I decided to give Freethinker a break and do the Vikings, annually one of the league’s relatively White friendliest organizations for some time now. Last year’s team had 8 White starters and 17 on the 53. This year it’s 9 and 20 for a bit of an increase. TE T. J. Hockenson is currently on the PUP list so the Vikings begin the current season with 8.
2024 first round pick J. J. McCarthy suffered a torn right meniscus during the preseason and will miss the entire season. He looked really good before the injury and looks to have the accuracy, running ability and smarts to be the face of the franchise for a long time.
Taking McCarthy’s place this season will be Sam Darnold, the third overall pick of the 2018 draft by the Jets. Darnold has long been written off as a bust by the DWFs and the hive mind media, but he’s been one of those quarterbacks stuck on bad franchises. The Jets are notorious for not being able to develop quarterbacks, while Carolina, Darnold’s second team, is a sadsack franchise. Darnold moved on to San Francisco last year where he served as Brock Purdy’s backup, which is significant because Kyle Shanahan is a noted developer of QBs and he thought enough of Darnold to want him on his roster. This season should tell the tale of whether Darnold is a late bloomer who was previously held down by the factors mentioned above, or nothing more than backup material as Minnesota like San Francisco is a good landing spot for quarterbacks.
Nick Mullen, who passed for 303, 411, 113 and 396 yards in four starts to end the ’23 season, will back up Darnold. Brett Rypien is the third QB.
Hockenson had a career year in 2023 after coming over from Detroit, totaling 95 catches for 960 yards with 5 TDs. After he returns he’ll be backed up by Johnny Mundt and Nick Muse.
Since the departure of Adam Thielen there are no White receivers on the roster, though Thomas Thayer is on the practice squad.
The Vikings start four overachievers on defense, which is as good as it gets in the Caste NFL. Strong safety Harrison Smith is 35 now and has had an excellent career after being the rare White safety to be drafted in the first round. He’s consistently very productive, makes lots of big plays, and is very durable, having missed just seven games over the past decade.
Tackle Harrison Phillips was forced to endure a four-year racial apprenticeship while with Buffalo, but since coming to Minnesota for the ’22 season has been topnotch. Like virtually all White defensive starters in the league, Phillips gets disproportionately more tackles than many blacks. Last year he had a ridiculous 92 combined tackles, an amazing total for a tackle.
OLB/DE Andrew Van Ginkel joins Minnesota after five years with the Dolphins. Like Phillips when he was with the Bills, Van Ginkel also always found himself as a racial apprentice as despite displaying great talent time and again as a pass rusher, he was never more than a substitute who only started due to injuries to starters. In his first game with the Vikings, Van Ginkel had 4 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and a pick six. It’s troubling though that Minnesota drafted a defensive end in the first round this year, Dallas Turner, who of course is expected to effortlessly replace Van Ginkel so Andrew will need to continue to perform at the same high level he has throughout his career.
Blake Cashman came over from Houston and has the green dot as the quarterback of the defense. Originally drafted by the Jets, the first four years of his career were marred by frequent injuries. However he stayed healthy last year and responded with 106 combined tackles.
So the Vikings defense will be one to root for in 2024; unfortunately there are no White backups. Overall this remains one of the best teams from CF’s perspective.
QB: Sam Darnold, Nick Mullens, Brett Rypien
LG: Blake Brandel, Michael Jurgens
RG: (Dalton Risner is currently on IR but I’m counting him as part of the 53 as he may even start at this position when healthy)
C: Garrett Bradbury, Dan Feeney
RT: Brian O’Neill, David Quessenberry
TE: Johnny Mundt, Nick Muse, T. J. Hockenson (currently on PUP)
NT: Harrison Phillips
ROLB/DE: Andrew Van Ginkel
LILB: Blake Cashman
SS: Harrison Smith
P: Ryan Wright
PK: Will Reichard
LS: Andrew DePaola
Practice Squad: DE Jonah Williams, TE Robert Tonyan, WR Thomas Thayer, LB Bo Richter, G Henry Byrd (colossal first round WR bust N’Keal Harry is on the practice squad as a tight end lol)
IR: QB J. J. McCarthy, TE T. J. Hockenson (PUP), G Dalton Risner, ILB Jordan Kunaszyk (mixed?)
