The Minnesota Vikings have announced that they’ve signed second-year linebacker Darnell Sankey and waived rookie linebacker Shaan Washington. Sankey, from Sacramento State, is running back Bishop Sankey’s cousin and has spent time with the Denver Broncos in training camp as well as on the practice squads for the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs.
With Kentrell Brothers injured, the Vikings have another spot on the three-deep roster at linebacker to play someone. This means that with Noor Davis, the Vikings have two new signings presumably at the bottom of the linebacker depth chart along with Elijah Lee. Ben Gedeon was promoted to play the middle linebacker spot with the second string after Brothers’ injury and will likely play there today.
Sankey was a defensive end for Sacramento State before switching to linebacker, and finished his senior year with 153 tackles and seemingly was a consensus FCS second-team All-American at the position. At 6-foot-3 and 246 pounds, he has a fairly thick build for a linebacker and has generally been regarded as a run plugger, though it seems like he could play either the middle linebacker or strongside linebacker roles, with Davis likely playing the other spot.