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***OFFICIAL*** Minnesota Vikings 2015 Season Thread (1 Viewer)
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skol asylum
Footballguy
Mayock: Vikings' pick T.J. Clemmings can be a rookie starter
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000490373/article/mayock-vikings-pick-tj-clemmings-can-be-a-rookie-starter
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000490373/article/mayock-vikings-pick-tj-clemmings-can-be-a-rookie-starter
CanadianNFLJunkie
Footballguy
Nah Clemmings is too raw and currently not 100% healthy. I'd think if he eventually moves to a starting position, it's because he was moved to LG because Yankey isn't the answer and we didn't claim anyone from waivers who was cut post-draft.
As for our other picks, recently.... depth for the DL with DuBose who is an undersized DT and another project at Tackle with Thompson. Geez if we moved Thompson and Clemmings both to Guards, we'd have some huge boys for sure.
As for our other picks, recently.... depth for the DL with DuBose who is an undersized DT and another project at Tackle with Thompson. Geez if we moved Thompson and Clemmings both to Guards, we'd have some huge boys for sure.
CanadianNFLJunkie
Footballguy
With our last two picks, supposedly coming up, I'd love for us to go after Anthony Harris, a Safety from Virgina, an injured stud CB who might be on IR for the season or at least the PUP list, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu aka "IEO" from Oregon and WR Tre McBride from William n Mary.
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CanadianNFLJunkie
Footballguy
Vikings reportedly signed the following already.....
Justin Coleman, CB, Tennessee
Davaris Daniels, WR, Notre Dame
Anthony Harris, S, Virginia
Taylor Heinike, QB, Old Dominion
Jordan Leslie, WR, BYU
Gavin Lutman, WR, Pittsburg State
Justin Coleman, CB, Tennessee
Davaris Daniels, WR, Notre Dame
Anthony Harris, S, Virginia
Taylor Heinike, QB, Old Dominion
Jordan Leslie, WR, BYU
Gavin Lutman, WR, Pittsburg State
CanadianNFLJunkie
Footballguy
A very nice article about our rookie WR Diggs
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2015-05-02/2015-nfl-draft-vikings-call-to-draft-stefon-diggs-interrupt-film-study-maryland-wr
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2015-05-02/2015-nfl-draft-vikings-call-to-draft-stefon-diggs-interrupt-film-study-maryland-wr
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Overall I am pretty happy. Especially about the Vikings drafting Kendricks. I think he is going to be a good starter for us and the linebacker group is looking pretty good with him and Barr now being the main LBs with either Hodges, Greenway or Cole filling in when they do need 3 LB.
I hope Trey Waynes can live up to his draft position. He is the highest drafted defensive back in Vikings history. I am really excited about him in combination with Rhodes. The backfield looks a lot better with Munnerlin now playing the slot/nickle corner and Josh Robinson or Terrance Newman playing the dime.
Danielle Hunter is a work in progress. He plays better against the run that he does getting after the QB. He needs to develop pass rush moves. A nice project that if the Vikings are lucky might develop into a Everson Griffen type of player in time.
I don't know much about Clemmings but intend to find out some more about him and the other players they drafted today
2015 NFL Draft: Agent says Teaneck's T.J. Clemmings will be a steal in the 4th round
I hope Trey Waynes can live up to his draft position. He is the highest drafted defensive back in Vikings history. I am really excited about him in combination with Rhodes. The backfield looks a lot better with Munnerlin now playing the slot/nickle corner and Josh Robinson or Terrance Newman playing the dime.
Danielle Hunter is a work in progress. He plays better against the run that he does getting after the QB. He needs to develop pass rush moves. A nice project that if the Vikings are lucky might develop into a Everson Griffen type of player in time.
I don't know much about Clemmings but intend to find out some more about him and the other players they drafted today
2015 NFL Draft: Agent says Teaneck's T.J. Clemmings will be a steal in the 4th round
jestertj
Footballguy
Biabreakable
Footballguy
MyCole Pruitt Is the Best 2015 Tight End Prospect You Haven't Heard of
He has a similar build to AC Leonard who the Vikings tried out last year. He does have good leaping ability to compensate for only being 6'2"
This guy seems more of a receiver than a blocker but I doubt he is better than Chase Ford.
He has a similar build to AC Leonard who the Vikings tried out last year. He does have good leaping ability to compensate for only being 6'2"
This guy seems more of a receiver than a blocker but I doubt he is better than Chase Ford.
CanadianNFLJunkie
Footballguy
Pruitt led the NCAA in catches yards and TDs last year, so maybe he'll turn into our deep threat from the TE position in 2 years. Norv loves using the TE in his offense so.....
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Spielman on Draft's Final Day, 2015 Class
Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman
I am very excited about this year’s draft class. We were able to add a lot of very talented football players in this third day. We did a little bit of movement on this day as well. First and foremost, I have to thank all of our scouts, directors and coaches for the effort that they put into this. I know that we are going to add and improve our football team coming out of this weekend. We’re very excited about the UFA (Undrafted College Free Agent) class; we’re trying to finalize that right now, but we’re very excited about some of the names that we were able to get in the college free agency. I’ll just start running down the line here.
Our first fourth-round pick, T.J. Clemmings, everybody is questioning the injury part. We found out about it at the Combine. We did a lot of calling on him, double-checking and triple-checking today. We feel that it was an old injury that was there, it was discovered at the Combine, he did not miss any practices during the year at Pitt, he did not miss any practices down at the Senior Bowl, he worked out at the Combine, we had our offensive line coaches at Pitt and he worked out there at Pitt as well. We’re very excited that we were able to get a guy of that caliber, of that talent, that we were able to get him in the fourth round. He’s a converted defensive lineman playing the offensive line the last two years. When you look at the junior tape on him and the jump that he made from his junior to senior year, it’s pretty remarkable for how quickly he picked that up. We went down to the Senior Bowl. It probably was not as great of a week as he probably anticipated; we moved him over to the left side a little bit, he’s basically been on the right side, but we’re very excited to get an opportunity to work with him. He has the athletic skillset to play both sides, and I know our coaches, offensive coaches and offensive line coaches were very excited to get an opportunity to work with this kid just because of the tremendous upside that he has.
