Minnesota Vikings Team Thread (4 Viewers)

[Biabreakable]

And that's why you don't need to pay Jefferson $35m.

While I think its good that the offense has found ways to move the ball without Jefferson, which is good for the team overall, that is not the conclushion I come to from that.

Jefferson is worth whatever the market will bear for him. If the Vikings dont find a way to pay him another team will.

 

[Biabreakable]

I was impressed with the way Dalton Risner played in this game. He seems like an upgrade. The 49ers have some good defensive linemen and they did get pressure, but the line seemed to play better overall with Risner in there.

Next question is who is better between Cleveland and Ingram? I think its Cleveland but can he or Risner move to RG?

I like what I saw out of Risner and Darrisaw on the left side. They seemed to do well enough that Bradbury could help Ingram more.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

And that's why you don't need to pay Jefferson $35m.

While I think its good that the offense has found ways to move the ball without Jefferson, which is good for the team overall, that is not the conclushion I come to from that.

Jefferson is worth whatever the market will bear for him. If the Vikings dont find a way to pay him another team will.

And?

Sure some team will pay him. I just don't know that they'll win championships.

I guess the argument in favor is that the Eagles found a way to pay AJ Brown.

OTOH the Chiefs have nobodys at WR - But they have Kelce which evens that out.

I just think the money is really, really high for the position.

 

[Biabreakable]

Also great job by Cam Bynum in this game and overall really.

A 4th round pick in 2021 who has panned out well.

 

[FunkyPlutos]

And that's why you don't need to pay Jefferson $35m.

While I think its good that the offense has found ways to move the ball without Jefferson, which is good for the team overall, that is not the conclushion I come to from that.

Jefferson is worth whatever the market will bear for him. If the Vikings dont find a way to pay him another team will.

And?

Sure some team will pay him. I just don't know that they'll win championships.

I guess the argument in favor is that the Eagles found a way to pay AJ Brown.

OTOH the Chiefs have nobodys at WR - But they have Kelce which evens that out.

I just think the money is really, really high for the position.

Darrisaw is the most important one to pay!!

 

[Biabreakable]

And that's why you don't need to pay Jefferson $35m.

While I think its good that the offense has found ways to move the ball without Jefferson, which is good for the team overall, that is not the conclushion I come to from that.

Jefferson is worth whatever the market will bear for him. If the Vikings dont find a way to pay him another team will.

And?

Sure some team will pay him. I just don't know that they'll win championships.

I guess the argument in favor is that the Eagles found a way to pay AJ Brown.

OTOH the Chiefs have nobodys at WR - But they have Kelce which evens that out.

I just think the money is really, really high for the position.

Thats why they got rid of Thielens contract and replaced him with Addison on a rookie contract for now.

To me this is similar to the complaints about Paying Cousins so much money when they first signed him. Eventually the market value catches up and it seems more reasonable.

Its fair to question if they can afford Hockenson, Jefferson and Cousins. Thats a lot of cap space to commit to those 3 positions. Darrisaw will need to be paid more in the near future as well. Their are always going to be sacrifices made somewhere else on the roster to be able to afford these big contracts under the cap.

The cap keeps going up though so those numbers keep going up as well.

Jefferson is priority #1 I dont get where you are coming from suggesting that he is where they should cut costs.

Maybe they should not have traded for Hockenson and paid him what they did if that makes it difficult to sign Jefferson, but thats a different story if it does come down to that.

We have different priorities than the GM. I would like to see more resources dedicated to the offensive line and the defense than I see being allocated. But I would still have contract for Jefferson #1 priority. He has earned it.

 

[Biabreakable]

I may take a deeper dive at watching the defense some more if I can find the time. I think they are still missing a lot of pieces that they need to be a good defense, but the coaching and scheme change does seem to be an improvement from last season.

It might be good enough now to watch without feeling so ill about it anyways, although I think they have a long way to go. With this GM and coach I just have to accept that they will likely never get to where I would like them to be.

The 49ers were missing some key players no doubt and CMC was playing through injury. But the defense did a good enough job for the Vikings to win this game, which I was not expecting.

I did look at defensive snaps for the season so far for a bit.

Cam Bynum has played almost every defensive snap and leads the team in this category.

Harrison Smith, Byron Murphy and Jordan Hicks have all played about 98% of the snaps. Murphy has been a good addition at corner they badly needed. Smith seems to be allowed to move around and play more roles in this defense now which is good. It makes it harder for offenses to account for him and I think its better having him attack than having him play back in coverage. He seems to be filling in as a LB role more now as no other LB besides Hicks have played a lot of snaps. Josh Mettelus has played 88% of the snaps, so yes they have 3 safeties on the field almost all the time. Ivan Pace and Patrick Jones have played about 50% of the snaps each. So they are filling in there, but a safety is taking that role one way or another often.

