>>>ALL THINGS VIKINGS<<<

He's getting released.

 

The Vikings have acquired defensive tackle Ross Blacklock from the Texans, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports. Minnesota will send a sixth-round selection to Houston for Blacklock and a seventh-rounder.

Minnesota is cutting Armon Watts, whose base salary was $2.54 million, and replacing him with Blacklock, whose base salary is $1.332 million.


The Texans listed Blacklock as the backup to Maliek Collins.

Blacklock, a second-round pick in 2020, played 29 games with three starts in his time with the Texans. He totaled 36 tackles, two sacks, two pass breakups and a forced fumble.

In 2021, Blacklock played 455 defensive snaps and 59 special teams snaps in 14 games. He made 22 tackles and two sacks.

 

Why? is he an upgrade over Armon Watts don't know anything about him Ross Blacklock

 

5 Things to Know About New Vikings DL Ross Blacklock

1. Highly touted

Coming out of Texas Christian University as a redshirt junior in 2020, Blacklock had garnered plenty of attention.

Blacklock was ranked as the No. 4 defensive tackle in the draft by analysts Bucky Brooks (NFL Network) and Dane Brugler (The Athletic) and was ranked No. 5 among the position group by ESPN's Mel Kiper and analytics site Pro Football Focus.


In his final season with the Horned Frogs, Blacklock started all 12 games he played and recorded 40 tackles, nine tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks, the latter of which tied for the team lead. He was named First-Team All-Big 12 for the 2019 campaign.

2. Familiarity with Vikings coach

Blacklock may be new to Minnesota, but he isn't entirely unfamiliar with its coaching staff.

Vikings defensive line coach Chris Rumph worked as the Texans outside linebackers coach in 2020 when Houston drafted Blacklock.

3. Son of a Globetrotter

Blacklock's father, Jimmy, toured with the Harlem Globetrotters from 1974-87 and appeared on TV shows such as ABC's Wide World of Sports and The Tonight Show before serving full-time as the Globetrotters coach. In February 2020, Jimmy was honored as a Globetrotter Legend the same weekend that Ross participated in the NFL Scouting Combine.

Jimmy Blacklock was one of the University of Texas' first African American basketball players; in 2016, he was inducted into the school's sports hall of fame.

4. Recently visited Mexico

In July, Blacklock joined Texans linebacker Garret Wallow, along with the team mascot and two Texans cheerleaders, on an NFL outreach trip to Monterrey and Mexico City, Mexico.

The group participated in youth football and cheer clinics, spent time with fans and also embarked on some sightseeing.


"This experience has been really fun," Blacklock told Texans TV host Drew Dougherty. "A really eye-opening experience. To be able to be out here with our fans from Mexico, getting all the love and support from another country, getting to know their culture, I'm excited to keep learning and I'm excited to be here."

5. Maintains underdog mindset

Blacklock has his own line of merchandise featuring a self-adopted mantra, "Underdawg Mentality."

"Trust yourself as a player, believe in yourself and let your work speak for itself," Blacklock told Style Magazine. "I wanted to create something for athletes that they can relate to. Everybody has potential. … That's kind of what it represents."

VIKINGS.com

 

Ok time to show what you got being that you were highly touted coming out of college your in the NFL now take your game to the next level

 

The Vikings selected 11 players in the 2021 NFL draft. Most of those players were cut on Tuesday, failing to make the 53-man roster a year after they were drafted.

That’s an ugly look for the Vikings’ prior regime of general manager Rick Spielman and coach Mike Zimmer, who were fired after the 2021 season. The new regime of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell clearly doesn’t think much of that draft class.


Here’s a look at the Vikings’ 2021 draft class, and each player’s status heading into what should be his second NFL season:

Round 1: Christian Darrisaw (starting left tackle)
Round 3: Kellen Mond (cut on Tuesday)
Round 3: Chazz Surratt (cut on Tuesday)
Round 3: Wyatt Davis (cut on Tuesday)
Round 3: Patrick Jones (backup outside linebacker)
Round 4: Kene Nwangwu (backup running back and kickoff returner)
Round 4: Camryn Bynum (starting safety)
Round 4: Janarius Robinson (cut on Tuesday)
Round 5: Ihmir Smith-Marsette (backup wide receiver and punt returner)
Round 5: Zach Davidson (cut on Tuesday)
Round 6: Jaylen Twyman (cut on Tuesday)

Tuesday represented a massacre of the 2021 draft class, at the hands of team leadership that wants to go in a very different direction in 2022.

PFT

 

It's a brand new day but it was rough a day cause lot of football players got cut that 2021draft class didn't turn out so good

 

O.J. Howard would look real nice in Purple since TE is still weak in my opinion. I think he would be a real nice addition.

Another player who got cut that would be nice in Purple is center, Brock Hoffman. He could also play Guard and played well for the Browns this Summer also.

Sure hope and do think the Vikings ought to be real busy when the waiver wire opens this afternoon. Hope we see some jockeying around to fill some holes and address weak spots. Secondary is also a concern of mine, especially depth wise.

 

I think this is in the eyes of the beholder... Anytime you get four starters out of a draft class in their second season, that's a win. You didn't have a 2nd round pick, most starters come from the 1st/2nd round. To get a starting LT, S, KR and PR... man, count your lucky stars.

 

If you want perspective, here is the breakdown of the Browns 2021 class (who was drafted under their current regime)

1.26 Greg Newsome II - Starting CB
2.52 Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah - Starting LB
3.91 Anthony Schwartz - backup WR
4.110 James Hudson III - backup O-line
4.132 Tommy Togiai - backup DL
5.153 Tony Fields II - backup LB
5.169 Richard LeCounte III - backup safety
6.211 Demetric Felton - backup RB/PR/KR

So the Browns got 3 starters out of 8 picks, starting CB, LB and KR/PR, under their current regime, without changing any coaches/schemes. Granted they didn't cut the other guys, but that's because the staff remained intact. That's the real difference between the two drafts. I think if you analyzed other teams, you would see similar results. I wouldn't read too much into the cuts, new regime means new personnel from top to bottom. You might even see some veterans go next season after the dust settles.

 

Secondary is also a concern of mine, especially depth wise.[/QUOTE]
Mine also it has been a REAL weakness the secondary hope that KOC and coaching staff can fix it OJ Howard would be nice cause I'm starting to think Irv Smith Jr is injury prone

 

OJ has missed 22 games over his first 5 years in the league. Irv has only missed 4 in his first 2 seasons.

 

Irv missed the entire 2021 season tho... that hurt a lot, lol.

 

Mond, if not claimed on waivers, plans to sign on to the Vikings Practice Squad...

 

lol, Browns just claimed Mond!

 

Honestly, I missed that.. I saw the two years and available games, missing the fact there was no 2021 at all on the list. That's my bad!

 

See now this just doesn't make sense. Mond wasn't there with Stefanski, he was cut after a single season in Minnesota and they already have two backups signed to the roster to get them through the first 11 games. Isn't Mond just a younger less experienced version of Dobbs? How bad could Rosen have been for this to happen?

 

Cool!

Vikings are getting another receiver from the Eagles and I think he returns punts!

 

Damn, this sucks... To make room they waive WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette.