Vikings Claim Former Giants Linebacker Ryan Connelly on Waivers

The post-cuts wave of waiver claims has just been announced and the Vikings were one of the teams who added a player, claiming former Giants linebacker Ryan Connelly. The team announced that linebacker Hardy Nickerson Jr. has been waived to make room for Connelly.

This has to be pretty cool for Connelly, who is a native of Eden Prairie, MN. After starring for EP in high school, Connelly attended Wisconsin and played four years for the Badgers. Now he's back in his home state with the Vikings.

Connelly was a fifth-round pick in 2019 and had a strong September for the Giants before tearing his ACL. He was a bit of a surprising cut by New York and could help the Vikings on special teams while developing as a backup linebacker.

Ryan Connelly File

College: Wisconsin
Drafted: 2019 fifth round (143rd overall)
NFL experience: One season
Age: 24 (Turns 25 in October)
Size: 6'2", 242
Career stats (NFL): 4 games (three starts), 20 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 2 INT, 2 PD
Career stats (NCAA): 251 tackles, 29 TFL, 6 sacks, 2 INT, 5 PD, 2 FF, 2 FR

Connelly was a key player on the Badgers' defense from 2016 to 2018. He's a versatile linebacker who can both play downhill against the run and moves in space well enough to be an asset in coverage. He's a solid athlete, but isn't anything special in that regard.

Connelly's four games with the Giants last year were impressive. In Week 3, he had seven tackles and an interception against Jameis Winston and the Buccaneers. The following week, he had a sack and an interception against Washington, picking off former Vikings QB Case Keenum. Unfortunately, that positive momentum came to a crashing halt when he tore his ACL late in that game and missed the rest of the season.

Across those four games and around 190 defensive snaps, Connelly received a 57.1 grade from PFF. Their grading system liked him much more in coverage (74.6 grade on 85 snaps) than in run defense (34.8 grade in 76 snaps).

The upside Connelly displayed in that four-game stretch last September made it somewhat surprising that the Giants released him yesterday. A quick google search shows that plenty of NYG media didn't expect them to expose him to waivers. The Vikings, who have already cycled through several new additions at linebacker over the past few weeks, gladly scooped Connelly up. In Minnesota, he'll contribute on special teams and compete for snaps as a backup linebacker with rookie Troy Dye.

Expect the Vikings to continue to be active in adding players, as they definitely need to pick up at least one backup safety.

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