 

[BigJim®]

Wow, super surprising result last night. It's reassuring that maybe, just maybe, things are not as bleak as I thought on OL (though I'll still need a lot of convincing we don't need more power and/or tenacity at G/C). A+ by Kirk. A-/B+ by defense.

On a 'still things to clean up' note, WTH is going on with Joseph and XPs? Forget the missed FG, though that one was critical. It just seems like Joseph's missed XPs are always after a game changing TD, and sucks the wind out of sails. It was ridiculous to have that be the note we walked into halftime on after such an unbelievable TD by Addison.

 

[zoonation]

They still have a shot at the division.

 

[Biabreakable]

Wow, super surprising result last night. It's reassuring that maybe, just maybe, things are not as bleak as I thought on OL (though I'll still need a lot of convincing we don't need more power and/or tenacity at G/C). A+ by Kirk. A-/B+ by defense.

On a 'still things to clean up' note, WTH is going on with Joseph and XPs? Forget the missed FG, though that one was critical. It just seems like Joseph's missed XPs are always after a game changing TD, and sucks the wind out of sails. It was ridiculous to have that be the note we walked into halftime on after such an unbelievable TD by Addison.

I agree that's a problem but less of a priority to me than the fundamental ones.

Marcus Davenport has only played 25% of the total snaps and most of them in only 3 games. Vs KC, Carolina and vs the Bears.

He has looked good when he is in there but they are not getting enough snaps out of him for the contract they gave him.

Wonnum does a decent job but this defense could be a lot better if they had 3 edge rushers to work with instead of 2. Hunter could kick inside if they had Davenport available on some packages.

 

[Biabreakable]

A fundamental weakness of this defense is vs teams running up the middle and I think they need a bigger LB and another DT to pair with Phillips to resolve that.

They don't have those players on the roster right now the way it has been constructed.

 

[Wingnut]

If SF would have traded for Cousins back in 2017 or 2018 like Kyle Shanahan originally wanted, I'm convinced they'd have a SB win by now.

Great game last night. I take it yall like that?! Yeah, you like that!!

Congrats on the win. Yall wanted it more.

 

[BigJim®]

A fundamental weakness of this defense is vs teams running up the middle and I think they need a bigger LB and another DT to pair with Phillips to resolve that.

Yeah... DT Jordan Davis or Cine and junk picks... will probably be ruing that Kwesi decision for a decade.

 

[Biabreakable]

A fundamental weakness of this defense is vs teams running up the middle and I think they need a bigger LB and another DT to pair with Phillips to resolve that.

Yeah... DT Jordan Davis or Cine and junk picks... will probably be ruing that Kwesi decision for a decade.

Well I have my concerns about the GM that I have voiced already several times. And actually as far as personnel decisions this is more about Grigson than Kwesi. That's his job. Of course Kwesi is the one who decided to give Grigson that job.

Its still too soon to say if Cine or other players beyond Addison and Ingram will end up contributing or not. Maybe they still will, and we can't be sure that Ingram will be a solution. So far I would say not, but offensive linemen do tend to play better in their 3rd season and beyond in the league. I think that's a reason to keep developing linemen as backups behind starters, so that they may be at that point of their careers before the team needs them.

Anyhow I will remind everyone how it looked like the last couple Spielman drafts did not add new talent as one reason why people wanted him gone, but some of those players have shown themselves to be good picks such as Bynum. That just took some time before that became obvious. Same could be true about Cine or some of these other players later on.

 

[BigJim®]

A fundamental weakness of this defense is vs teams running up the middle and I think they need a bigger LB and another DT to pair with Phillips to resolve that.

Yeah... DT Jordan Davis or Cine and junk picks... will probably be ruing that Kwesi decision for a decade.

Well I have my concerns about the GM that I have voiced already several times. And actually as far as personnel decisions this is more about Grigson than Kwesi. That's his job. Of course Kwesi is the one who decided to give Grigson that job.

Its still too soon to say if Cine or other players beyond Addison and Ingram will end up contributing or not. Maybe they still will, and we can't be sure that Ingram will be a solution. So far I would say not, but offensive linemen do tend to play better in their 3rd season and beyond in the league. I think that's a reason to keep developing linemen as backups behind starters, so that they may be at that point of their careers before the team needs them.

Anyhow I will remind everyone how it looked like the last couple Spielman drafts did not add new talent as one reason why people wanted him gone, but some of those players have shown themselves to be good picks such as Bynum. That just took some time before that became obvious. Same could be true about Cine or some of these other players later on.

This seems like 2 different topics... maybe 3.

Round 1, you definitely can't take players that require waiting 3 years for a payoff. At best, that's what Cine could become. I sort of doubt it if he's not seeing the field 7 games into year 2. Meanwhile, Davis is getting meaningful minutes currently as an impact DT.