In our fifth round, we went to Mr. (MyCole) Pruitt from Southern Illinois, my alma mater, even though he didn’t know I was from there. He’s a very athletic half-back type full-back. They put him out on the slot and he played something on the line of scrimmage as a tight end. I know when we talked about him, he ran very fast at the Combine and he showed up at the All-Star game. He has a lot of the traits that we’re looking for, especially in Norv Turner’s offense, being able to do multiple things. He has very good hands, he’s aggressive as a blocker, and Norv, as we sat there and talked about him through the draft meetings, felt that we can do a lot of different things with him and play him at a lot of different positions.
Our second fifth round choice was Stefon Diggs
Going into the sixth round, Tyrus Thompson
In the sixth round, the second one was B.J. Dubose
In the seventh round, we went with Austin Shepherd. There’s another multi-position guy, he played right tackle at Alabama. He can slide inside and we’ll probably start him out at guard once our coaches get their hands on him. He played some guard at the Senior Bowl as well. He’s a very tough, physical and aggressive kid. He comes from a big time program, he’s a kid that’s well coached, and we felt like we got great value with where he was at in the seventh round.
Our last guy in the seventh round was Edmond Robinson, a linebacker out in Newberry. He’s another very talented athlete that’s a little raw. Adam Zimmer worked him out after the South Carolina pro day. He went over to Newberry to work this kid out. He’s played outside and you don’t see him a lot in the film at a stack position, but he has great length, he has great speed, range, and he’s going to be another guy that has a lot of athletic tools to work with but it’s going to be a little bit of a learning curve. But you can’t teach his length, you can’t teach his speech and you can’t teach his athletic ability. So we’ll look at him as a guy that can maybe play multiple positions at the linebacker spot, maybe do some pass-rush off the edge, but we’re very excited from his standpoint. From the athletic skillset, he has a lot of tools to work with. We’ll definitely look at him and see how quickly he comes along.
So we really tried to hone in, coming out of the draft last night, that we’re going to really hone in on the offensive side of the ball. There was a lot of depth, we felt, on the offensive side, and we really kind of honed in early with our early picks in the third day. Then, as we got through there, we started going and looking at our board and started taking the best player available. Then we’re going to have a couple of free agents that I think are going to have a legitimate chance, and we’ll get that list to you as soon as we can.
Q: How would you assess the way your draft unfolded this weekend?
A: We thought it unfolded well for us. There were a lot of guys there that we didn’t anticipate that came into our lap. When we had an opportunity to trade down, I don’t think we traded up at all to accumulate more picks, so we were able to do that. We’re trying to get as many guys to create as much competition as we can on this roster. With the current guys on our roster, with some of the guys we were able to sign in free agency, and I know we didn’t spend a lot of money in free agency, but those guys have some value. Now adding this along with our college free agent class, we feel that we’re going to have a very competitive 90-man roster.
Q: You beefed up the offensive line today. Is this because you knew the draft was going to be pretty deep at offensive line?
A: Looking at our board, there were some good offensive linemen that we knew were going to be sitting there. When we took T.J. Clemmings, you see a run on offensive lineman right away. For the rest of that fourth round, all of those big guys start coming off the board. We were fortunate enough that T.J. kind of started it and he fell down to us so we felt he was the best guy there and to be honest with you, we graded him a lot higher than what we were able to draft him. There were a lot of good offensive linemen, especially in the third day today, and we were able to add a lot of value for those guys that we brought in.
Q: Were you looking for tackles specifically?
A: We were looking at multi-position guys. I think T.J. is going to be a potential left or right tackle, and I think the other guys that we drafted can play tackle but we can also swing inside of the guard as well.
Q: How long does that process take to slide a guy inside to the interior of the offensive line?
A: Our coaches get a pretty good feel for that when they’re out there working those guys out. I can’t emphasize enough how important it us for our coaches to get out there and work with those guys. They can come back and give you their honest assessment of where he is, what he can potentially be, but that all depends on each kid individually. Once we get them in here and we get into our rookie minicamp weekend, we’ll start to get a feel for them. We should probably get a good feel by the end of our final mandatory minicamp on whether this guy can or can’t. But again, especially up front with the offensive and defensive linemen, you’re not really going to get a true indication until you get those pads on when we get down to Mankato. I mentioned in last night, but it’s going to be a great opportunity to have that fifth preseason game because these guys are going to get a lot of extra reps and we’re going to get a lot of chances to evaluate these guys.
Q: Is there any thought that Clemmings might have to clean up on that injury?
A: No, I think that the media has reported that that is why he fell. We beat up Eric Sugarman pretty good today, I said ‘I know what you’re telling me in that this guy hasn’t missed any time.’ And he hasn’t. He’s played with it and this is not a new injury. I think this is something that he had and it was just discovered at the combine so we’ll bring him in and let him start to compete. We talked on the phone and the kid said he felt great so we’ll just take it from there.
Q: Is that something that can deteriorate over the years?
A: I am not going to sit here at talk doctor with you. We’ve discussed a lot of things on it but we feel if he’s able to play with it, and he has played with it, that he should be good to go.
Q: If he doesn’t have a foot injury is he still looked at in that first or second round?
A: You would have to ask other teams that. We thought he was a very good football player.
Q: The fact that you waited to address the guard position, does that say anything about how you guys feel about David Yankey
A: Not at all. All were doing is that we’re very excited about how David came back and I think we’re going to have great competition up front on that offensive line. We added some guys at the end of the season, we had some guys at the end of last year that we’re excited about that were on our practice squad or didn’t play. The best thing you can do is continue to add players at every position and the best guys are going to come out and surface at the top. You’re never going to not take players to create competition at a spot. I thought today when we really went hard on the offensive line that we are definitely going to create a lot of competition. It’s definitely going to put a lot of sense of urgency and well find out who fits best for the Minnesota Vikings.
Q: Is La’el Collins someone you will consider in free agency?
A: La’el Collins is a very talented football player and I know the situation that came up, but until we get further information I am not going to comment on him.
