Let the games officially count.
The Minnesota Vikings concluded their preseason with a one-point loss against the Arizona Cardinals.
The Vikings quickly jumped out to a 14-point lead but struggled to find much offensive output after. While the defense kept them competitive, it wasn’t enough after a nine-point fourth quarter pushed the Cardinals ahead.
Although the results from preseason do not matter, there is plenty of good and bad to take from these games, especially when backups get most of the snaps.
The Good: Jaquelin Roy and Jay Ward look like the real deal
The Minnesota Vikings drafted a pair of LSU Tigers during the 2023 NFL Draft, and both impressed against the Cardinals.
Safety Jay Ward opened the festivities early when he broke free on a blitz to deliver a crushing blow on the Cardinals’ quarterback. The hit jarred the ball free, leading to a fumble recovery for the Vikings.
Defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy didn’t make any highlight plays but practically made a living in the Cardinals backfield for most of the first half. There were still struggles, but they were hardly impactful to the overall result of his performance.
Finding roles for each of them might be a challenge for defensive coordinator Brian Flores, but it’s hard to imagine that both don’t end up playing at some point during their rookie seasons. It might take a while, though.
The Bad: Andrew Booth, Jr. sees extended snaps
The Vikings spent a second-round pick on Andrew Booth, Jr. a year ago. The move came with lofty expectations, especially considering that Booth was one of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s first draft picks.
However, Booth’s career with the Vikings hasn’t started as many believed, and he’s currently playing extended snaps in the final preseason game. That’s not inherently bad news, but with the added context, it does become slightly concerning.
Booth will probably make the Vikings 53-man roster to open the season, but there’s a bunch of work until he’s a reliable player on defense. Until that happens, there’s reason to be concerned about Booth’s development, especially with the draft capital spent on him.
The Ugly: Special teams woes
If you are an undrafted free agent fighting to make an active roster, the best thing you can do is impress on special teams. Ultimately, it’s likely where the first opportunity will come for a player, especially if they do not offer a potentially game-changing skill on offense.
Undrafted rookie Thayer Thomas got that chance via punt return, where he competed with Brandon Powell, Jordan Addison, and Jalen Reagor for the starting spot.
While Thomas faced an uphill battle to win that job, two muffed punts during the preseason likely took him out of the competition. The cliche that ball security is job security will always ring true on special teams, and two muffed punts through three games is the opposite.
Outside of Thomas, the Vikings also had trouble defending punts. Kaden Davis and Davion Davis had returns of 15 and 20 yards as the Vikings struggled to both tackle and maintain contain on punt returns.
The Good: Jalen Reagor looks comfortable
Jalen Reagor has had a rough NFL career so far. He was a first-round draft pick by the Philadelphia Eagles but struggled to make the roster and was traded to the Minnesota Vikings. Following the trade, he failed to make much leeway in his position and was taken off of punt return during the regular season.
The good news is that Saturday’s finale showed that another season for Reagor has been positive for the former first-round pick.
Reagor was only targeted twice against the Cardinals, but he hauled them in for 25 yards. The performance follows a 55-yard performance in the preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks.
There aren’t many situations where Reagor doesn’t make the 53-man roster, which is an increasingly positive sign for his career. There’s still work to be done, but finding a role in the NFL is always half the battle.
The Bad: Second half struggles continue
Preseason games might not matter, but it’s always a concern when a team struggles coming out of halftime.
Heading into the locker room can be a momentum killer for teams, and while it could just be a preseason problem for the Vikings, there needs to be significant improvement on this front.
The Cardinals scored 15 unanswered points in the second half, helping lead them to the victory. Two weeks ago, the Seahawks outscored the Vikings 17-to-3 in the second half.
The Vikings season opener will be the sign for the Vikings. With the team’s starters suiting up, it’s possible that the increase in talent is enough to fix that problem. If it isn’t, it’ll need to get figured out soon.
The Ugly: Secondary allows big plays
The Vikings had a pretty makeshift secondary for the preseason finale. Kalon Barnes and Andrew Booth, Jr. saw the start at cornerback, while recently signed Jake Gervase started alongside Jay Ward at safety.
This group won’t start for the Vikings in the season opener, but the amount of explosive plays allowed by the group isn’t encouraging.
Clayton Tune completed all but three of his attempts for 85 yards and averaged 7.1 yards per attempt.
On the receiving end of things, wide receivers Davion Davis, Greg Dortch, and tight end Blake Whiteheart all had catches that went over 20 yards. Some of them were the result of nice plays by the receivers, but the play by the secondary should’ve been better.
