Analysis: Vikings running back Zavier Scott makes a meaningful impression in preseason game

Wanna turn heads in what many of us refer to as a “meaningless” NFL preseason game?

Play the way Vikings no-name running back Zavier Scott did the split-second he hit the field in the second quarter of Saturday’s 20-10 victory over the Houston Texans at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Play the way this 6-1, 219-pounder played immediately in a game that looked anything but “meaningless” in his pursuit of incumbent Ty Chandler for the No. 3 running back job behind Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason.

If Chandler wasn’t in a dogfight for the job before Saturday, he is or should be now.

Chandler replaced Mason, who started as the Vikings rested Jones. Chandler finished with eight touches for 25 yards (3.1 yards per touch), including 5 yards on five carries, and no first downs.

Scott entered the game like this:

First snap: 7-yard burst up the middle.

Third snap: 11-yard reception on a screen pass. First down.

Fourth snap: 9 yards off right tackle.

Fifth snap: 2 yards off left guard on second-and-1 from the Texans’ 3-yard line. First down. Quarterback Sam Howell sneaked in one snap later.

Seventh snap: 12 yards on a toss left. First down.

Seven snaps, six touches, 47 yards, four first downs.

“I’m just trying to do my best, but I do like your stat.”

Here’s another one: Eight touches and team highs of 51 yards from scrimmage (6.4-yard average) and 40 rushing yards on seven carries (5.7).

Scott looks tough. Is tough. How tough?

He was born on an Army base, Fort Hood in Texas.

His dad, James, moved the family of six from Texas to Tennessee to Kentucky to Virginia and all the way to Germany for Zavier’s junior and senior years of high school.

“It definitely builds a good foundation for your life,” he said. “Meeting new people, adjusting to different situations, having such a good support system with my family.”

Scott played American football at Vilseck High School in Vilseck, Germany. It was a private school of mostly Army brats who traveled around Europe playing other Army and Air Force brats.

“Favorite memory? A lot, but No. 1 would be going on a 16-hour bus ride to England,” Scott said. “We took our bus on the ferry and everything. An amazing time with my teammates and friends. Then we spent the night on the gym floor.”

And played the next day?

“Yep,” he said.

“Pretty good,” he said. “I had a kick return. It was rainy and dirty, but we got after it. I could get away with sleeping on a wood floor the night before a game back in high school.”

Scott had no offers to play college football until he went to a camp at Ohio State and ran a 4.38 40-yard dash.

“Things heated up after that, but not a lot,” he said.

Scott ended up at Connecticut as a receiver, switched to running back his second season, transferred to Maine and played receiver and running back the rest of his college career.

In 14 games at UConn from 2017-19, he caught 33 passes and averaged 6.2 yards on 34 carries. In his second year at Maine (2022), he led the team in receptions (42) and receiving yards (434) while rushing for 371 yards on just 39 attempts to lead the Coastal Athletic Association in average per carry (9.3).

The Vikings pounced two days later, releasing 2023 draft pick DeWayne McBride to make room for Scott. He spent the season on the practice squad.

Technically, what Scott did Saturday wasn’t his Vikings “debut,” since the preseason stats don’t count and are, well, you know, “meaningless.”

“These games aren’t meaningless to me,” he said. “It’s lives. It’s jobs. It’s the chance to compete. I think I bring some versatility. I feel pretty good about what I did today, but I left some things out there.”

He said he missed a blitz pickup when the defender beat him inside. He admitted he also missed a block on kickoff return that got rookie Tai Felton blown up.

“I think I have a good understanding of positioning when it comes to blocking,” Scott said. “I have some things to clean up, but I’d say it was a pretty good start” to the preseason.