Q: You had a lot of opportunity to add some safeties in the draft yet didn’t, do you feel comfortable with the safety position opposite Harrison Smith
A: I’ll let you know when our college agency comes out. One thing I can tell you though is definitely [Antone] Exum from last year who made the conversion from corner to safety, we’re very excited also about the progress he has made. Also with [Robert] Blanton and [Andrew] Sendejo I think we know what those guys are, but you know Exum is someone were definitely going to be keeping a close eye on and see how well he comes along from last year, but very talented athlete.
Q: You guys drafted a couple of those raw athletic players that might take a few years to develop, what goes in to picking players like that?
A: I think when you get down, especially into the third day, that if they have the tools that these coaches can work with, they don’t have to come in and be immediate impact player right away. Some of these guys may not make our roster, but be great practice squad guys, guys that we have time to develop. As long as they have the traits and the athletic skill set that can play at this level, yet may not be totally polished to where they are going to be and they have upside, I’ll take those guys every day of the week and that’s how much belief I have in this coaching staff in developing guys.
Q: Does that play into the trust you have in the coaching staff and their ability to develop players?
A: Oh yeah. Our coaches have a lot of say in that too. As we go back in forth in the meetings, “Hey I’d love to work with this kid he may not be ready this year but this guy has tremendous upside and were going to work like heck to get him to be the best player that we can.”
Q: Just tell me about the depth at running back, you didn’t take one. What was the thinking on not taking a running back?
A: It’s just how the board fell, and we didn’t want to force any issues but also we tried to address as many needs as we could on this third day. That’s why I love to have as many picks as we had. I think we got to ten, didn’t we today? So again, creating as much competition, and when you get all those picks whatever guys can come out and surface, if you hit two or three of those guys you’ve done pretty well.
Q: You mentioned on the analytical side, about how it helped out last year to get a guy likeJerick McKinnon
A: Yeah, there were a few guys. I’ll let you know if they make it.
Q: Just from the outside looking in there was an obvious trend of the guys you’ve took, high character guys as you’d like to say. Can you talk about why that’s so important for you?
A: When Coach Zimmer came in here we really wanted to emphasize that. Smart, tough, compassionate but very high character guys because I think once you have high quality, high character players, those are the guys eventually you’re going to win ball games with.
Q: Rick how excited are Mike and the defensive coaching staff to get the three guys you got early and add them to that young core you got defensively?
A: I don’t know if Coach Zimmer ever gets excited, but I know he is very happy we were able to get the defensive guys. I know our coaches right now are glad probably that this process is over and they’re very excited about next weekend and getting the opportunity to start working with these guys.
Q: Do you feel in the past two years you’ve been able to bring in the kind of talent that Zimmer wants for his defense, to fit his scheme?
A: When we do personnel, we’re doing it to fit the schemes and what this coaching staff wants. I mean and I’ve said this in the past, I can tell you and our scouts can tell you what this guy is and isn’t, but we have to get some direction from the coaching staff also, yes he can or no he can’t fit into what we’re going to ask him to do in our scheme. And I think the communication between the coaches and the personnel department; you don’t have the chance to have success unless you’re both on the same page.
Q: You’ve mentioned Pruitt at fullback, are there thoughts of having him compete withZach Line
A: Well, he can play multiple positions. And I know I’ve read and I’ve heard some things on [Charles] Clay from down at Miami, he did a lot of multiple things for them and I know he played very well against us down at Miami when we were down there this year, but Norv felt that to get an athlete of that caliber that can do multiple positions can give you that much more of a weapon on the offense. So Norv can say, “Well I can use him sometimes in a slot to try and create a mismatch.” We can use him as a potential Rhett Ellison
Q: How you look at Joe Berger
A: Joe, since he’s been here has been very valuable for us because he can play center, he can play guard, he stepped in and played extremely well for us last year. He was one of the priorities that we definitely wanted to sign back because of his versatility, because of his experience, and we are going to have a very young group of guys coming up behind him, but the one guy that we really wanted to target to keep on our roster from our own UFA’s was Joe Berger.
Q: Just overall, with this class, how do you feel it about it compared to some of your other classes?
A: I’ll let you know. Let me at least see them run around. I think the one thing that really sticks out about these guys is I know we’ve got some pretty good athletes. That’s been a point of emphasis. Fitting the scheme, fitting the traits, but I know if we’re able to get the best athletes at their position as possible then they have a chance to develop if they’re willing to step up and do it.
Q: That plan is really long term. Do you feel like you’re in the position to win now with the players that you have slated to start?
A: Right now we’re focused on getting through this rookie minicamp, getting through the OTA’s. I think we’re very excited just to see where we’re at as a football team once we get going. I know Coach Zimmer will address that next week when he talks to you, but until you get all these guys together and you start seeing the competition, until you see some of our guys from last year and how much they’ve progressed, where they’re at, I’m anxious to see a lot of the guys from last year that maybe got redshirted or didn’t play as much. We haven’t had them on the field yet, but from all indications that we’ve seen so far through phase one of the OTA’s we’re very excited about some of the draft class from last year.
Q: This was you second year drafting for Zimmer and Norv Turner’s scheme. Did you feel more comfortable at all just knowing the guy’s they wanted you to bring in?
A: It was good last year, it was great this year. Because we’ve been through the process one time around, I’ve been able to see these coaches coach, I’ve been able to hear what they’re teaching. I understand even more and I think our scouts even understand what they’re looking for. To go through the tape and to hear the traits last year but then to actually go through it one full year, to go through a full season, to listen to them evaluate our team as we go through it, it made that picture even that much clearer.
Q: Was there any consideration for a young developmental quarterback at any point in the draft?
A: We’ll see in college free agency.
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Biabreakable
Footballguy
Kalil is going to have to play much better than he has to earn that $11 million next season or get a contract extension.
I was not really looking at tackle prospects as much as guards and overall I was not impressed with the 2015 offensive tackle group compared to the last couple of draft classes. There were some good guards with tackle flexibility in this draft class such as Schreff, Collins and Erving as well as other tackles who may end up being a better fit as guards.
