Vikings to give rookie Mistral Raymond a long look

[Brad]

Vikings to give rookie Mistral Raymond a long look

By Jeremy Fowler

jfowler@pioneerpress.com

Updated: 08/16/2011 10:32:37 PM CDT

The Vikings took a chance on Mistral Raymond in the sixth round of April's draft knowing he could play cornerback or safety.

So far, Raymond has made an impression on coaches by earning first-team safety reps last week while entrenched starter Husain Abdullah missed two days.

Raymond, a former walk-on at South Florida who started 15 games in three seasons for the Bulls, intercepted quarterback Christian Ponder in the end zone during Thursday's practice. He tweaked his hamstring on the play, causing him to miss the preseason opener against Tennessee, but he's back in live action this week.

Raymond said he entered camp willing to play either position.

"I just want to come in and get on the field wherever I can, and it looks like that place right now is safety," Raymond said. "Any way I can help this team win is what I'm going to do."

Competition for safety reps alongside Abdullah is wide open among Tyrell Johnson, Jamarca Sanford and Raymond.

"We're going to give (Raymond) every opportunity to show us what he's capable of doing and just see where it falls," coach Leslie Frazier said.

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[Reliable Source]

Mistral is one of my favorite Bulls EVER. Thanks for the nugget.

[Orlando Bull]

Do they have Sweetbay up there? Gosh, where is coach going to get his snacks if they don't?

Go get 'em Skinny, I agree with Bill, one of my favorite Bulls ever. Good to see his hard work paying off.

[GoUSFBULLS274]

He had one of the highest wonderlic scores in the league.

[The Great 8]

Skinny is a beast. Best of luck to him.

[Matt]

He had one of the highest wonderlic scores in the league.

not to take anything away from Skinny...cause that is surely better than having one of the lowest....but Alex Smith had one of the highest wonderlic scores in the history of the NFL and that is why the 49ers drafted him over Aaron Rodgers.  As a 49ers fan, I don't have much faith in that test.

[GaUSFBull]

Awesome to see him showing well in practice.  I hope he can earn a permanent position on the roster. 

[Paisa el Toro]

Glad to see Skinny making some noise up in Minnesota. Once he makes it big in the NFL, I see him as the kind of player that'll be coming back and contributing to USF on the regular.

[BullFan98]

Love to hear it.  Cannot wait to see him get some play time this year.

[NCBull]

Great news here...love this guy.

And also glad to read that Bulls are still owning Christian Ponder, even in a pro scrimmage!  >