At U.S. Bank Stadium this Saturday, all eyes will understandably be on the 22-year-old quarterback who has the fate of Minnesota Vikings football on his shoulders: J.J. McCarthy. All of the beautiful overreactions and exaggerations will be based upon McCarthy’s (probably brief) performance. However, there will be a ton of other players rotating in that are practically begging for a similar level of unfair scrutiny. As such, I wanted to point out a few that will be enjoyable to watch based on initial training camp reports.
Zemaiah Vaughn
It wouldn’t be a Vikings training camp featuring Brian Flores without an undrafted free agent coming out of nowhere and making a name for himself. Following in the footsteps of the undrafted Ivan Pace in 2023 and the undrafted Bo Richter in 2024, Zemaiah Vaughn is turning heads, apparently locking down receivers in camp. The cornerback out of Utah has a nice blend of size and speed, something that has always been important for corners in Flores’ defense. The camp fanfare is encouraging, but it will be nice to see how Vaughn handles his first NFL action on Saturday against the Texans’ depth receivers.
Levi Drake Rodriguez
Staying on the defensive side, we have a player with serious fan-favorite potential in Levi Drake Rodriguez. The seventh-round defensive tackle has been making headlines thanks to his aggressive play and infectious energy, and after spending much of his first season on the bench, he’s shaping up to be a solid rotational player this year. Drake Rodriguez is likely to get plenty of playing time in this first preseason game, and it’ll be exciting to see how his energy translates to the field.
Max Brosmer
Max Brosmer isn’t the first former Golden Gophers quarterback to participate in training camp for the Vikings, but he may be the one with the best chance to make the roster. Brosmer has had an exceptional training camp with highlights and overall cerebral play that Kevin O’Connell has mentioned in his press conferences. Of the players on this list, Brosmer may receive the most playing time as he is the least established of the team’s current quarterbacks. If he’s to beat out Brett Rypien for that QB3 position, Brosmer is going to have to get through this Texans defense first.
Tai Felton
After the announcement of Jordan Addison’s suspension for the first three games of the season, Vikings fans have wondered who will step up in the receiver room. While Tai Felton might not be the answer to that problem this year, he very well could be the WR3 of the future. Reports about Felton have been mixed, and it seems that he has a lot of development before he’s ready to see the field as a starter. For that reason, these preseason reps will be crucial to him becoming more comfortable in the offense and eventually contributing during the regular season.
Donovan Jackson
The last player on this list is the most intriguing, as we will probably get our first look at this year’s first-round pick: rookie guard Donovan Jackson. This training camp has had him facing off against veterans like Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, so it may come as a relief to Jackson that he won’t be playing against anyone with that level of experience during this preseason game. Still, Jackson needs all the live game reps he can get if he’s going to start alongside Ryan Kelly and Christian Darrisaw this season. The first-round pick is likely to go through growing pains as all rookie guards do, and Saturday will be his big first step in that process.
