a fluke.
Isaiah Rodgers (CB)
Unless the Vikings sign Mike Hilton, Jack Jones, Asante Samuel Jr., Rasul Douglas, or trade for Greg Newsome II, Jalen Ramsey, or Trevon Diggs, Rodgers is on tap to start at cornerback for the 2025 Vikings next to Byron Murphy Jr.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores is apparently quite high on Rodgers, and following his summer to see if that equals a starter’s job will keep obsessive Vikings fans on the edge of their seats.
Bo Richter (OLB)
The Vikings have three outside linebackers with jobs all decided: Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Dallas Turner.
Richter is probably the frontrunner to win the OLB4 job, but folks will monitor Gabriel Murphy and Tyler Batty as competition.
Watching Richter’s would-be climb up the depth chart this summer is especially intriguing because he was among the top UDFA discoveries last year. All the hype from the summer of 2024 might’ve been legitimate.