Delayed production is maybe an appropriate way to evaluate later round pick success (using Bynum/4th as example)... but maybe not. It's a hollow draft success to become right about a guy only when the next contract is looming. Draft success, for me, is when you get vet production under a rookie contract. Remind away about Spielman and point to a single draftee delighting us with a 2 INT game, but that too is not draft success in any meaningful way - any moreso than Ramses Barden getting a surprise 3-TD MNF game was draft success for the Giants. With no high caliber defender drafted by Spielman since 2015, I think that ship sailed and is well off the horizon.

 

[Biabreakable]

A fundamental weakness of this defense is vs teams running up the middle and I think they need a bigger LB and another DT to pair with Phillips to resolve that.

Yeah... DT Jordan Davis or Cine and junk picks... will probably be ruing that Kwesi decision for a decade.

Well I have my concerns about the GM that I have voiced already several times. And actually as far as personnel decisions this is more about Grigson than Kwesi. That's his job. Of course Kwesi is the one who decided to give Grigson that job.

Its still too soon to say if Cine or other players beyond Addison and Ingram will end up contributing or not. Maybe they still will, and we can't be sure that Ingram will be a solution. So far I would say not, but offensive linemen do tend to play better in their 3rd season and beyond in the league. I think that's a reason to keep developing linemen as backups behind starters, so that they may be at that point of their careers before the team needs them.

Anyhow I will remind everyone how it looked like the last couple Spielman drafts did not add new talent as one reason why people wanted him gone, but some of those players have shown themselves to be good picks such as Bynum. That just took some time before that became obvious. Same could be true about Cine or some of these other players later on.

This seems like 2 different topics... maybe 3.

Round 1, you definitely can't take players that require waiting 3 years for a payoff. At best, that's what Cine could become. I sort of doubt it if he's not seeing the field 7 games into year 2. Meanwhile, Davis is getting meaningful minutes currently as an impact DT.

Delayed production is maybe an appropriate way to evaluate later round pick success (using Bynum/4th as example)... but maybe not. It's a hollow draft success to become right about a guy only when the next contract is looming. Draft success, for me, is when you get vet production under a rookie contract. Remind away about Spielman and point to a single draftee delighting us with a 2 INT game, but that too is not draft success in any meaningful way - any moreso than Ramses Barden getting a surprise 3-TD MNF game was draft success for the Giants. With no high caliber defender drafted by Spielman since 2015, I think that ship sailed and is well off the horizon.

What DT Davis are you talking about?

Bynum started contributing his rookie season. I think he was hurt early on but started playing towards the end of that year IIRC.

If the bar is providing veteran production on their 1st contract I would say DJ Wonnum has done that, is doing that. Bynum and Mettelus. But yes most of the hits since 2015 (which was an awesome draft for the Vikings no question) have been on the offensive side of the ball not on defense.

Cook, ONiel, Conklin, Bradbury, Mattison, Jefferson. Cleveland, Darrisaw. That's most of the starting offensive line of the Vikings now there. Yes I know Bradbury and Cleveland haven't been great, but they have been starters. Spielman did do what most fans were asking him to do. Invest in the offensive line.

Part of the misses have been bad luck. Mike Hughes being injured, Jeff Gladney with off the field issues, Irv Smith being injured.

Dantzler and Mond were reach picks that did not pan out.

Not saying it was great by any means, just that those drafts have provided more players that helped or are helping the Vikings now than what the last 2 drafts have provided.

Ed Ingram, Akayleb Evans, Jordan Addison.

I was feeling gracious though since the Vikings got a nice win and my point being that maybe some players like Cine or Booth end up helping the team later on.

What happened to Cine might just be bad luck like what happened to Hughes. Booth was a known injury risk at the time they drafted him. That's why he fell.

 

[VikingFrog]

Hey @Heatman … now that we are officially BACK in the NFC North playoff race and it’s not a lost season (yet)… can we get a thread title update to 2023?

 

[BigJim®]

A fundamental weakness of this defense is vs teams running up the middle and I think they need a bigger LB and another DT to pair with Phillips to resolve that.

Yeah... DT Jordan Davis or Cine and junk picks... will probably be ruing that Kwesi decision for a decade.

Well I have my concerns about the GM that I have voiced already several times. And actually as far as personnel decisions this is more about Grigson than Kwesi. That's his job. Of course Kwesi is the one who decided to give Grigson that job.

Its still too soon to say if Cine or other players beyond Addison and Ingram will end up contributing or not. Maybe they still will, and we can't be sure that Ingram will be a solution. So far I would say not, but offensive linemen do tend to play better in their 3rd season and beyond in the league. I think that's a reason to keep developing linemen as backups behind starters, so that they may be at that point of their careers before the team needs them.