I like that the Vikings decided to take Clemmings to play tackle. He was ranked pretty highly on Arifs consensus board. He was the fourth overall offensive tackle.
So if he pans out the Vikings have a player who could push Kalil for playing time and is an option to take over the LT spot if Kalil fails.
The Vikings also drafted Tyrus Thompson out of Oklahoma. He was rankined as the 13th offensive tackle on the big board and one of two Oklahoma prospects that were graded pretty highly but might need to move to guard in the NFL. The Vikings have obvious connections with Oklahoma due to Peterson and Phil Loadholt. Thompson is another player in a similar mold as Loadholt but perhaps not as quick. But he could develop into a powerful guard.
The last linemen they drafted was Austin Shepherd out of Alabama. I don't know much about him yet.
All of these moves should lead to more competition on the offensive line. It looks like Yankey has the inside track to starting at LG right now unless Thompson or Berger beat him out for the job.
I was not really looking at tackle prospects as much as guards and overall I was not impressed with the 2015 offensive tackle group compared to the last couple of draft classes. There were some good guards with tackle flexibility in this draft class such as Schreff, Collins and Erving as well as other tackles who may end up being a better fit as guards.
I like that the Vikings decided to take Clemmings to play tackle. He was ranked pretty highly on Arifs consensus board. He was the fourth overall offensive tackle.
So if he pans out the Vikings have a player who could push Kalil for playing time and is an option to take over the LT spot if Kalil fails.
The Vikings also drafted Tyrus Thompson out of Oklahoma. He was rankined as the 13th offensive tackle on the big board and one of two Oklahoma prospects that were graded pretty highly but might need to move to guard in the NFL. The Vikings have obvious connections with Oklahoma due to Peterson and Phil Loadholt. Thompson is another player in a similar mold as Loadholt but perhaps not as quick. But he could develop into a powerful guard.
The last linemen they drafted was Austin Shepherd out of Alabama. I don't know much about him yet.
All of these moves should lead to more competition on the offensive line. It looks like Yankey has the inside track to starting at LG right now unless Thompson or Berger beat him out for the job.
BigJim®
Footballguy
This was somewhat an odd draft IMHO. I found myself hoping we'd take OL help early, but then when the 3rd round passed without an AP trade, it almost felt like we'd essentially drafted a key piece to the offense - counterbalancing the importance of OL help for Teddy. After the dust has settled, I'm ecstatic that we bolstered key needs at CB/LB and a project at DE for Zimmer to groom. Call it purple lenses, but my confidence level is super high with Zimmer (presumably) having input in defensive selections for his system. The one disappointment I had was at 5.7/5.10... I was anticipating and even placed a wager the Vikes would jump on a free falling Hundley, only to see Green Bay select him at 5.11. That was an opportunity missed, JMHO. Hundley would presumably have made a great QB3 (who might be groomed by Turner to be QB2 in 2016). Still feels like this team suffers from all eggs-one basket mindset when it comes to QB; seeing GB then immediately do what GB does at the QB position was disappointing. Of course, perhaps Turner wasn't high on Hundley.
jason12vb
Footballguy
Completely agree here...add the respect that Norv demands and it just feels like Spielman has two people he's willing to listen to and while draft decisions are his to make, trusts the opinions and instincts of his coaches.
It feels weird that even though they did almost nothing in free agency and there were no fireworks with the draft I'm feeling really good about the direction this team is going. AP coming back, a defensive identity taking shape, drafting highly rated players at positions of need , a clear desire for competition on the O-line....
I like that they stayed put in the first 3 rounds and didn't get cute...didn't trade up for someone that they might have been concerned about 1 other team being interested in their player as well (ala Ponder or TJax)...didn't reach for guys. Previous drafts it felt like they were trying to show they were smarter than everyone else with reaches and trades.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
I hear what you guys are saying about the opportunity to add a backup QB such as Hundley in the 5th round.
The Vikings traded the first pick of the 5th round (137) to the Falcons for pick 146 and a pick in the 6th round. As Spielman said he expected to see some interest in that top 5th round pick. They ended up drafting TE MyCole Pruitt and WR Stefon Diggs instead. Even with the trade down the Vikings still had two opportunities to select Hundley.
I think as Vikings fans we have seen such a long drought of the Vikings being able to draft and develop QBs that is makes sense trying to take advantage of the coaching they have right now to try to do that. Some of us may feel that Norv Turner will move on in the near future, so we want to take advantage of his coaching abilities before Norv moves on. But as Jim mentioned, perhaps Hundley was not one of Norv;s guys.
The Vikings traded the first pick of the 5th round (137) to the Falcons for pick 146 and a pick in the 6th round. As Spielman said he expected to see some interest in that top 5th round pick. They ended up drafting TE MyCole Pruitt and WR Stefon Diggs instead. Even with the trade down the Vikings still had two opportunities to select Hundley.
I think as Vikings fans we have seen such a long drought of the Vikings being able to draft and develop QBs that is makes sense trying to take advantage of the coaching they have right now to try to do that. Some of us may feel that Norv Turner will move on in the near future, so we want to take advantage of his coaching abilities before Norv moves on. But as Jim mentioned, perhaps Hundley was not one of Norv;s guys.