Number of White starters: 9 when Hockenson returns, possibly 10 if Risner returns and starts at RG
Number of White Players on 53 Man Roster: 20
Grade: D+/C-
2024 first round pick J. J. McCarthy suffered a torn right meniscus during the preseason and will miss the entire season. He looked really good before the injury and looks to have the accuracy, running ability and smarts to be the face of the franchise for a long time.
Taking McCarthy’s place this season will be Sam Darnold, the third overall pick of the 2018 draft by the Jets. Darnold has long been written off as a bust by the DWFs and the hive mind media, but he’s been one of those quarterbacks stuck on bad franchises. The Jets are notorious for not being able to develop quarterbacks, while Carolina, Darnold’s second team, is a sadsack franchise. Darnold moved on to San Francisco last year where he served as Brock Purdy’s backup, which is significant because Kyle Shanahan is a noted developer of QBs and he thought enough of Darnold to want him on his roster. This season should tell the tale of whether Darnold is a late bloomer who was previously held down by the factors mentioned above, or nothing more than backup material as Minnesota like San Francisco is a good landing spot for quarterbacks.
Nick Mullen, who passed for 303, 411, 113 and 396 yards in four starts to end the ’23 season, will back up Darnold. Brett Rypien is the third QB.
Hockenson had a career year in 2023 after coming over from Detroit, totaling 95 catches for 960 yards with 5 TDs. After he returns he’ll be backed up by Johnny Mundt and Nick Muse.
Since the departure of Adam Thielen there are no White receivers on the roster, though Thomas Thayer is on the practice squad.
The Vikings start four overachievers on defense, which is as good as it gets in the Caste NFL. Strong safety Harrison Smith is 35 now and has had an excellent career after being the rare White safety to be drafted in the first round. He’s consistently very productive, makes lots of big plays, and is very durable, having missed just seven games over the past decade.
Tackle Harrison Phillips was forced to endure a four-year racial apprenticeship while with Buffalo, but since coming to Minnesota for the ’22 season has been topnotch. Like virtually all White defensive starters in the league, Phillips gets disproportionately more tackles than many blacks. Last year he had a ridiculous 92 combined tackles, an amazing total for a tackle.
OLB/DE Andrew Van Ginkel joins Minnesota after five years with the Dolphins. Like Phillips when he was with the Bills, Van Ginkel also always found himself as a racial apprentice as despite displaying great talent time and again as a pass rusher, he was never more than a substitute who only started due to injuries to starters. In his first game with the Vikings, Van Ginkel had 4 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and a pick six. It’s troubling though that Minnesota drafted a defensive end in the first round this year, Dallas Turner, who of course is expected to effortlessly replace Van Ginkel so Andrew will need to continue to perform at the same high level he has throughout his career.
Blake Cashman came over from Houston and has the green dot as the quarterback of the defense. Originally drafted by the Jets, the first four years of his career were marred by frequent injuries. However he stayed healthy last year and responded with 106 combined tackles.
So the Vikings defense will be one to root for in 2024; unfortunately there are no White backups. Overall this remains one of the best teams from CF’s perspective.
QB: Sam Darnold, Nick Mullens, Brett Rypien
LG: Blake Brandel, Michael Jurgens
RG: (Dalton Risner is currently on IR but I’m counting him as part of the 53 as he may even start at this position when healthy)
C: Garrett Bradbury, Dan Feeney
RT: Brian O’Neill, David Quessenberry
TE: Johnny Mundt, Nick Muse, T. J. Hockenson (currently on PUP)
NT: Harrison Phillips
ROLB/DE: Andrew Van Ginkel
LILB: Blake Cashman
SS: Harrison Smith
P: Ryan Wright
PK: Will Reichard
LS: Andrew DePaola
Practice Squad: DE Jonah Williams, TE Robert Tonyan, WR Thomas Thayer, LB Bo Richter, G Henry Byrd (colossal first round WR bust N’Keal Harry is on the practice squad as a tight end lol)
IR: QB J. J. McCarthy, TE T. J. Hockenson (PUP), G Dalton Risner, ILB Jordan Kunaszyk (mixed?)
Number of White starters: 9 when Hockenson returns, possibly 10 if Risner returns and starts at RG
Number of White Players on 53 Man Roster: 20
Grade: D+/C-
