The defending NFC North Champion Minnesota Vikings (13-3 in 2017) open the 2018 preseason slate at the Denver Broncos (5-11 in 2017) on Saturday, August 11. Kickoff is set for 8:00 p.m. CT at Broncos Stadium at Mile High. The game will be simulcast live locally on FOX 9 and KFAN 100.3 FM. The simulcast team features Paul Allen and Pete Bercich in the booth with Greg Coleman and Ben Leber on the sideline.

The Vikings have earned an 14-3 (.824) preseason mark under Head Coach Mike Zimmer, who has led the club to 2 undefeated preseasons in his 4 seasons at the helm. Prior to dropping the 2015 preseason finale to Tennessee, 24-17, the Vikings boasted a perfect 8-0 preseason mark under Zimmer.

Minnesota's top free agent signings, QB Kirk Cousins and DT Sheldon Richardson, are expected to make their Vikings debut vs. Denver, while top draft pick, CB Mike Hughes, who was selected with the 30th pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, is slated to make his NFL debut against the Broncos.

TELEVISION: FOX 9 (Channel 9 in Minneapolis/St. Paul)

Play-by-Play: Paul AllenAnalyst: Pete Bercich

Sideline Reporter: Greg Coleman/Ben Leber

LOCAL RADIO: KFAN-FM 100.3/KTLK-AM 1130

Play-by-Play: Paul AllenAnalyst: Pete Bercich

Sideline Reporter: Greg Coleman/Ben Leber

Pre-Game Show: Mike Mussman – 6:00 p.m. CT

KFAN and KTLK serve as the flagship stations for the 63-station, 5-state Vikings Radio Network.

VIKINGS IN THE PRESEASON

* The Vikings have a combined record of 154-99-3 (.605) in their 256 preseason games.

* The team has finished undefeated in the preseason 8 times (1964, '65, '73, '92, '98, '01, '14, '16).

* The Vikings have finished with a .500 record or better 44 times in the team's 57 preseasons.

* Minnesota has finished .500 or better in the regular season 34 times after posting a .500 or better record in the preseason.

* The 13 preseasons in which the Vikings have finished below .500, the team went on to finish below .500 7 times in the ensuing regular season.

* Under Head Coach Mike Zimmer, the Vikings have compiled an 14-3 (.824) record in the 2014 (4-0), 2015 (4-1) and 2016 (4-0) and 2017 (2-2) preseasons.

NORSE NOTES

The Vikings had 7 Pro Bowlers - LB Anthony Barr, DE Everson Griffen, DT Linval Joseph, CB Xavier Rhodes, S Harrison Smith and WR Adam Thielen - 2 1st Team All Pros - Rhodes(CB) and Smith - and 3 2nd Team All-Pros - Griffen, Rhodes (DB) and Thielen after the 2017 season.

The Vikings defense held opponents to a 25.2% (51/202) 3rd-down conversion rate, the best mark in the NFL, while the offense converted on 43.5% (94/216) of 3rd downs, 3rd in the NFL.

WR Adam Thielen finished 2nd in the NFL in 3rd down receptions (32) and yards (428). 25 of his 32 catches converted 1st downs, which also ranks 2nd in the NFL.

TE Kyle Rudolph recorded his 2nd season with 50+ catches and 500+ yards and 5+ TDs in 2017, tying Steve Jordan for the most such seasons by a TE in team history.

The Vikings allowed only 27 sacks 2017, tied for the 7th fewest in the NFL and had 5 games without allowing a sack, tying a franchise record for most in a single season.

S Harrison Smith was one of two players in the NFL (Jordan Poyer , BUF) with 70+ tackles, 1.0+ sacks and 5+ INTs in 2017.

The Vikings defense allowed only 20 runs of 10+ yards in 2017 the fewest in the NFL that season and tied with the 1995 San Francisco 49ers for the fewest in the NFL since 1991.

2018 VIKINGS NOTES

VIKINGS RETURNING NUMBERS

Starters Returning............................................ 19 (9 offense, 10 defense)

Starters Lost....................... 3 (Joe Berger, Tom Johnson, Case Keenum)

Leading Returners                                                                  Player (Total)

Passing Yards.......................................................................................... None

Rushing Yards......................................................... Latavius Murray (842)

Rushing TDs................................................................. Latavius Murray (8)

Receiving Yards......................................................... Adam Thielen (1,276)

Receiving TDs....................................... Stefon Diggs & Kyle Rudolph (8)

Tackles........................................................................... Eric Kendricks (136)

Sacks........................................................................... Everson Griffen (13.0)

Interceptions.................................................................. Harrison Smith (5)

Punt Return Yards.................................................... Marcus Sherels (372)

Kick Return Yards…………………………...Marcus Sherels (271)

VIKINGS ROSTER NOTES

Oldest Viking Player                        Terence Newman          39, born 9/4/78     

Youngest Viking Player                   Holton Hill                     21, born 3/11/97     

Most Seasons as a Viking                 Brian Robison                12                            

Most NFL Seasons                             Terence Newman          16                            

College with the most Vikings         UCLA                               4                             

Conference with the most Vikings   Big Ten                           15 players on roster

Largest Viking:

Storm Norton (Height)       6-8

Linval Joseph (Weight) 329 lbs                    

Smallest Viking: 8 guys tied (Height)      5-10

Marcus Sherels (Weight) 175 lbs                     

1st-Round Draft Picks On Roster   10:

Anthony Barr

Mike Hughes

Terence Newman

Riley Reiff

Xavier Rhodes

Sheldon Richardson           

Harrison Smith

Laquon Treadwell                                                  

Trae Waynes          

Kendall Wright      

Pro Bowlers: 10

Anthony Barr

Kirk Cousins                                                           

Everson Griffen      

Linval Joseph

Latavius Murray                                                     

Terence Newman

Xavier Rhodes

Kyle Rudolph

Harrison Smith

Adam Thielen        

Coaches who played in the NFL 1:

