Darren Manning
 Manning with the Minnesota Vikings in 2016 | |||||||||||
No. 29 Minnesota Vikings | |||||||||||
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| Safety | |||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
| Date of birth: April 27, 1993 | |||||||||||
| Place of birth: Memphis, TN | |||||||||||
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Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: Mitchell, Memphis, TN | |||||||||||
| College: Tennessee | |||||||||||
| NFL Draft: 2016 / Round: 2 / Pick: 46 | |||||||||||
| Debuted in 2016 for the Minnesota Vikings | |||||||||||
Career history
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| Roster status: Active | |||||||||||
Career highlights and awards
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Career NFL statistics as of Week 0, 2016 | |||||||||||
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Darren Manning (born April 27th, 1993) is an American football safety for the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football for four years at Tennessee. The Vikings selected him in the second round of the 2016 NFLHC Draft.
College Career
Darren Manning was one the top safety prospects coming out of high school in 2011. 247sports.com had him listed as the number 2 safety prospect in the country and the number one overall player in the state of Tennessee. Manning chose the hometown Volunteers early in his junior year of high school and never wavered on his commitment. In an interview, Manning said that he "hated the recruiting process and wanted to get back to business." Manning hit the ground running at Tennessee, leading all defensive freshman in tackles. Although he played primarily on special teams, he appeared at free safety for 3 games. An injury-plagued sophomore season kept him off the field for 7 games, but was seen as a disappointment considering his impressive freshman campaign. Finally healthy, Manning dominated his junior and senior seasons starting every game at strong safety. Following his senior season, Manning entered the NFL Draft as a consensus top-2 safety prospect, along with Tavian Oliphant from Alabama.
Year Team Games Starts Defensive Tack Int Sacks FF FR Blocks TDs Safeties 2014 TENN 12 12 14 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2015 TENN 12 12 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Career 24 24 19 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
Professional Career
The Vikings selected Manning in the second round of the 2016 NFLHC Draft. Following the draft, GM TheCrimsonChin said "I almost pissed myself when Manning was still available where we were picking in the second. I couldn't believe it. I think we had the pick submitted in less than 10 seconds."
The day after the draft, Manning signed a four-year contract with the Vikings worth approximately $18 million.
Minnesota Vikings
Darren Manning became the starting strong safety for the Vikings before the 2016 NFLHC preseason.
Regular season
Year Team Games Starts Defensive Tack Int Sacks FF FR Blocks TDs Safeties 2016 MIN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Career 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
