"Mr. Mankato" 2023 - 10th Anniversary
Jul 24, 2023 16:53:35 GMT -6
Funkytown, Danchat, and 2 more like this
Post by Uncle on Jul 24, 2023 16:53:35 GMT -6
With Viking's Training Camp just days away, it's also time for the annual fan tradition to predict and ultimately crown the "unofficial" award of "Mr. Mankato". For those not familiar with this now 10-yr old tradition, "Mr. Mankato" is awarded by SKOR North (Mackey & Judd) to the top unheralded performer in training camp and the preseason. The award is named after Makato - the city where the team held its camps from 1966 to 2017 on the campus of Minnesota State University.
Qualifications:
There are basically only two "qualifications" required:
1) the player can't have been drafted in the first two rounds, and
2) the player can't yet be an "established" NFL player (though they don't have to be a rookie)
Although this isn't one of the "official" qualifications, Arif Hasan mentioned this requirement on a 7/24 episode of the Locked On Minnesota Sports podcast: the player must make the 53-man roster.
Former Winners:
Here is a rundown of past "Mr. Mankato" winners, what position they played, where they were drafted and what college/university they played for:
2014: Adam Thielen, WR, 2013 UDFA, Minnesota St.
2015: Stefon Diggs, WR, 2015 5th Rd, Maryland
2016: Jayron Kearse, S, 2016 7th Rd, Clemson
2017: Tashawn Bower, DE, 2017 UDFA, LSU
2018: Kyle Sloter, QB, 2017 UDFA (Denver), Northern Colorado
2019: Brandon Dillon, TE, 2019 UDFA, Marian
2020: Cam Dantzler, CB, 2020 3rd Rd, Miss St.
2021: N/A*
2022: Brian Asamoah, LB, 2022 3rd Rd, Oklahoma
*although not "official", many feel that KJ Osborn was the winner this year
Trends:
- Without counting 2021, both the offense and defense have 4 winners each
- The WR position (even without counting Osborn in 2021), is the position with the most winners with 2
- The last 2 "official" winners have been on defense
- RB/FB or OL are the 2 offensive positions that haven't won
- No ST player has won
- The last 2 "official" winners have been 3rd Rd picks
- Undrafted playes have won the most (4)
- 6 of the 8 "official" winners won it in the year they were drafted/or signed as an UDFA; Thielen and Sloter won it the following year
- Players from non-Power 5 Conferences have won the most (3); the SEC is the only Power 5 Conference with multiple winners
2022 Purple Pain "Winners":
There were four Purple Pain posters who correctly predicted Brian Asamoah would win in 2022: diehardtwinsfan , vikingpwr , snotbubbles and someone else who did not write it in a post. Congratulations to the 2022 fans who made the correct prediction!
Predictions:
The Locked On Sports Minnesota crew made their "official" predictions on Monday, 7/24:
Luke Inman: Jailen Nailor, WR
Arif Hasan: DeWayne McBride, RB
Luke Braun: Mekhi Blackmon, CB
Sam Ekstrom: Jaren Hall, QB
For those that want to skip to the predictions in this video/podcast, they start at the 26:38 mark:
Who do you think will take home the coveted "Mr. Mankato" title in 2023? Voting ends on 8/27, just one day after the Viking's final preseason game vs Arizona on 8/26.
Qualifications:
There are basically only two "qualifications" required:
1) the player can't have been drafted in the first two rounds, and
2) the player can't yet be an "established" NFL player (though they don't have to be a rookie)
Although this isn't one of the "official" qualifications, Arif Hasan mentioned this requirement on a 7/24 episode of the Locked On Minnesota Sports podcast: the player must make the 53-man roster.
Former Winners:
Here is a rundown of past "Mr. Mankato" winners, what position they played, where they were drafted and what college/university they played for:
2014: Adam Thielen, WR, 2013 UDFA, Minnesota St.
2015: Stefon Diggs, WR, 2015 5th Rd, Maryland
2016: Jayron Kearse, S, 2016 7th Rd, Clemson
2017: Tashawn Bower, DE, 2017 UDFA, LSU
2018: Kyle Sloter, QB, 2017 UDFA (Denver), Northern Colorado
2019: Brandon Dillon, TE, 2019 UDFA, Marian
2020: Cam Dantzler, CB, 2020 3rd Rd, Miss St.
2021: N/A*
2022: Brian Asamoah, LB, 2022 3rd Rd, Oklahoma
*although not "official", many feel that KJ Osborn was the winner this year
Trends:
- Without counting 2021, both the offense and defense have 4 winners each
- The WR position (even without counting Osborn in 2021), is the position with the most winners with 2
- The last 2 "official" winners have been on defense
- RB/FB or OL are the 2 offensive positions that haven't won
- No ST player has won
- The last 2 "official" winners have been 3rd Rd picks
- Undrafted playes have won the most (4)
- 6 of the 8 "official" winners won it in the year they were drafted/or signed as an UDFA; Thielen and Sloter won it the following year
- Players from non-Power 5 Conferences have won the most (3); the SEC is the only Power 5 Conference with multiple winners
2022 Purple Pain "Winners":
There were four Purple Pain posters who correctly predicted Brian Asamoah would win in 2022: diehardtwinsfan , vikingpwr , snotbubbles and someone else who did not write it in a post. Congratulations to the 2022 fans who made the correct prediction!
Predictions:
The Locked On Sports Minnesota crew made their "official" predictions on Monday, 7/24:
Luke Inman: Jailen Nailor, WR
Arif Hasan: DeWayne McBride, RB
Luke Braun: Mekhi Blackmon, CB
Sam Ekstrom: Jaren Hall, QB
For those that want to skip to the predictions in this video/podcast, they start at the 26:38 mark:
Who do you think will take home the coveted "Mr. Mankato" title in 2023? Voting ends on 8/27, just one day after the Viking's final preseason game vs Arizona on 8/26.
... and neither is this Chris guy.