Jerry Gray

2018 ROSTER BREAKDOWN

*1ST ROUND (10)                                                        *

[5] Terence Newman (2003-DAL)

[9] Anthony Barr (2014)

[11] Trae Waynes (2015)

[13] Sheldon Richardson (2013-NYJ)

[20] Kendall Wright (2012-TEN)

[23] Riley Reiff (2012-DET)

[23] Laquon Treadwell (2016)

[25] Xavier Rhodes (2013)

[29] Harrison Smith (2012)

[30] Mike Hughes (2018)

2ND ROUND (6)

[41] Dalvin Cook (2017)

[43] Kyle Rudolph (2011)

[45] Eric Kendricks (2015)

[46] Linval Joseph (2010-NYG)

[54] Mackensie Alexander (2016)

[62] Brian O'Neill (2018)

3RD ROUND (2)

[70] Pat Elflein (2017)

[88] Danielle Hunter (2015)

4TH ROUND (6)

[100] Everson Griffen (2010)

[102] Brian Robison (2007)

[102] Kirk Cousins (2012-WAS)

[102] Jalyn Holmes (2018)

[109] Jaleel Johnson (17)

[120] Ben Gedeon (17)

5TH ROUND (7)

[146] Stefon Diggs (2015)

[151] David Parry (2015-IND)

[157] Tyler Conklin (2018)

[160] Kentrell Brothers (2016)

[161] Tavarres King (2013-DEN)

[167] Daniel Carlson (2018)

[180] Danny Isidora (2017)

*6TH ROUND (6)                                                           *

[181] Latavius Murray (2013-OAK)

[188] David Morgan (2016)

[193] Tom Compton (2012-WAS)

[211] Reshard Cliett (2015-HOU)

[213] Colby Gossett (2018)

[218] Ade Aruna (2018)

*7TH ROUND (6)                                                           *

[219] Stacy Coley (2017),

[220] Ifeadi Odenigbo (2017)

[225] Devante Downs (2018)

[244] Jayron Kearse (2016)

[245] Jack Tocho (2017)

[250] Trevor Siemian (2015-DEN)

*UNDRAFTED (38)                                                    *

Andrew Sendejo (2010-DAL)

Marcus Sherels (2010)

Kai Forbath (2011-DAL)

Ryan Quigley (2012-CHI)

Mike Remmers (2012-DEN)

Kevin McDermott (2013-SF)

Adam Thielen (2013)

Josh Andrews (2014-PHI)

Anthony Harris (2015)

C.J. Ham (2016)

Rashod Hill (2016-JAX)

Cayleb Jones (2016-PHI)

Tashawn Bower (2017)

Aviante Collins (2017)

Josiah Price (2017)

Horace Richardson (2017)

Eric Wilson (2017)

Jeff Badet (2018)

Chad Beebe (2018)

Mike Boone (2018)

Curtis Cothran (2018)

Garrett Dooley (2018)

Holton Hill (2018)

Tyler Hoppes (2018)

Craig James (2018)

Hercules Mata'afa (2018)

Trevon Mathis (2018)

Tray Matthews (2018)

Mike Needham (2018)

Peter Pujals (2018)

J.P. Quinn (2018)

Korey Robertson (2018)

Jonny Stanton (2018)

Brett Taylor (2018)

Roc Thomas (2018)

Jake Wieneke (2018)

Jonathan Wynn (2018)

Brandon Zylstra (2018)                                                  

[overall selection in brackets]

(year and team in parenthesis)

EXPERIENCE

16th Year (1)

Terence Newman

12th Year (1)

Brian Robison

9th Year (2)

Everson Griffen

Linval Joseph

8th Year (3)

Kyle Rudolph

Andrew Sendejo

Marcus Sherels

7th Year (5)

Kirk Cousins

Kai Forbath

Riley Reiff

Harrison Smith

Kendall Wright

6th Year (7)

Tom Compton

Kevin McDermott

Latavius Murray

Ryan Quigley

Mike Remmers

Xavier Rhodes

Sheldon Richardson

5th Year (2)

Anthony Barr

Adam Thielen

4th year (10)

Blake Bell

Stefon Diggs

Nick Easton

Anthony Harris

Danielle Hunter

Eric Kendricks

Tavarres King

David Parry

Trevor Siemian

Trae Waynes

3rd Year (9)

Josh Andrews

Mackensie Alexander

Kentrell Brothers

Mack Brown

Rashod Hill

Jayron Kearse

David Morgan

Laquon Treadwell

Stephen Weatherly

2nd Year (12)

Tashawn Bower

Reshard Cliett

Stacy Coley

Aviante Collins

Dalvin Cook

Cornelius Edison

Pat Elflein

Ben Gedeon

C.J. Ham

Danny Isidora

Jaleel Johnson

Eric Wilson

1st Year (8)

Cayleb Jones

Dieugot Joseph

Cedrick Lang

Storm Norton

Ifeadi Odenigbo

Josiah Price

Horace Richardson

Jack Tocho

Rookies (28)

Ade Aruna

Jeff Badet

Chad Beebe

Mike Boone

Daniel Carlson

Curtis Cothran

Tyler Conklin

Garrett Dooley

Devante Downs

Colby Gossett

Holton Hill

Jalyn Holmes

Tyler Hoppes

Mike Hughes

Craig James

Trevon Mathis

Tray Matthews

Mike Needham

Brian O'Neill

Peter Pujals

J.P. Quinn

Korey Robertson

Jonny Stanton

Brett Taylor

Roc Thomas

Jake Wieneke

Jonathan Wynn

Brandon Zylstra