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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Tyler Forness

Vikings 90-man roster player profile: RB Kene Nwangwu

Welcome to the beginning of our 2023 season preview content!

Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at each player on the roster in-depth with backgrounds and how they currently project forward on the Minnesota Vikings roster.

What is the best-case scenario? What is the worst-case scenario? What should we expect from them during the preseason and beyond? We will break all of that down here.

As a staff, all of us at Vikings Wire ranked the entire 90-man roster 1-90 and will be releasing player profiles in reverse order.

Background

AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn

Name: Kene Nwangwu

Rank: 49

Height: 6’0”

Weight: 210 lbs

Experience: 5 years

College: Southern Miss

Stats (In NFL): 28 games, 22 caries, 75 yards, 53 kick returns, 1,499 yards, 28.3 YPR, 3 touchdowns

Votes: 

Tyler Forness: 47

Kevin Fielder: 49

Judd Zulgad: 46

Saivion Mixson: 49

Average: 47.75

Best case scenario

AP Photo/Tony Avelar

After only carrying the ball 143 times in college, Nwangwu was viewed as a project. The raw skills were there and developing him was always key. During mandatory minicamp, Nwangwu was getting the lion share of the RB2 snaps, which is a good sign. He wasn’t a player that you could trust in 2022

Worst case scenario

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

He wasn’t a player that you could trust in 2022 in the backfield. The vision and decision-making hasn’t been there. That has shown up in his limited touches out of the backfield. Despite getting the RB2 touches in mandatory minicamp, there is a real chance that it doesn’t translate once the pads come on.

What to expect in 2023

AP Photo/Nick Wass

The Vikings are going to be shifting to a running back by committee approach this season with multiple players getting regular touches. Nwangwu with a solid preseason could catapult himself to getting 10+ touches per game. If he doesn’t have a great preseason, his return skills being among the best in the league will help him keep a roster spot.

The Real Forno Show

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