Anyhow I will remind everyone how it looked like the last couple Spielman drafts did not add new talent as one reason why people wanted him gone, but some of those players have shown themselves to be good picks such as Bynum. That just took some time before that became obvious. Same could be true about Cine or some of these other players later on.

This seems like 2 different topics... maybe 3.

Round 1, you definitely can't take players that require waiting 3 years for a payoff. At best, that's what Cine could become. I sort of doubt it if he's not seeing the field 7 games into year 2. Meanwhile, Davis is getting meaningful minutes currently as an impact DT.

Delayed production is maybe an appropriate way to evaluate later round pick success (using Bynum/4th as example)... but maybe not. It's a hollow draft success to become right about a guy only when the next contract is looming. Draft success, for me, is when you get vet production under a rookie contract. Remind away about Spielman and point to a single draftee delighting us with a 2 INT game, but that too is not draft success in any meaningful way - any moreso than Ramses Barden getting a surprise 3-TD MNF game was draft success for the Giants. With no high caliber defender drafted by Spielman since 2015, I think that ship sailed and is well off the horizon.

What DT Davis are you talking about?

Bynum started contributing his rookie season. I think he was hurt early on but started playing towards the end of that year IIRC.

If the bar is providing veteran production on their 1st contract I would say DJ Wonnum has done that, is doing that. Bynum and Mettelus. But yes most of the hits since 2015 (which was an awesome draft for the Vikings no question) have been on the offensive side of the ball not on defense.

Cook, ONiel, Conklin, Bradbury, Mattison, Jefferson. Cleveland, Darrisaw. That's most of the starting offensive line of the Vikings now there. Yes I know Bradbury and Cleveland haven't been great, but they have been starters. Spielman did do what most fans were asking him to do. Invest in the offensive line.

Part of the misses have been bad luck. Mike Hughes being injured, Jeff Gladney with off the field issues, Irv Smith being injured.

Dantzler and Mond were reach picks that did not pan out.

Not saying it was great by any means, just that those drafts have provided more players that helped or are helping the Vikings now than what the last 2 drafts have provided.

Ed Ingram, Akayleb Evans, Jordan Addison.

I was feeling gracious though since the Vikings got a nice win and my point being that maybe some players like Cine or Booth end up helping the team later on.

What happened to Cine might just be bad luck like what happened to Hughes. Booth was a known injury risk at the time they drafted him. That's why he fell.

Jordan Davis

Yeah, agree to disagree on the Spielman picks. I’m grant you O’Neil/Darrisaw/Jefferson/Cook. I don’t view any of the others as being draft ‘successes’ - I’m somewhat surprised you do. It’s just a bunch of guys who wear/wore purple.

Anyway, how ‘bout that win!?! I definitely prefer big play prone chaos D vs vanilla bend/break. I think the players probably do also.

 

[Gally]

I definitely prefer big play prone chaos D vs vanilla bend/break.

This is 100% true. It is so much better. Also, when you have an offense that can score it's not such a terrible thing to have the high risk/high reward defense.

 

[Biabreakable]

A fundamental weakness of this defense is vs teams running up the middle and I think they need a bigger LB and another DT to pair with Phillips to resolve that.

Yeah... DT Jordan Davis or Cine and junk picks... will probably be ruing that Kwesi decision for a decade.

Well I have my concerns about the GM that I have voiced already several times. And actually as far as personnel decisions this is more about Grigson than Kwesi. That's his job. Of course Kwesi is the one who decided to give Grigson that job.

Its still too soon to say if Cine or other players beyond Addison and Ingram will end up contributing or not. Maybe they still will, and we can't be sure that Ingram will be a solution. So far I would say not, but offensive linemen do tend to play better in their 3rd season and beyond in the league. I think that's a reason to keep developing linemen as backups behind starters, so that they may be at that point of their careers before the team needs them.

Anyhow I will remind everyone how it looked like the last couple Spielman drafts did not add new talent as one reason why people wanted him gone, but some of those players have shown themselves to be good picks such as Bynum. That just took some time before that became obvious. Same could be true about Cine or some of these other players later on.

This seems like 2 different topics... maybe 3.

Round 1, you definitely can't take players that require waiting 3 years for a payoff. At best, that's what Cine could become. I sort of doubt it if he's not seeing the field 7 games into year 2. Meanwhile, Davis is getting meaningful minutes currently as an impact DT.

Delayed production is maybe an appropriate way to evaluate later round pick success (using Bynum/4th as example)... but maybe not. It's a hollow draft success to become right about a guy only when the next contract is looming. Draft success, for me, is when you get vet production under a rookie contract. Remind away about Spielman and point to a single draftee delighting us with a 2 INT game, but that too is not draft success in any meaningful way - any moreso than Ramses Barden getting a surprise 3-TD MNF game was draft success for the Giants. With no high caliber defender drafted by Spielman since 2015, I think that ship sailed and is well off the horizon.