BigJim®
Footballguy
Well, perhaps UDFA Taylor Heinicke is that guy who Turner likes. I hope that's the case. This isn't a reflection on Bridgewater at all, but it is a violent league and QBs get injured. It would be tremendously frustrating to have a promising team with an improved defense and return of AP, and then have Bridgewater go down in week 4... relying on a crusty vet like Shaun Hill the rest of the season. Maybe Hundley wouldn't perform better, but it would still be intriguing to see what a younger high pedigree guy has to offer. If you'd told me in the dire days of January 2014 that there was a chance the Vikes could roster both Bridgewater and Hundley (both considered top 10 2014 picks at the time), I'd have called BS. It will be tough to avoid tracking the career paths of Pruitt/Diggs/Hundley... god forbid Green Bay cashes in Hundley for a high pick in some future draft.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Donnybrook
Footballguy
I listen to some of the rookie interviews on Vikings.com. Most interesting was Anthony Harris explanation for choosing the Vikings. He seems like a great communicator and could be a natural fit for the Vikings. He models his game after Ed Reed.
massraider
Footballguy
Man, looking at the depth chart....this team is on their way.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Biabreakable
Footballguy
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mr roboto
Footballguy
I could see 9 or 10 best case. Yes we can challenge for the division but GB is still the front runner. I honestly think if the Vikes get a WildCard with Zimmers defense and ADP with Teddy progressing they could impress in the playoffs. They were 7-9 with some close losses without ADP last year. I think they're gonna be a trendy pick for the media.
frigid5
Footballguy
Discussion about Evan Mathis being a good fit for the Vikings:
http://espn.go.com/blog/minnesota-vikings/post/_/id/14071/could-evan-mathis-be-a-fit-for-vikings
http://espn.go.com/blog/minnesota-vikings/post/_/id/14071/could-evan-mathis-be-a-fit-for-vikings
FunkyPlutos
Footballguy
And they are currently at 89 players so wouldn't have to drop anyone to pick him up...frigid5 said:
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Should the Vikings kick the tires on Evan Mathis?
Andrew Krammer
Given Spielman's track record of not signing older players to big contracts I am not sure if Mathis at 33 years old and wanting more money is a good fit.
I read that TJ Clemmings had some sort of an injury that prevented him from finishing OTA's. There has been little information about this. Not clear if it would set him back as far as getting reps at RG or if he would have been ready to start as a rookie anyways.
They do seem to have a plan of letting their younger players get the opportunity to develop. They stuck with Fusco for example when the Vikings had a free agent guard from Carolina (whos name escapes me at the moment) who some felt outplayed Fusco. So this suggests to me that they are willing to accept some growing pains as players develop and do not want to fill starting positions through free agency. They did sort of try to do that with Charlie Johnson though, so maybe they would look to make the team better by signing Mathis to a one year deal. Spielman does like shorter term contracts. If it is only about money, why not?
I sure hope the Vikings are not planning on Joe Berger starting a lot. Yankey was not working with the 1st team like Clemmings was at RG. So that suggests to me they do not want him to start at RG. Or they think Clemmings is much better than Yankey is, even with a year of experience.
ETA-
They did play Yankey at tackle however. So maybe they like him more than I think.
Andrew Krammer
It is not clear to me uf the last part is correct or if the Vikings currently have 89 players. But not a big deal either way.
Given Spielman's track record of not signing older players to big contracts I am not sure if Mathis at 33 years old and wanting more money is a good fit.
I read that TJ Clemmings had some sort of an injury that prevented him from finishing OTA's. There has been little information about this. Not clear if it would set him back as far as getting reps at RG or if he would have been ready to start as a rookie anyways.
They do seem to have a plan of letting their younger players get the opportunity to develop. They stuck with Fusco for example when the Vikings had a free agent guard from Carolina (whos name escapes me at the moment) who some felt outplayed Fusco. So this suggests to me that they are willing to accept some growing pains as players develop and do not want to fill starting positions through free agency. They did sort of try to do that with Charlie Johnson though, so maybe they would look to make the team better by signing Mathis to a one year deal. Spielman does like shorter term contracts. If it is only about money, why not?
I sure hope the Vikings are not planning on Joe Berger starting a lot. Yankey was not working with the 1st team like Clemmings was at RG. So that suggests to me they do not want him to start at RG. Or they think Clemmings is much better than Yankey is, even with a year of experience.
ETA-
They did play Yankey at tackle however. So maybe they like him more than I think.
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FunkyPlutos
Footballguy
I did read that Tyrus Thompson was getting some first team reps at RG as well. Clemmings came back and did play a little RT when he did at OTA's (Loadholt isn't practicing at all yet).
Donnybrook
Footballguy
Just based on OTA highlights, Diggs looks like a steal.
Bankerguy
Footballguy
Biabreakable
Footballguy
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CanadianNFLJunkie
Footballguy
Nice to get in some football finally with the Vikings opening camp. Only two weeks to go before something on tv besides reruns.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Transcript: Zimmer Addresses The Media on Sunday
Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer
We placed Casey Matthews on reserved injured, placed Josh Robinson on active PUP and placed Shamar Stephen and DaVaris Daniels on the active non-football injury. It was good to get out here and had a good little walk-thru. Guys were crisp. They seemed to have some recall. It looks a lot different than it did a year ago at this time. Guys are pretty focused and into it. I like this team.
Q: When did Casey Matthews’ injury come to the surface?
A: He said it happened during going over hurdles or something in the offseason program.
Q: Looking at the wide receiving corp, there are lots of battle. Is that one position that goes to the top of the list?
A: I feel good about the guys that we have there. We have some talent, some young guys that look like they have a chance to contribute. Stefon Diggs, I think he’s got a chance to be a real NFL guy. Adding [Mike] Wallace and the guys we had before in CJ [Charles Johnson] Cordaralle [Patterson] and Jarius Wright. Then Adam [Thielen], he has always done such a great job especially when he gets in, he does a great job. I don’t know if I really look at as a positional battle. I just look as we got some pretty good guys in there. We’re going to try and keep as many guys as we can as long as they continue to prove that they’re worthy.
Q: We saw Anthony Barr out there on the field moving pretty well. Is he good to go?
A: Yeah, he feels much better. He has had a really good last two weeks. He is not in the best physical condition right now so he is going to go through the walk-thru, he is going to go through individual, and then we’re going to go condition him and rehab him during practice. Then he is going to come back and watch. So we’ve got that with a couple guys that we’re rehabbing that weren’t prepared to take the conditioning test yesterday.
Q: Any surprises with the conditioning test?
A: No, actually we had one guy that didn’t make it but other than that they were great.
Q: What have you seen from Mike Harris at that right guard spot?
A: He went in there last year and played some and did a good job against Buffalo. He has played it in the past. We just felt like we weren’t ready to stick a rookie in there right away and say, “Hey you’re the guy.” So we are going to let these guys battle it out see where it goes.
Q: How many players do you have competing for that right guard spot?
