The Minnesota Vikings are set to take on the Las Vegas Raiders in their preseason debut on Saturday, August 10th at U.S. Bank Stadium . It will be the only time the Vikings will play at home during the preseason and perhaps the only time the home crowd will get to see rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy play during his rookie season.
Nothing is a guarantee in the preseason and beyond which could lead to a large turnout for a preseason game. McCarthy has looked good so far during training camp practice, but head coach Kevin O'Connell is being careful with the rookie.
With the preseason set to kick off for the Vikings, who are the players with the most to gain?
QB Jaren Hall
When you look at the quarterbacks on the roster, Hall is easily the fourth guy right now and that's completely fine. After his performance against the Green Bay Packers in primetime, it's not unexpected. So, why is he at the top of the list?
It's a simple formula. He's at the bottom of the totem pole and will likely play the majority of the second half. All that time in the game will give him ample opportunity to show that he deserves a roster spot over Nick Mullens, who might not even play on Saturday.
WR Jeshaun Jones
The wide receiver position is a crapshoot after the first four. WR3 is still a battle but that's mainly between both Jalen Nailor and Brandon Powell at this point. When looking at the wide receiver depth, you could argue that 5-6 players could realistically deserve to be on the roster with the top four.
Jones has been really intriguing during training camp and has stood out to me during the practices I've attended. The Vikings believed in him enough to give Jones $225k fully guaranteed in base salary as an undrafted free agent out of Maryland and they backed it up by placing him on the third team with Trishton Jackson and Trent Sherfield of the unofficial depth chart . Theoretically, Jones is WR5, WR6 or WR7 by that logic. Have a good game is critical for Jones to continue making a statement.
C/OG Michael Jurgens
The seventh-round pick had the Vikings front office believing in him from the start. During the Vikings Entertainment Network's video chronicling the NFL Draft, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said that he believes Jurgens will be a starter in the league for a long time.
That's incredibly high praise for a seventh-round pick who was a sixth-year senior out of Wake Forest. Well, he's started to live up to it during practice. He is currently listed as the backup left guard on the unofficial depth chart and holding steady on the interior could be a big positive for the Vikings.
EDGE Gabriel Murphy
This list is going to be filled with a lot of undrafted free agents. Why? Adofo-Mensah has made what Thor Nystrom calls the "dessert draft" a priority. Last year, the Vikings found starting linebacker Ivan Pace Jr., special teams ace NaJee Thompson and intriguing pass rusher Andre Carter II out of Army.
This year, Murphy seems to be the crown jewel of that group. He was ranked at a similar spot to Pace on the consensus board and was undrafted for being too small (30.5" arms). However, Murphy has been playing extremely well and standing out during training camp. Getting him mixed in with the second team during Saturday's game could be a big stepping stone for Murphy.
CB Dwight McGlothern
On Friday afternoon, the Vikings traded Andrew Booth Jr. to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for cornerback Nahshon Wright . That will likely allow a player like McGlothern to get some more opportunities on Saturday since Wright is unlikely to play.
McGlothern was the Vikings' second-highest player on the consensus board to sign as a UDFA and has made some waves during training camp. He got a chance to play with the first team and he broke up a pass on Brandon Powell on an arrow route to the flat. Making more plays like that will both earn him a roster spot and get him in the rotation.
Related: Answering burning Minnesota Vikings questions: From Sam Darnold to T.J. Hockenson and Christian Darrisaw
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