Vikings Make SNEAKY Signings...

The Vikings have made a pair of sneaky signings to bring in necessary depth to an offensive line that has not only been plagued by injuries, but also with massive inconsistencies from certain players. And we take a look at some last minute O-line trade targets that the team could turn to to find that extra security. We're gonna break it down all that in this episode of Vikings Digest. But first, we are getting so close to hitting our goal of 6,000 subs before we kick off against the Bills on Monday night. So if you're part of the 88% of viewers who are not yet subscribed, you want to stay up to date on all things Vikings. Make sure to hit that subscribe button and the bell icon so you don't miss any of the episodes when they drop. This is going to be a very, very busy weekend for the Vikings with the trade deadline looming and a very big matchup on Monday Night Football against the Bills, a game in which the Vikings are only at a 39% chance on winning on Kalshi right now. And on Kalshi, you're trading directly against other users, not the house like traditional sportsbooks. You're buying yes or no contracts in the outcome events across sports, politics, or even the weather. For example, if you were to place a $25 trade on the Vikings to win Monday night, That would give you a payout of $61.46, or if you wanted to go and place a $25 trade on the Vikings to win back the NFC North, that would give you a payout of $91.38. So if you are interested in trying out Kalshi, use the link in the description or pinned comment, and use code DIGESTNFL to get $55 added to your account instantly when you trade your first $25. With that, let's hop right into the first topic, which is that the Vikings make some sneaky signings, the first of which that we're going to jump into was covered by Jordan Schultz the other day. Saying that they signed Corey Robinson II after having him for a workout. Robinson is an undrafted free agent out of Arkansas who was with the Bengals after the draft. And there's not much to go off of with Robinson. As he's had a very kind of limited stint in the NFL since joining as a undrafted rookie this year. However, with Minnesota's success that they've had with undrafted rookies and undrafted free agents, look at Joe Huber, how he's playing very, very well this year, but might have a little bit of things to worry about with his job being in jeopardy as a starter. However, as far as offensive line guys, I don't think he's the guy that needs to be worried about losing his job. But we're going to get to that in a second. However, with Robinson, I know a lot of people say, OK, you're just bringing in some practice squad guys. We've seen the Vikings do this time and time again. However, they're doing it at position. They were doing at positions that didn't necessarily need that extra depth, but they didn't want to have any stone left unturned. However, with this one, with the Vikings current state of their offensive line, I can definitely understand why they went out and made both of these moves, especially when they need some extra insurance at that guard position where Will Fries has been absolutely dog water this year. I don't know what happened from last year to this year. But he's playing like a completely different offensive lineman. And I hate to see it because he's getting steamrolled every single week. Joe Huber, he's playing really well. Christian Darrisaw, his health is always a concern week to week, it seems like, unfortunately. Ryan Vandermark, he's played solid, though. And I got to say, I'm impressed with how he's kind of really showed up in those spot starts when he's needed. Blake Brandel, surprisingly, was the biggest question mark going into the season. Surprisingly, he has shut us all up by playing really good at center this year. Kyler Murray has been kind of trying to adjust to it and Blake Brandel as well with the height difference. However, I think Blake Brandel has done a fantastic job this year so far. Brian O'Neill, he's been really solid as he's always been. He's had some missteps here and there, but he knows he can clean those up as he's a veteran. And then Caleb Tiernan, that rookie that they brought in this year, I feel like he's going to have a spot safely secured in that RT2 spot. However, when we look at these signings as they did make another one with CJ Hansen being brought in as well, With going to the practice squad, so you bring in these guys that can be guards where you look at their offensive line right now, it seems like Joe Huber, or not Joe Huber, sorry, Will Fries is going to be that odd man out when it comes down to this because of how bad he has been this year. And I keep saying it because it's true. I didn't want to admit it, but when I looked at the tape and just saw how many times ever since week one, he's been getting beat on these rushes and Kyler's been taking sacks or we can't get the run game going because he's given up a block. And he's just been outsmarted somehow by these defense linemen that aren't even stunting. So my question is, how are you able to go up against this Vikings defense in practice every single day where they're throwing the most complex stuff at you, but yet against these defenses that are running a much simpler defensive scheme than the Vikings are running, that is suddenly a problem? I don't understand it. Maybe there was something that got unwired in his brain during the offseason. Because this is not the same Will Fries that we had last year. Who was the most consistent point