Vikes 53 man roster set for now

19-Adam Thielen

Saturday August 30^th was the day of the final cuts for all NFL teams. I followed twitter all day watching for names right up to 3:00CST.

The 53 man roster is finally set for the 2014 Vikings. Yes, it could change as soon as Sunday but here is the breakdown on Saturday.

It started early this morning with my biggest surprise name and that was DT, Fred Evans. It seems each year the theme of youth is pushed and once again in 2014 it is no different.  Fred will be missed as the veteran who came in when needed. I wish him well and thank him for his contributions to the team.

The roster breaks down like this with the Vikings having 33 former draft picks on the squad which is 62.2 percent. I really have enjoyed especially the last 3 years of drafts providing some true talent.

The 2014 draft saw the Vikings take 10 players and after 3:00 we see that 9 of the 10 made it. Kendall James was the only one cut but hopefully he finds himself on the practice squad.

My favorite group of players is the linebacker corps and I am proud to say not one was cut as of 3:00. I love the youth of this group.

My shock was along with Fred  Evans was the secondary as I saw the veteran names, Chris Crocker and Kurt Coleman names as part of the cuts. I was convinced that Crocker’s experience in Zimmer defense would be an asset.

The other shock came at tight end only keeping 2 and along with keeping 2 fullbacks. I can’t wait to see what Norv Turner has in mind for the offense.

The highlight of my day was seeing the name Adam Thielen, wide receiver out of Minnesota State University, Mankato making the roster.

Here is your look at the 2014 roster as of 3:00

OFFENSE

Quarterback (3)
Matt Cassel, Teddy Bridgewater, Christian Ponder

Running back (3)
Adrian Peterson, Matt Asiata, Jerick McKinnon

Fullback (2)
Jerome Felton, Zach Line

Tight End (2)
Kyle Rudolph, Rhett Ellison

Wide Receivers (5)
Cordarrelle Patterson, Greg Jennings, Adam Thielen, Rodney Smith, Jarius Wright,

Offensive Line (9)
Matt Kalil, Charlie Johnson, John Sullivan, Brandon Fusco, Phil Loadholt, Austin Wentworth, Joe Berger, David Yankey, Vlad Ducasse

DEFENSE

Defensive Line (8)
Everson Griffen, Sharrif Floyd, Linval Joseph, Brian Robison, Corey Wootton, Shamar Stephen, Tom Johnson, Scott Crichton

Linebacker (8)
Chad Greenway, Jasper Brinkley, Anthony Barr, Michael Mauti, Gerald Hodges, Audie Cole, Larry Dean, Brandon Watts

Cornerback (6)
Xavier Rhodes, Captain Munnerlyn, Josh Robinson, Jabari Price, Marcus Sherels, Shaun Prater

Safety (4)
Harrison Smith, Robert Blanton, Andrew Sendejo, Antone Exum

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kicker (1)
Blair Walsh

Punter (1)
Jeff Locke

Long Snapper (1)
Cullen Loeffler