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***OFFICIAL*** Minnesota Vikings 2015 Season Thread (2 Viewers)

Notes From Saturday Morning's Walkthrough At Vikings Camp

Zimmer press conference

Some interesting bits are that David Yankey is playing left tackle with the second team. From what I have heard Kalil has not been playing well.

If Yankey is being considered as a possible replacement for Kalil that would explain why he hasn't been playing more at RG.

Zimmer also says that he wanted to be decided on who the starting RG would be by now. But that he would rather make the right decision than to make a quick decision.

Gerald Hodges getting some looks at MLB. Hodges has played well and should be pushing Greenway for playing time in my opinion. It is nice to have some quality depth at the LB position.

 
Has a guy ever looked so promising after his rookie year at T and then fallen off like this before? WTF happened to Kalil?

 
After 'long road' in physical therapy, Kalil back from the brink

"You get to a point where everything hurts so much, you're like, 'OK, one more year and then there's no way,'" Kalil said. "There's a lot of things, too, besides football. Obviously I love football and I'm healthy, obviously I'm going to do everything I can like I am now.
I do not like the way Kalil talks about possibly quitting football at such a young age.

Heavier David Yankey staying on toes at guard and tackle

 
Considering how crappy Kalil has been playing last year and hit n miss in camp so far this year, he'll be struggling to find work this time next year. I'm glad we picked up some depth in the draft at the Tackle position because Kalil isn't cutting it.

 
Some of the comments :lmao:

The face or our franchise felt betrayed and was genuinely hurt because people had the audacity to tell him he did something wrong. The monstrous stadium our sleezeball owners bilked the public into purchasing for them looks like an Imperial Cruiser that has landed downtown Minneapolis. Itll basically serve as a $1.1 billion vomitorium for #######s in Jared Allen jerseys who drive into from third ring suburbs to drink Icehouse.

 
Starting right tackle Phil Loadholt tore his Achilles' tendon early in the Vikings' game against Tampa Bay :eek:

Will be interesting to see how they handle it.. Paul Allen kept mentioning the depth at RB the Vikings have now with AP back so maybe they can find someone with depth at RT to trade with :shrug:
My guess is that the will try to replace from within. TJ Clemmings looked decent last night and he was touted as a 1st round pick until he fell to Minnesota in the 4th. It sounds like he will get first crack at replacing Loadholt. As a road grader Loadholt will definitely be missed, and have 2 new starters on the right side with limited experience will definitely be felt early but at least they have 3 more preseason games to get it ironed out.

 
Starting right tackle Phil Loadholt tore his Achilles' tendon early in the Vikings' game against Tampa Bay :eek:

Will be interesting to see how they handle it.. Paul Allen kept mentioning the depth at RB the Vikings have now with AP back so maybe they can find someone with depth at RT to trade with :shrug:
My guess is that the will try to replace from within. TJ Clemmings looked decent last night and he was touted as a 1st round pick until he fell to Minnesota in the 4th. It sounds like he will get first crack at replacing Loadholt. As a road grader Loadholt will definitely be missed, and have 2 new starters on the right side with limited experience will definitely be felt early but at least they have 3 more preseason games to get it ironed out.
I agree they will start within.. But as far as I know right now after losing Loadholt they are left with only 2 "RT".. Can't imagine you'd want to go into the season with only 2.. Then again, maybe others on the roster have played RT and can move if needed.. :shrug:

 
The Clemmings project will be interesting. I'm expecting a lot of boneheaded plays with flashes of great potential. I'd be more worried if Teddy wasn't so good under pressure last season.

A loss for sure but I think we'll be alright.

 
All three of the draft picks (Clemmings, Thompson, and Sheperd) played RT in college at some point so should not be too big of an issue with players - just the lack of experience that will hurt.

 
Mathis time?
Evan Mathis did play tackle in college but was moved to guard at that level as well, he has only played guard in the NFL. So I suppose the Vikings could look at him as a RG and have Mike Harris move back to tackle. Harris was not good as a tackle in replacement of Loadholt last season.

I am sure the Vikings have a few players on speed dial for such a contingency but I am not sure who those players might be.

Really sad to lose Loadholt who is particularly good for the running game.

 
Even with the loss of Loadholt, it is hard not to get excited about the offense and how efficient they are looking - and Peterson hasn't even played yet! Should be a fun year!!

