EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — There were 16 players selected in the first round Thursday who are scheduled to play preseason or regular season games against the Vikings in 2015.
The list of players scheduled to visit Minnesota is headlined by Jameis Winston, who became the first Florida State player to be drafted with the top overall pick ever.
Winston is scheduled to make his professional debut Aug. 15 when the Vikings host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at TCF Bank Stadium. That game likely will be the first chance for home fans to see Vikings first-round pick Trae Waynes, who was selected **11th overall**.
Other rookies scheduled to visit Minnesota in 2015 include (in order of appearance): WR Amari Cooper (fourth pick, Oakland, Aug. 22), G Laken Tomlinson (28th, Detroit, Sept. 20), RB Melvin Gordon (15th, San Diego, Sept. 27), CB Marcus Peters (18th, Kansas City, Oct. 18), RB Todd Gurley (10th, St. Louis, Nov. 8), FS Damarious Randall (30th, Green Bay, Nov. 22), WR Kevin White (7th, Chicago, Dec. 20) and OT Ereck Flowers (9th, New York Giants, Dec. 27).
The Vikings will try to apply what they learn from their preview of Cooper, the former Alabama star, during the preseason when Minnesota visits Oakland on Nov. 15 in their final interconference game on the schedule.
In addition to that double-dip, the Vikings could see Tomlinson (Oct. 25 at Detroit), White (Nov. 1 at Chicago) and Randall (Jan. 3 at Green Bay) twice.
Other potential road encounters are with: OLB/DE Bud Dupree (22nd, Pittsburgh, Aug. 9), CB Byron Jones (27th, Dallas, Aug. 29), QB Marcus Mariota (2nd, Tennessee, Sept. 3), DE Arik Armstead (17th, San Francisco, Sept. 14), DE Shane Ray (23rd, Denver, Oct. 4), LB Vic Beasley (8th, Atlanta, Nov. 29) and OT D.J. Humphries (24th, Arizona, Dec. 10).