What DT Davis are you talking about?

Bynum started contributing his rookie season. I think he was hurt early on but started playing towards the end of that year IIRC.

If the bar is providing veteran production on their 1st contract I would say DJ Wonnum has done that, is doing that. Bynum and Mettelus. But yes most of the hits since 2015 (which was an awesome draft for the Vikings no question) have been on the offensive side of the ball not on defense.

Cook, ONiel, Conklin, Bradbury, Mattison, Jefferson. Cleveland, Darrisaw. That's most of the starting offensive line of the Vikings now there. Yes I know Bradbury and Cleveland haven't been great, but they have been starters. Spielman did do what most fans were asking him to do. Invest in the offensive line.

Part of the misses have been bad luck. Mike Hughes being injured, Jeff Gladney with off the field issues, Irv Smith being injured.

Dantzler and Mond were reach picks that did not pan out.

Not saying it was great by any means, just that those drafts have provided more players that helped or are helping the Vikings now than what the last 2 drafts have provided.

Ed Ingram, Akayleb Evans, Jordan Addison.

I was feeling gracious though since the Vikings got a nice win and my point being that maybe some players like Cine or Booth end up helping the team later on.

What happened to Cine might just be bad luck like what happened to Hughes. Booth was a known injury risk at the time they drafted him. That's why he fell.

Jordan Davis

Yeah, agree to disagree on the Spielman picks. I’m grant you O’Neil/Darrisaw/Jefferson/Cook. I don’t view any of the others as being draft ‘successes’ - I’m somewhat surprised you do. It’s just a bunch of guys who wear/wore purple.

Anyway, how ‘bout that win!?! I definitely prefer big play prone chaos D vs vanilla bend/break. I think the players probably do also.

We'll you said that a successful draft pick was a player who filled a veteran spot in their first contract, so those players would qualify as that.

They can't all be stars you know? No team has that. A veteran spot is filled by an average player. Maybe some of these players you consider below average and I would agree with that to a degree, especially Bradbury, but he has played a bit better the past couple seasons I think than he was before.

I was open to Jordan Davis as the pick that year. I think we agreed about that although I was less sure about him than you. It's my understanding that he is still a rotational player although a good one. The question about snap management with him is what made that choice somewhat questionable.

The Vikings have not drafted a defensive lineman in the 1st round since Sharrif Floyd in 2013. He didn't last long. I think the Vikings are long overdue to take one early and preferably a defensive tackle.

Yeah I am happy about the win and agree I prefer a defense that attacks. Which is why the Eagles game was so disappointing to me how they played that. I am glad it's changed.

I haven't watched a Vikings game live yet. Just have watched some after the fact. This game makes me more interested in seeing what the current defense is up to.

Maybe I can do that without wanting to stab my eyeballs now.

 

[snogger]

Great win!!!!
Now to carry that momentum and win a game they should win.

If they bring that same intensity to GB, they might actually win a game by more than one score

 

[BigJim®]

Great win!!!!
Now to carry that momentum and win a game they should win.

If they bring that same intensity to GB, they might actually win a game by more than one score

It says a lot about the team that they rose to a challenge without JJ. Prior weeks, they were too self destructive to get a read if this team had will. I hate myself for daring to wonder if that Addison play could become a fate reversal. It felt epic, in that moment.

I noticed a couple post game interviews mention TE chip blocking helping to avoid sacks. If that is usable against 49ers front, they should do it against every opponent. Period. That extra time for Kirk is worth giving up literally anything else the offense might want to do.

 

[snogger]

Sure, they FINALLY win by more than one score, but at a cost that will probably end their season as it sounds like Kirk tore his Achilles

Can someone explain to me just what the hell O'Connell was thinking there in the 4th quarter????

Up 14, less than 5 minutes to go, rookie QB who only started 5 collegiate games, inside your own 10...... And you call a pocket Pass

He is so lucky the D stepped up and stopped them... Just outright DUMB!

 

[Biabreakable]

Normally I would be on cloud 9 after beating the Packers but the injury to Cousins sucks all the joy of that away.

What do you all know about Jaren Hall?

The team finally gets to .500 and on the right path to possibly being a contender then this happens.

I spent some time watching the offensive line vs 49ers and while they were not perfect I was pretty impressed with how well they played. Particularly Darrisaw and ONeil, but I saw some good things from Bradbury and Risner too. Ingram still looks like the weakest link.

I didn't get to the defense enough, just haven't found the time. From what I can gather they are playing good enough if the offense is playing as well as it has, but without Kirk that's bound to be worse and this running game can't carry the team.