 
Fellas, I'm very excited about the upcoming season. My Dad, who has had dinner with Bud Grant, a life long Vikings fan, yet who has been cursing this team for years.., thinks we are going to the Super Bowl this year.. And that is an endorsement, let me tell you.

Losing Loadholt hurts, but I think we will still be ok, and Zimmer will get Waynes turned in the right direction.

We are above average to strong at every position. Love our coaches. It could be our year.

SKOL!!!!!!!!!!!

PS- Yo Andy Dufresne, don't try and jump on our winning band wagon, stay a Broncos fan..

 
I never stopped hoping they'd be good the last couple years. I just never had the beer goggles on either.

They can get to 10 wins this year if the o-line can be sufficient. Their defense should easily be top 10.

 
I put the purple goggles on every year, but I can say this is the first year since 09 that I have a feeling that this team has the "it" factor.

Health is going to be a big factor in it (shoot, it is for every team), but there is just something about this team from Zimmer on down that says this could be a year they could go very deep.

 
Teddy is the key. I think the rest of the team has the talent to compete and excel, but the NFL is all about the QB now. He looks great this preseason so far and he finished last year well, but he needs to take that next step. I love his poise. Watching the Tampa game it was striking how different he looked in the pocket compared to Winston. Night and Day. I have high hopes, and it should be a fun year. I'll be at the Lions game in week 2 and expect to watch them go 2-0 to start the year. SKOL!

 
So this weekend is Carr v.s. Bridgewater watch-fest..

Oh yea, don't forget we get a chance to :lol: at Raider fans when they watch Ponder look "decent" vs. 2nd, 3rd and 4th stringers and tell us how wrong we were...

. ;)

 
So this is what $5.25 Million guaranteed gets you now days huh??

Since Week 14 last season, Walsh is 7-for-16 in games, and 2-for-6 in the preseason. He missed three field goals and an extra point on Saturday night against the Oakland Raiders, and while swirling winds played with the trajectory of Walsh's kicks on Saturday, neither the kicker nor coach Mike Zimmer was about to accept that as an excuse. Raiders kicker Giorgio Tavecchio made both of his field goals.
:thumbdown:

Some other takeaways from last night..

Thought the OL looked pretty good last night in Pass protection. Kali held his own against Mack which was very good to see.

Charles Johnson is definitely Bridgewater's go to guy..

Chase Ford had a couple good catches, his TD reception showed his toughness..

Matt Asiata has some really good catches out of the back field.. Sure looks to be the "3rd down back" ..

 
So this is what $5.25 Million guaranteed gets you now days huh??

Since Week 14 last season, Walsh is 7-for-16 in games, and 2-for-6 in the preseason. He missed three field goals and an extra point on Saturday night against the Oakland Raiders, and while swirling winds played with the trajectory of Walsh's kicks on Saturday, neither the kicker nor coach Mike Zimmer was about to accept that as an excuse. Raiders kicker Giorgio Tavecchio made both of his field goals.
:thumbdown:

Some other takeaways from last night..

Thought the OL looked pretty good last night in Pass protection. Kali held his own against Mack which was very good to see.

Charles Johnson is definitely Bridgewater's go to guy..

Chase Ford had a couple good catches, his TD reception showed his toughness..

Matt Asiata has some really good catches out of the back field.. Sure looks to be the "3rd down back" ..
I do not get what's going on with Walsh. It's definitely concerning though.

 
So this is what $5.25 Million guaranteed gets you now days huh??

Since Week 14 last season, Walsh is 7-for-16 in games, and 2-for-6 in the preseason. He missed three field goals and an extra point on Saturday night against the Oakland Raiders, and while swirling winds played with the trajectory of Walsh's kicks on Saturday, neither the kicker nor coach Mike Zimmer was about to accept that as an excuse. Raiders kicker Giorgio Tavecchio made both of his field goals.
:thumbdown:

Some other takeaways from last night..

Thought the OL looked pretty good last night in Pass protection. Kali held his own against Mack which was very good to see.

Charles Johnson is definitely Bridgewater's go to guy..

Chase Ford had a couple good catches, his TD reception showed his toughness..

Matt Asiata has some really good catches out of the back field.. Sure looks to be the "3rd down back" ..
Watched the game in early Sunday AM on NFL Network, again impressed with Teddy.

To me it seemed like Oakland's OL had like 40-50 lbs per man against our DL. I wasn't impressed with the run D though. I do think we toned down our schemes on D since we'll play Oakland during the season.

Disappointed with Walsh and his kicking struggles.