A: Actually, quite a few. We just have to see who ends up going there and where they go. We decided we are probably going to keep T.J. Clemmings at tackle. I think that is his best position after going through all of OTA’s and minicamp. Tyrus Thompson is in there. We’ll probably give [Joe] Berger some reps in there at some point. There is still [David] Yankey and we felt like Carter Bykowski who we had in there for a while will probably be best at tackle.
Q: What would you say is Harrison Smith’s best quality as a football player?
A: He is a great competitor. He plays real hard, practices real hard, he is instinctive. Somebody texted me about him the other day and I said to them, one of the things about him that I probably admire the most about him is that he works really hard on any deficiences that he has. So he has improved in a lot of areas from last year during spring ball to OTA’s to where we are at now. A lot of it is because of his determination to work on his deficiencies.
Q: What specifically do you want Harrison Smith to work on?
A: I don’t really want to talk about his deficiencies in the media, but we talk about some of these things. I think he has improved quite a bit. I am just trying to get him to be an all-around really good player, like some of the great safeties that I’ve had before. He has a lot of those attributes but the biggest attribute he has is inside. I think that’s what I admire the most about him.
Q: What’s the best advice you can give to guys like Trae Waynes?
A: Make plays. That’s the easiest way to do it. Play with great technique. I think a lot of young guys they come in and they’re confident but they’re not sure that they’re confident. A lot of times, it’s important that they continue to develop that and don’t lose their confidence. They’re going against great receivers every week now and in practice, they’re going to be beat at times, but they’re just going to have to understand. That’s part of that position anyway, playing the corner position, you have to eliminate those negative plays that you had and focus on the positive ones and have a short memory, basically.
Q: What’s Shamar Stephen’s injury and how long will he be out?
A: We think it’s probably going to be a maximum of three days. He got a massage on his knee because it was a little tender and then he got on an airplane and swelled up. It’s nothing.
Q: What’s going on with Josh Robinson?
A: He’s on PUP [physically unable to perform].
Q: Do you have an idea for how long?
A: I do
Q: Are you not disclosing that?
A: No
Q: How much confidence do you have in Adam Thielen?
A: I think Adam does a lot of great things and he’s a guy that cares an awful lot. It’s important to him. He’s a smart guy and I think he’s continued to improve from, at least from the time I saw him, to where he is now. It’s really a tribute to his hard work, his dedication and his determination.
Q: What are you looking for from Audie Cole at the middle linebacker spot?
A: It’s a spot that’s up for grabs and I just want the best guy to come in there and do what he needs to do. Audie made a lot of tackles against that last game against Chicago. His communication has improved tremendously from a year ago at this time, so that’s part of it. I think he understands the defense much better now than he did a year ago and really the things that we’re asking him to do. He just needs to continue to really carry on from where he finished – making plays, being physical, understanding the pass concepts and the pass games because that’s such a big thing now for linebackers. It’s not just playing the run anymore or the play actions. They need to understand where they need to be in the passing game.
Q: What do you see from the guys you have in the nickel situation with Captain Munnerlynand Trae Waynes?
A: We’ll see. I don’t know, we’ll keep throwing guys in there and keep looking at them and see where it goes. But I kind of have a little plan but we’ll see if my plan works out or not.
Q: Is there something you learned last year in your first training camp as head coach that you’re applying coming in this year?
A: I took notes last year on a lot of different scenarios and I wrote them in a book. I kind of tried to continue to do that. Honestly, I feel so much more comfortable with the team, especially the offensive guys and the special teams guys. I’m around the defense quite a bit. Being able to go talk to them and coach them and tell them things that defenses are trying to do with them like players. Just the communication level between Teddy [bridgewater] and myself, even Adrian [Peterson]. Just all of the different things. Honestly, the other thing that really helps is that basically we have the same coaching staff back for another year, so the meetings that we have as coaches are a little bit shorter just because we already know the practice schedule is going to be like this, we might change something here and there, but we don’t have to sit there and discuss a lot of different things. We’re able to get it going and go from there. I feel more confident about the way we’re doing things.
Q: Do you think it matters staying at home versus going away from training camp?
A: With the facilities here and us having 90 players at Winter Park, it would be tough, so I do think that the situation we’re in right now is the best for us to get ready as a football team. I think Mankato does a great job of helping us feel welcome and the university here as well, so at this particular time, I believe that this is the best way to go for us.
Q: With all of the pectoral injuries that you have, did you look into see what’s happening there?
A: We did. I’ve had our strength coach research; I’ve had our trainer research. We sat that and talked about all of the different things, what causes pectoral injuries, what we can do to prevent them and what we can do to help. We’ve monitored a lot of things, and a lot of people have told us that it’s just freak luck, but sometimes when we’re bench pressing and if a guy bounces off the chest, that’s where he gets the tears. We’re going to work on strengthening the rotator cuffs much more than we have. We’re going to warm up better than we’ve had. We’ve addressed that and always when we get more than one type of injuries, and especially pectoral that is, it’s more of an unusual injury, you have to figure out. Sometimes when you’re benching and you get a pec, you have a strong surface, but when you’re out on the field, you don’t have anything behind you to hold you back. I’ve actually talked to these guys that had the injuries and asked them if they were fatigued at the time, I’ve asked them what set it was, if they were benching at that particular time. Most of them have happened on the field. I asked Phil Loadholdt, I said, “How about during the week at practice, did you bench more that week? Did you do more push exercises? How did you feel?” And he said, “Coach, I felt great that whole week.” We’ve researched it and we’re hopefully on top of it.
Q: Did you guys do all that research before Josh Robinson hurt his pec?
A: No, that was kind of the straw that broke the camel’s back right there. That was kind of a freak one too – he fell on it. Sometimes, these injuries happen. I don’t know if they’re preventable but it’s my job and our responsibility to look into every possible way that we cannot have those.
Q: Do you think some of it might be from machines to free weights?
A: No I don’t believe so. I know one thing, that we’re stronger. The way we’re doing things, we’re more physical in our mentality. I changed the weight program because I want our football team to have a certain type of mentality. I want them to have a certain type of aggressiveness. I believe that’s a lot about mindset as well. When you’re down there and you hear those weights banging and guys working and sweating their rear ends off together, I think it’s important that we do it that way. Maybe I’m just old school, but I believe that.