of health on that offensive line last year. And he played really solid with those things that they had to deal with. Where you had Christian Darrisaw getting injured. You had Brian O'Neill getting injured. You had so many injuries happening. Brian Kelly where he was a conky case all year. So you had a lot of injuries on the offensive line. And he remained healthy and he remained consistent last year. This year. Absolutely not the case. So I think that this is a smart move for Minnesota to go out and solidify that depth and give him a little bit of something to have to play for, showing that, hey, your job is not safe because you look at what Joe Huber has been able to do, stepping in for Donovan Jackson, it goes to show that just because you're an undrafted free agent doesn't mean that you cannot make this roster and make an impact as we have seen with Joe Huber. And Will Fries might be one of those guys who could be on his way out of Minnesota if this actually happens, because when you look at their offense, They need all the offensive line help that they can get to get that running game back up into the top 10 percentile like they were kind of trying to get to earlier in the year. Getting that passing game up to the bottom of the basement, basically. Getting that third down percentage up. All of these can be helped by getting the right offensive lineman in there. And Will Fries right now is that odd man out in the weakest link on the offensive line. But let us know down in the comments below what you guys have to say about these two signings that the Vikings made. Do you think either of these guys are someone that could make a push to steal Wolf-Rise's job? I know a lot of you guys will probably agree, because you guys probably think that you could play right guard better than Wolf-Rise is playing right now. But let us know down in the comments below. That's going to take us into the second topic of the day. Which is the O-line trade deadline targets, as was indicated by The Athletic in their recent article, where the numbers in the brackets are their ranking as far as their trade value or where they rank as far as the trade candidates. So when you look at the offensive lines, you got Cesar Ruiz from the New Orleans Saints. You got two Philadelphia Eagles here in Tyler Steen and Landon Dickerson. The last two names are ones that we have covered before in the initial kind of trade deadline rumor mill that was going around a couple weeks ago. Landon Dickerson with the state of the Eagles right now. It can make sense that he's traded off, but I do like that Tyler Steen is included a little bit higher on that list than Dickerson because of the age of the contract and how Minnesota could utilize that, especially when they're in a spot right now where left guard, you know, Donovan Jackson is coming back next year. So you're set there and Joe Huber can go back to a number two role, but right guard right now. is where Minnesota has a lot of uncertainty as far as what you're going to do with Will Fries before the deadline or after this season. Are you going to cut that contract loose and try and save yourself some money? Because he's getting overpaid to do basically nothing except getting steamrolled. So you bring in a guy like Tyler Steen, who's on a rookie contract, where he has a lot of potential ahead of him. And Minnesota knows how to maximize offensive line potential more than they know how to offensive skill position potential. But when you bring in a guy like that, it has a lot of opportunity to go with it. Cesar Ruiz I think is also a really good fit but with the way that New Orleans has not been able to run the ball at all this year does give me a little bit of worry. Of course Landon Dickerson a longtime veteran and a guy that can absolutely be a really good spot on this team. It's just that is going to be a very expensive contract and it's not a lot of term attached to it. So in my eyes I think Tyler Steen would be a great addition especially with these depth signings that they made. I think that if you go out and get a guy like Tyler Steen where he can go in there and compete with Will Fries right away whereas these depth guys can kind of work their way up. So that if Will Fries is faltering even more so, they put Tyler Steen in there, or they're trying to rotate in these other guys, that at least gives them an opportunity to show what they have and to at least vindicate Minnesota in their decision to move on from Will Fries if and when they do. But let us know down in the comments below what you guys think about all the offensive linemen that we covered in this video. Do you think that their answer for a replacement for Wolf-Rise is in those signings that they made to their practice squad? Or do you think it will be in a trade that they will make hopefully before Tuesday's deadline? As it's going to be a very short race to the deadline because Minnesota plays on Monday night and having to make a deal happen by Tuesday is going to be very difficult. But I know that Nolan Teasley has been working the phones like crazy. So it's just a matter of which move are they going to make or moves are they going to make before Tuesday's deadline? Let us know your guys' thoughts down in the comments below as that's going to do it for this episode of Vikings Digest. Again, thank you guys so much for liking, subscribing, hitting that bell icon so you don't miss the episodes when they drop. And thank you to Coliseum for sponsoring this video. But for now, I've been your host, Griffin. Take care.