 

[Wingnut]

Schefter:

Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles today, per source. An MRI will be taken to confirm.

 

[snogger]

Joshua Dobbs ... Hmmm I know nothing about him, so difficult to weigh in.

Going to be interesting to see how Hall does with a full week of practice as the starter.
Interesting notes on his player card https://www.vikings.com/team/players-roster/jaren-hall/

 

[Biabreakable]

Vikings traded Ezra Cleveland to the Jaguars for a 6th round pick. Essentially replacing the pick they gave for Dobbs by doing that.

Cleveland was a free agent next season so they must have decided to not sign him to a new contract.

KOC said they like the play of Dalton Risner and Blake Brandel as the back up. Also mentioned they expect to get Reed back healthy soon.

Cleveland was playing well before being injured and Risner is a free agent in 2024 as well so I do have to wonder about their plans are for depth and development of linemen who can step in if there are injuries.

As I mentioned before it usually takes 3 seasons for a rookie offensive lineman to play at their best level, so personally I would prefer to have seasoned depth waiting in the wings instead of being forced to play a rookie lineman too soon due to the lack of other options. We have seen what that looks like with the struggles of young linemen before and Ingram is still in that development stage right now as well.

Cleveland would have been a great player to keep as I think he is capable of playing tackle or guard. But perhaps his asking price was going to be too high for the Vikings to keep him when they are budgeting for a new contract for Darrisaw.

There is potentially going to be a hole to fill at LG next season one way or another and I would like to have that covered.

That said Risner was still available after the season started, so perhaps the Vikings feel they will be able to fill the spot easier than I do.

Risner and Ingram seem more suited to inside zone scheme I think KOC prefers for the offense rather than faster guards who can pull perhaps better.

 

[Donnybrook]

I tell you I was freaking out when the Vikings signed Sean Mannion to the practice squad earlier and was so pleased that they chose not to just run it back again.

I got to give it to the Vikings front office on their recent moves. They said to themselves if we go down, we are going down swinging.

 

[Wingnut]

Incredible stories from the Vikings' locker room today. Josh Dobbs didn't take a single rep with the offense in practice. No snaps from Garrett Bradbury. Had never thrown passes to anyone, and didn't know most of their full names. "That's for next week," he said.

https://twitter.com/SeifertESPN/status/1721291689074000098?t=Awn6nTgHU7vzkhb9Gihc4g&s=19

 

[Biabreakable]

I tell you I was freaking out when the Vikings signed Sean Mannion to the practice squad earlier and was so pleased that they chose not to just run it back again.

I got to give it to the Vikings front office on their recent moves. They said to themselves if we go down, we are going down swinging.

Yeah although I do not like some of their moves such as trading away Ezra Cleveland (I think he could have helped them in this game over Quessenberry and just general quality back up insurance) I have been impressed with some of their moves. The biggest one the acquisition of Josh Dobbs obviously.

But looking at how Dalvin Cook hasn't really been great this seems like the right move to me now, even though I didn't like it at the time. Some other things I have been scrutinizing are the trades in 2022 that allowed the Lions to get Jameson Williams and the Packers get Christian Watson. Those WR do not seem to be panning out yet, so it takes some of the sting out of those trades. I am still not very happy with what they did get out of that draft, but it doesn't look as bad to me as it did a year ago all things considered. Bad luck with the Cine injury.

I hated how the defense wilted vs the Falcons run game on their drive that allowed them to regain the lead, but overall I am happy with the direction and play of the defense this season compared to last year and even before that.

So this has me feeling a bit more neutral about the GM and willing to be a bit more patient to see how their decisions play out before being so critical. My mind has changed a bit.

Maybe I will end up changing my mind about the trades of Lowe and Cleveland in time, but I still feel these 2 players could have helped the Vikings overall line depth today.

 

[Biabreakable]

Incredible stories from the Vikings' locker room today. Josh Dobbs didn't take a single rep with the offense in practice. No snaps from Garrett Bradbury. Had never thrown passes to anyone, and didn't know most of their full names. "That's for next week," he said.

https://twitter.com/SeifertESPN/status/1721291689074000098?t=Awn6nTgHU7vzkhb9Gihc4g&s=19

Yeah the interview with Dobbs reveals a lot of this which is amazing. Will try to link that once I can find it again so people can hear it from Dobbs himself.

 

[Donnybrook]

I would like to continue to wax poetically about the play of Josh Dobbs but I have to think that the priority for Kwesi needs to find a replacement for Akers next week. Any good pass catching RBs available on the NFL wavier wire.

 

[skol asylum]

I would like to continue to wax poetically about the play of Josh Dobbs but I have to think that the priority for Kwesi needs to find a replacement for Akers next week. Any good pass catching RBs available on the NFL wavier wire.

