EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings’ starting quarterback announcement shifts the attention to the rest of the roster, appropriate considering the team is approaching its first preseason game.On Friday, the Vikings will fly to Newark, N.J., ahead of a Saturday matchup with the New York Giants. Head coach Kevin O’Connell said earlier this week that most starters would play. This declaration adds intrigue.Which players have the most to gain — and lose — Saturday? Here is a comprehensive breakdown of 11 of them:Why the Vikings made Kyler Murray their starting QBAlec LewisJ.J. McCarthy, QBDefenses rarely dip into their complex schemes during the preseason. This makes it hard to evaluate quarterbacks, but you can still take clues from the smoothness of the operation and consistency with decision-making. McCarthy has a nice opportunity here. In front of cameras and a stadium stocked with fans, he will receive space to show growth.Accuracy remains the foremost priority. From there, Vikings staff will monitor his speed in getting through progressions. Playing behind some of the backup offensive linemen may force him to make quick decisions. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing for someone who has played only 10 meaningful games since he left Michigan.Jacob Thomas, SIf you are searching for a sneaky young player to find his way to the back end of the 53-man roster, Thomas fits. Multiple NFL teams sought his services this spring in undrafted free agency. He starred as a strong safety at James Madison. As a senior, he captained a team that won the program’s first Sun Belt Conference title and made the College Football Playoff.Thomas has taken snaps with the backups in training camp. He has also spent a noticeable amount of time with special teams. Make plays Saturday, and he will further stamp his case to add another promising youngster to a deep group of safeties.Domonique Orange, DTAll the quarterback attention delayed focus on the team’s two highly drafted interior defenders, Caleb Banks and Orange. Both are integral to the Vikings’ defense remaining menacing. It’s not that former defensive tackles Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen performed well in 2025. Nor is it the case that Minnesota cannot rely on interior defenders Jalen Redmond and Levi Drake Rodriguez.This becomes more a ceiling conversation than anything else. The quicker Banks and Orange progress under the tutelage of respected defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen, the more chaos the Vikings’ defense can create. Orange has shown flashes in the first two weeks of camp. Preseason production would further validate his potential as a rookie.Jamal Adams, S/LBAny time the Vikings infuse the roster with a versatile defender, it’s worth eyeing. Adams already switched numbers from 54 to 32, allowing him to line up at safety and all over the field. In practice, he’s blitzed effectively. Other times, he began far from the line of scrimmage as a deep safety and floated to the football.Where he plays is as interesting as how he plays. The 2017 No. 6 draft pick hasn’t started more than 10 games in a season since 2021. He is now almost four years removed from a torn left quad. It will be fascinating to see if he still has the spark in live games.Johnny Hekker, PSpecial teams tend to take a back seat, but the unit matters. In 2025, the kicking and punting groups kept the team in games. Replacing former punter Ryan Wright won’t require elite-level ability, but he performed better than Hekker last season. Fewer than 30 percent of Hekker’s punts landed inside the 20-yard-line, which ranked in the bottom 10 of qualified punters.The Vikings signed Ray Guy Award winner Brett Thorson in undrafted free agency. Saturday is a platform for them to prove their talent and their reliability as holders for kicker Will Reichard.Demond Claiborne, RBIn organized team activities, veteran Vikings running back Aaron Jones raved about Claiborne’s skill set. You cannot miss the juice. He glides. He also goes from deciphering to blurring through holes in a flash. The questions never hinged on his talent. More than anything, for the sixth-round rookie to find the field in 2026, Claiborne needed to learn the playbook and display consistency with work habits and ball security.He has impressed in spurts throughout training camp. Preseason games mean more eyes on the overall operation. As long as Claiborne positions himself in the correct spots, he may become one of Saturday’s key storylines.Dontae Fleming, WRFew Vikings coaches have proven their ability to develop players more than Keenan McCardell. The team’s receivers coach earned the trust of superstar receiver Justin Jefferson. McCardell built a connection with third-year wideout Jordan Addison. Already, the team’s 2025 third-rounder, Tai Felton, is following a similar arc as former Vikings receiver Jalen Nailor.The back end of the room warrants some discussion, too. Undrafted signings from recent years such as Jeshaun Jones and Myles Price have made plays in recent practices. Fleming, another undrafted signing in 2025 from Tulane, may be the most explosive and dynamic as a route runner.Joe Huber, OGFormer Arizona Cardinals coaches reiterated the role interior pass protection plays for quarterback Kyler Murray. The Vikings used 17 combinations of offensive linemen for at least 10 snaps throughout the 2025 season. That allowed Huber, a 2025 signee from Cincinnati and Wisconsin, to get regular-season snaps against the Cleveland Browns in London. Huber held his own versus defensive tackle talent such as Maliek Collins. This fall, he’s competing to keep his backup position with other versatile depth like Henry Byrd.Huber and many of the offensive line backups are likely to play an extended period Saturday. That’ll provide the team with critical film to evaluate.Caleb Tiernan, TWhy not lob in a bit of a wild card here? Among the rookies, none has flown under the radar more than Tiernan. The third-round pick, drafted following an exceptional career at Northwestern, has mostly mixed in with the backup offensive line group at right tackle. The 2025 season underscored the importance of reliable tackle depth — especially for an offense committed to pushing the ball vertically through deep-drop passing concepts.The Giants’ stable of edge rushers may not play significant snaps. But Abdul Carter, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux would give a nice glimpse at Tiernan’s status.Gavin Bartholomew, TEO’Connell arrived in 2022, and since then, the team has valued its tight end depth. For years, Johnny Mundt occupied the No. 3 tight end job and gave the team comfort. His departure led Minnesota to take Bartholomew with a sixth-round pick in 2025. A serious back injury ended his rookie season before it began, but he returned to 2026 training camp with a level of motivation that has been evident.Almost every day, Bartholomew snatches a pass down the seam. The biggest question, especially regarding how far he can push current Vikings backup tight end Ben Yurosek, is whether he can displace defenders in the run game. Saturday is the first real test.Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, DTObserving Ingram-Dawkins, 23, coincides with the earlier point regarding Banks and Orange. The longer it takes for the two rookie interior defenders to find their footing, the more responsibility will fall on players like Rodriguez and Ingram-Dawkins.The Vikings selected the former Georgia Bulldogs defensive tackle with one of their five picks in 2025 for a purpose. They projected major upside. In fact, one AFC evaluator suggested Ingram-Dawkins could’ve returned to Georgia and proved himself to be an early-round selection. Ingram-Dawkins played only 250 snaps last season, but he has slimmed down ahead of 2026. Saturday stands as his chance to inspire optimism in the defensive tackle depth.