Q: How much has changed the way you go about lifting because of the pecs?
A: We’re not changing how we’re lifting. We’re changing the preparation of how we’re lifting and some of the areas that we’re trying to strengthen more. If your rotator cuff, from the information that I gathered, if you’re strong in that area and strong in the other areas around the pec, that helps to keep those things from happening. But again, like I’ve said, with [brandon] Fusco, [Phil] Loadholdt, Josh Robinson – they were all on the field. Brian was actually in the weight room and I asked him what set he was on and he said “second set,” and I asked if there was a lot of weight on there and he said, “No.” The other thing is the way we spot. We’ve added another strength coach here for these couple of weeks to help with some of the spotting, to make sure and also educating our football team that when you’re spotting a guy, it’s part of your job to keep him healthy. You can’t be over sitting over talking or sitting and listening to music. You’re paying attention to what’s going on here.
Q: Now that Linval Joseph is healthy, how good can he be compared to last year?
A: I have two thoughts on that. The first one is, almost always the guy that comes in as a free agent into a new system, his second year is almost always much better than the first year. And him with missing all of the time with all that he missed last year because of the injury. Honestly, he’s looked very, very good in OTAs so I anticipate he’s going to have a very, very good year. I’m tempered a little bit just because of the fact that we haven’t been in pads yet and we won’t get out there for a couple of days, but if he does the things that he’s done in the OTAs and continues that way, I anticipate because he’s a big, strong man, his body is in good shape. He came in at about 316 pounds, I believe, and he’s a very, very good athlete.
Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer
We placed Casey Matthews on reserved injured, placed Josh Robinson on active PUP and placed Shamar Stephen and DaVaris Daniels
on the active non-football injury. It was good to get out here and had a good little walk-thru. Guys were crisp. They seemed to have some recall. It looks a lot different than it did a year ago at this time. Guys are pretty focused and into it. I like this team.Q: When did Casey Matthews’ injury come to the surface?
A: He said it happened during going over hurdles or something in the offseason program.
Q: Looking at the wide receiving corp, there are lots of battle. Is that one position that goes to the top of the list?
A: I feel good about the guys that we have there. We have some talent, some young guys that look like they have a chance to contribute. Stefon Diggs, I think he’s got a chance to be a real NFL guy. Adding [Mike] Wallace and the guys we had before in CJ [Charles Johnson] Cordaralle [Patterson] and Jarius Wright. Then Adam [Thielen], he has always done such a great job especially when he gets in, he does a great job. I don’t know if I really look at as a positional battle. I just look as we got some pretty good guys in there. We’re going to try and keep as many guys as we can as long as they continue to prove that they’re worthy.
Q: We saw Anthony Barr out there on the field moving pretty well. Is he good to go?
A: Yeah, he feels much better. He has had a really good last two weeks. He is not in the best physical condition right now so he is going to go through the walk-thru, he is going to go through individual, and then we’re going to go condition him and rehab him during practice. Then he is going to come back and watch. So we’ve got that with a couple guys that we’re rehabbing that weren’t prepared to take the conditioning test yesterday.
Q: Any surprises with the conditioning test?
A: No, actually we had one guy that didn’t make it but other than that they were great.
Q: What have you seen from Mike Harris at that right guard spot?
A: He went in there last year and played some and did a good job against Buffalo. He has played it in the past. We just felt like we weren’t ready to stick a rookie in there right away and say, “Hey you’re the guy.” So we are going to let these guys battle it out see where it goes.
Q: How many players do you have competing for that right guard spot?
A: Actually, quite a few. We just have to see who ends up going there and where they go. We decided we are probably going to keep T.J. Clemmings at tackle. I think that is his best position after going through all of OTA’s and minicamp. Tyrus Thompson is in there. We’ll probably give [Joe] Berger some reps in there at some point. There is still [David] Yankey and we felt like Carter Bykowski who we had in there for a while will probably be best at tackle.
Q: What would you say is Harrison Smith
’s best quality as a football player?A: He is a great competitor. He plays real hard, practices real hard, he is instinctive. Somebody texted me about him the other day and I said to them, one of the things about him that I probably admire the most about him is that he works really hard on any deficiences that he has. So he has improved in a lot of areas from last year during spring ball to OTA’s to where we are at now. A lot of it is because of his determination to work on his deficiencies.
Q: What specifically do you want Harrison Smith to work on?
A: I don’t really want to talk about his deficiencies in the media, but we talk about some of these things. I think he has improved quite a bit. I am just trying to get him to be an all-around really good player, like some of the great safeties that I’ve had before. He has a lot of those attributes but the biggest attribute he has is inside. I think that’s what I admire the most about him.
Q: What’s the best advice you can give to guys like Trae Waynes?
A: Make plays. That’s the easiest way to do it. Play with great technique. I think a lot of young guys they come in and they’re confident but they’re not sure that they’re confident. A lot of times, it’s important that they continue to develop that and don’t lose their confidence. They’re going against great receivers every week now and in practice, they’re going to be beat at times, but they’re just going to have to understand. That’s part of that position anyway, playing the corner position, you have to eliminate those negative plays that you had and focus on the positive ones and have a short memory, basically.
Q: What’s Shamar Stephen’s injury and how long will he be out?
A: We think it’s probably going to be a maximum of three days. He got a massage on his knee because it was a little tender and then he got on an airplane and swelled up. It’s nothing.
Q: What’s going on with Josh Robinson?
A: He’s on PUP [physically unable to perform].
Q: Do you have an idea for how long?
A: I do
Q: Are you not disclosing that?
A: No
Q: How much confidence do you have in Adam Thielen?
A: I think Adam does a lot of great things and he’s a guy that cares an awful lot. It’s important to him. He’s a smart guy and I think he’s continued to improve from, at least from the time I saw him, to where he is now. It’s really a tribute to his hard work, his dedication and his determination.
Q: What are you looking for from Audie Cole at the middle linebacker spot?