Amp Lee

 

[snogger]

What a gutsy performance.. To have to go to your backup-backup QB, who had been with the team less than a week.. And WIN??

Jefferson comes back soon, and the defense is getting better each week.

Next 3 games are all winnable.. They have a good chance of being 8-4 going into the bye..

 

[Biabreakable]

I would like to continue to wax poetically about the play of Josh Dobbs but I have to think that the priority for Kwesi needs to find a replacement for Akers next week. Any good pass catching RBs available on the NFL wavier wire.

I don't know.

Rams took Gaskin from the Vikings practice squad.

There is always someone out there but no names come to mind immediately.

Although I am not a fan of Cam Akers that is a move I think was good by the Vikings to bring him in. Sad for him getting injured again.

 

[Donnybrook]

I would like to continue to wax poetically about the play of Josh Dobbs but I have to think that the priority for Kwesi needs to find a replacement for Akers next week. Any good pass catching RBs available on the NFL wavier wire.

Amp Lee

You really are an OG. Tommy Kramer avatar should have been my first clue.

 

[Biabreakable]

Doing a quick search I did come across Dwayne Washington but it looks like the Broncos activated from their practice squad week 5 so he is not available.

Kene Kwangwu was inactive for week 9 but he looks like the next man up. Ty Chandler likely plays more now.

I agree they will need to add someone to practice squad at least. Not sure if they still have McBride or not.

 

[mr roboto]

This game was so much fun to watch. KFC clearly has this team believing in each other. I’ve never seen a better culture in the NFL. Any old school people who think that new school leader ship doesn’t work needs to watch his team play.

Having said that, I really hope they start Hall a few more times this year because I think he has something and I’m not sure they’re going to sign Josh Dobbs to a long-term deal anyway.

 

[skol asylum]

I would like to continue to wax poetically about the play of Josh Dobbs but I have to think that the priority for Kwesi needs to find a replacement for Akers next week. Any good pass catching RBs available on the NFL wavier wire.

Amp Lee

You really are an OG. Tommy Kramer avatar should have been my first clue.

Oh yeah. Born in 73 I'm sure I started watching Vikings football sometime in the early/mid 80s with my dad. I'm sure I saw Kramer but I don't really remember much. I do remember Wade Wilson kind of taking over from him.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Kevin Seifert reporting...

Incredible stories from the Vikings' locker room today. Josh Dobbs didn't take a single rep with the offense in practice. No snaps from Garrett Bradbury. Had never thrown passes to anyone, and didn't know most of their full names. "That's for next week," he said.

 

[mr roboto]

Kevin Seifert reporting...

Incredible stories from the Vikings' locker room today. Josh Dobbs didn't take a single rep with the offense in practice. No snaps from Garrett Bradbury. Had never thrown passes to anyone, and didn't know most of their full names. "That's for next week," he said.

Wait until you hear howKevin O ‘Connell essentially had to translate plays in the headset for every snap so Dobbs could understand the play in terms of he knew from Arizona. During the two minute drill I don’t think that headset cuts off so O’Connells basically walking Dobbs through where to throw the ball.

Josh Dobbs deserves a ton of credit, but this was basically O’Connell playing quarterback through the hands and feet of another human being.

 

[Gally]

Josh Dobbs deserves a ton of credit, but this was basically O’Connell playing quarterback through the hands and feet of another human being.

I am not so sure about that. He may have walked him through the plays and where to look but he didn't tell him throw the ball to #4 now. It was an incredible job by everyone and amazing it could be done but I think you are short changing Dobbs a bit here.

 

[Biabreakable]

Josh Dobbs deserves a ton of credit, but this was basically O’Connell playing quarterback through the hands and feet of another human being.

I am not so sure about that. He may have walked him through the plays and where to look but he didn't tell him throw the ball to #4 now. It was an incredible job by everyone and amazing it could be done but I think you are short changing Dobbs a bit here.

I think you are both right to a degree and Dobbs deserves most of the credit here. He did an amazing job escaping the pass rush multiple times and that is almost entirely his doing. On that 4th down that they needed to convert to keep the drive going the defense could have gotten him at least twice. He stepped out of a tackle after somehow evading Bud Dupree from the back side. Amazing eyes in the back of his head and 6th sense for when and where he needed to move to avoid being taken down.

As far as input from KOC yes. He was being told where his first read was and where the other receivers were going to be on these plays. The receivers were helping him out with this as well, but Dobbs still has to process all this information quickly on his own.

As far as the game winning TD that was a designed concept where they expected Powell to come open on the back side of the play based on where Dobbs is told to look with his first read, then what to come back to. This is what KOC helped him with along the way.

With practice reps Dobbs would know this, but without those reps he did not and needed some help.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

I would like to continue to wax poetically about the play of Josh Dobbs but I have to think that the priority for Kwesi needs to find a replacement for Akers next week. Any good pass catching RBs available on the NFL wavier wire.

Amp Lee

You really are an OG. Tommy Kramer avatar should have been my first clue.

Oh yeah. Born in 73 I'm sure I started watching Vikings football sometime in the early/mid 80s with my dad. I'm sure I saw Kramer but I don't really remember much. I do remember Wade Wilson kind of taking over from him.

I see TK all over the place and he is ALWAYS wearing his Tommy Kramer branded swag. ALWAYS.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I'm a Cousins apologist but yesterday proved why this team is better off with a more mobile quarterback. Cousins would have been sacked or would have thrown the ball away on several of the positive plays Dobbs made on his own.

I have read that the Vikings offensive line rates pretty highly but I still don't see it. They still get blown up up the middle on way too many plays.

 

[Biabreakable]

I'm a Cousins apologist but yesterday proved why this team is better off with a more mobile quarterback. Cousins would have been sacked or would have thrown the ball away on several of the positive plays Dobbs made on his own.

I have read that the Vikings offensive line rates pretty highly but I still don't see it. They still get blown up up the middle on way too many plays.

The mobility helps for sure. Dobbs seems to have good sense of the pass rush as well.

Obviously he didn't on the safely. That is something that may have taken some reps for him to get a feel for where pass rush would be coming from and how much his blockers could do.

To his credit he seemed to figure that out after the first couple drives. This is something that practice should only help him get a better feel for that.

As far as this game the Falcons have been creating some of the most pressure in the NFL so far this season. Maybe not as much as the Eagles or Jets, not sure. I just know they are in the top 5 or so in the league.

The Vikings did not have Darrisaw and of course that's going to make life harder for Risner, who only has a few games with the team under his belt.

I don't know. I have spent a lot of time learning what I can about offensive line play, but I still don't fully grasp what good line play looks like and/or if my expectations are too high.

Some of the personnel moves I see from the Vikings and other teams suggests to me that their expectations about what is good enough is lower than what I want to see. Maybe I am unrealistic about it.

QB play does affect this as well and Cousins does hold the ball too long at times that makes the offensive line look worse.

Now that we have a mobile QB it gives us a different perspective to judge the line by.

 

[skol asylum]

I would like to continue to wax poetically about the play of Josh Dobbs but I have to think that the priority for Kwesi needs to find a replacement for Akers next week. Any good pass catching RBs available on the NFL wavier wire.

Amp Lee

You really are an OG. Tommy Kramer avatar should have been my first clue.

Oh yeah. Born in 73 I'm sure I started watching Vikings football sometime in the early/mid 80s with my dad. I'm sure I saw Kramer but I don't really remember much. I do remember Wade Wilson kind of taking over from him.

I see TK all over the place and he is ALWAYS wearing his Tommy Kramer branded swag. ALWAYS.

Yeah I follow him on Facebook and he pumps out his swag to buyers. I bought a Bud Grant autographed mini helmet from him and shipped to my dad as a gift once.

 

[skol asylum]

I'm a Cousins apologist but yesterday proved why this team is better off with a more mobile quarterback. Cousins would have been sacked or would have thrown the ball away on several of the positive plays Dobbs made on his own.

I have read that the Vikings offensive line rates pretty highly but I still don't see it. They still get blown up up the middle on way too many plays.

And they can't run block. At all.

 

[BigJim®]

Definitely a twist to 2023, but a welcome one. Last week was pretty deflating. I just could not picture any QB on this roster inspiring a rally cry. Dobbs’ heroics had to have won over the locker room.

Agree with Andy that a mobile QB may be a plus with this leaky line. I know nothing about Dobbs, but he seemed to have good pocket movement and awareness, obviously other than the safety. If he can keep his eyes downfield scrambling, maybe there is hope when Jefferson returns.

 

[mr roboto]

I'm a Cousins apologist but yesterday proved why this team is better off with a more mobile quarterback. Cousins would have been sacked or would have thrown the ball away on several of the positive plays Dobbs made on his own.

I have read that the Vikings offensive line rates pretty highly but I still don't see it. They still get blown up up the middle on way too many plays.

It’s hard to play this game because they might have called plays where he would never been in that position because he knew the playbook, etc.

Kirk cousins was playing wonderfully this year, but we all knew that we had to find our QB in the future and I would love to see what KOC could do with a young, mobile quarterback.

I think cousins peaked this year and if he would’ve stayed healthy, I say let’s go for it But now that he isn’t and now that we are showing the fans that we can win with a journeyman talent with some moxie because of our team and our playcalling I think this will unlock some fans brains a little bit.