A: It’s a spot that’s up for grabs and I just want the best guy to come in there and do what he needs to do. Audie made a lot of tackles against that last game against Chicago. His communication has improved tremendously from a year ago at this time, so that’s part of it. I think he understands the defense much better now than he did a year ago and really the things that we’re asking him to do. He just needs to continue to really carry on from where he finished – making plays, being physical, understanding the pass concepts and the pass games because that’s such a big thing now for linebackers. It’s not just playing the run anymore or the play actions. They need to understand where they need to be in the passing game.
Q: What do you see from the guys you have in the nickel situation with Captain Munnerlynand Trae Waynes?
A: We’ll see. I don’t know, we’ll keep throwing guys in there and keep looking at them and see where it goes. But I kind of have a little plan but we’ll see if my plan works out or not.
Q: Is there something you learned last year in your first training camp as head coach that you’re applying coming in this year?
A: I took notes last year on a lot of different scenarios and I wrote them in a book. I kind of tried to continue to do that. Honestly, I feel so much more comfortable with the team, especially the offensive guys and the special teams guys. I’m around the defense quite a bit. Being able to go talk to them and coach them and tell them things that defenses are trying to do with them like players. Just the communication level between Teddy [bridgewater] and myself, even Adrian [Peterson]. Just all of the different things. Honestly, the other thing that really helps is that basically we have the same coaching staff back for another year, so the meetings that we have as coaches are a little bit shorter just because we already know the practice schedule is going to be like this, we might change something here and there, but we don’t have to sit there and discuss a lot of different things. We’re able to get it going and go from there. I feel more confident about the way we’re doing things.
Q: Do you think it matters staying at home versus going away from training camp?
A: With the facilities here and us having 90 players at Winter Park, it would be tough, so I do think that the situation we’re in right now is the best for us to get ready as a football team. I think Mankato does a great job of helping us feel welcome and the university here as well, so at this particular time, I believe that this is the best way to go for us.
Q: With all of the pectoral injuries that you have, did you look into see what’s happening there?
A: We did. I’ve had our strength coach research; I’ve had our trainer research. We sat that and talked about all of the different things, what causes pectoral injuries, what we can do to prevent them and what we can do to help. We’ve monitored a lot of things, and a lot of people have told us that it’s just freak luck, but sometimes when we’re bench pressing and if a guy bounces off the chest, that’s where he gets the tears. We’re going to work on strengthening the rotator cuffs much more than we have. We’re going to warm up better than we’ve had. We’ve addressed that and always when we get more than one type of injuries, and especially pectoral that is, it’s more of an unusual injury, you have to figure out. Sometimes when you’re benching and you get a pec, you have a strong surface, but when you’re out on the field, you don’t have anything behind you to hold you back. I’ve actually talked to these guys that had the injuries and asked them if they were fatigued at the time, I’ve asked them what set it was, if they were benching at that particular time. Most of them have happened on the field. I asked Phil Loadholdt, I said, “How about during the week at practice, did you bench more that week? Did you do more push exercises? How did you feel?” And he said, “Coach, I felt great that whole week.” We’ve researched it and we’re hopefully on top of it.
Q: Did you guys do all that research before Josh Robinson hurt his pec?
A: No, that was kind of the straw that broke the camel’s back right there. That was kind of a freak one too – he fell on it. Sometimes, these injuries happen. I don’t know if they’re preventable but it’s my job and our responsibility to look into every possible way that we cannot have those.
Q: Do you think some of it might be from machines to free weights?
A: No I don’t believe so. I know one thing, that we’re stronger. The way we’re doing things, we’re more physical in our mentality. I changed the weight program because I want our football team to have a certain type of mentality. I want them to have a certain type of aggressiveness. I believe that’s a lot about mindset as well. When you’re down there and you hear those weights banging and guys working and sweating their rear ends off together, I think it’s important that we do it that way. Maybe I’m just old school, but I believe that.
Q: How much has changed the way you go about lifting because of the pecs?
A: We’re not changing how we’re lifting. We’re changing the preparation of how we’re lifting and some of the areas that we’re trying to strengthen more. If your rotator cuff, from the information that I gathered, if you’re strong in that area and strong in the other areas around the pec, that helps to keep those things from happening. But again, like I’ve said, with [brandon] Fusco, [Phil] Loadholdt, Josh Robinson – they were all on the field. Brian was actually in the weight room and I asked him what set he was on and he said “second set,” and I asked if there was a lot of weight on there and he said, “No.” The other thing is the way we spot. We’ve added another strength coach here for these couple of weeks to help with some of the spotting, to make sure and also educating our football team that when you’re spotting a guy, it’s part of your job to keep him healthy. You can’t be over sitting over talking or sitting and listening to music. You’re paying attention to what’s going on here.
Q: Now that Linval Joseph is healthy, how good can he be compared to last year?
A: I have two thoughts on that. The first one is, almost always the guy that comes in as a free agent into a new system, his second year is almost always much better than the first year. And him with missing all of the time with all that he missed last year because of the injury. Honestly, he’s looked very, very good in OTAs so I anticipate he’s going to have a very, very good year. I’m tempered a little bit just because of the fact that we haven’t been in pads yet and we won’t get out there for a couple of days, but if he does the things that he’s done in the OTAs and continues that way, I anticipate because he’s a big, strong man, his body is in good shape. He came in at about 316 pounds, I believe, and he’s a very, very good athlete.
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Biabreakable
Footballguy
Transcript: Turner, Edwards Address The Media
"You talked about quarterback rankings - I think some of these guys go out and evaluate quarterbacks, if a guy can’t throw a ball through the wall, his value goes down. Well, we don’t like guys who throw it through a wall. We like guys who have a good feel for playing and Teddy certainty does have a great feel for playing the game."
I laughed out loud when I heard Norv say this about QB evaluation:
"You talked about quarterback rankings - I think some of these guys go out and evaluate quarterbacks, if a guy can’t throw a ball through the wall, his value goes down. Well, we don’t like guys who throw it through a wall. We like guys who have a good feel for playing and Teddy certainty does have a great feel for playing the game."
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