 
1st play the Vikings try a toss right with McKinnon. Clemmings gets to the second level but blocks no one. Kyle Rudolph makes a feeble attempt to block Kalil Mack and wiffs, instead he tries to block someone else after he lets him go. Clemmings is pulling around and could have tried to block Kalil outside, but instead goes around him on his pull. Mike Wallace who was lined up close to Rudolph makes even less effort to block, he does at one point look like he is sealing the LB inside, barely more than breathed on the guy though. Kalil Mack meets McKinnon in the backfield with no one blocking him.

Paul Allen gives credit for the tackle to Curtis Lofton, The rest of the first drive I watched in slow motion. The best thing about slow motion is you don't have to listen to Paul Allen.

2nd play the Vikings line up with 2TE 1RB. Mike Wallace and Charles Johnson are both on the line with Ellison and Rudolph playing a step back off the line inside to both sides. This puts the TE in better position to help against outside pass rush if they are asked to stay in and block. Bridgewater lines up in the pistol and an inside run to McKinnon on the right side. Clemmings does a decent job of blocking Mack and Berger seals the nose tackle to the left side. Mike Harris initially blocked left end, but he is able to get off the block and tackle McKinnon as he goes through the hole. The linebackers were filling the left side initially with the free safety crashing down inside.

3rd and nine Bridgewater in the shotgun. He gets some pass protection and steps up in the pocket before trying a pass to Wright in the middle of the field. Bridgewater had some pressure just before he threw as he was stepping up in the pocket that may have affected the pass. Kind of a scary play, possibly risking a interception. The defense gets called for pushing. 1st down.

1st and 10 the Vikings line up with Rudolph on the left side inline, Zach Line is the fullback with McKinnon, Mike Wallace on the left side, Charles Johnson on the right lined up somewhat inside. Teddy play actions to McKinnon and finds Charles Johnson on a deep slant route for 14 yards. 1st down. Mack lined up against Clemmings from the LDE again. Clemmings does a decent job of blocking Mack inside although he did give up ground.

1st and 10 the Vikings no huddle line up 3WR 1TE McKinnon in the backfield. Rudolph on the right side inline, Charles Johnson in the slot, Mike Wallace outside to the right, Bridgewater sees the strong safety line up across from Charles Johnson, possibly playing man on him and he audibles to another play. Rudolph runs a seam routes after crossing the formation he slips past the linebackers and is wide open behind the zone but Bridgewaters pass is a bit high and behind Rudolph as he is turning back for the ball. He does get his hands on it, but bobbles the ball. If Bridgewater leads Rudolph on this throw it would be an easy catch with potential for yards after the catch. Wright was running a go down the left sideline, so that corner was at least 10 yards away and only 24 coming across to beat for extra yardage. Kalil Mack lined up as the RDE and the Vikings have Kalil block him one on one. Mack does manage to get deep into the backfield with his outside rush, but Kalil kept him in front of him the whole way. Brandon Fusco blocks the RE outside and eventually into Mack helping Kalil to knock him down. Clemmings is able to route the LDE outside and Bridgewater had room to take a couple steps up in the pocket before throwing. Berger helps Harris block the NT outside and Bridgewater likely could have run for five yards with the lane that opened up in front of him.

2nd and 10 Vikings with an empty backfield. Wright runs a short crossing route over the middle and Bridgewater hits him for 5 yards. Rudolph ran a go route which brought coverage away from the spot that Wright ran to. McKinnon lined up as the outside receiver on the left side, Johnson in the slot. Mike Wallace on the right outside Wright in the slot, Rudolph nearish Clemmings inside. Kalil only gets a glancing block on Mack who makes a move to the inside, but the ball is gone by then. Clemmings does a bit better job routing the LDE outside again, Berger helps Harris, the tackles both crashed inside perhaps to prevent Teddy from stepping up in the pocket again like the last play, but the Vikings have nice protection overall.

3rd and 5 Vikings line up with 3WR 1TE McKinnon in the backfield, Bridgewater in the pistol. Charles Johnson outside to the left with Wright in the slot. Wallace outside to the right with Rudolph inside. Both Rudolph and Wallace line up close to the RT again even though the ball is on the left hash. McKinnon goes in motion to the right lining up outside Wallace. Charles Johnson runs a comeback route against off coverage and Bridgewater gets it to him for the first down. Quick drop again helps the offensive line. Kalil does a better job of routing Mack outside and past where Bridgewater is. Clemmings does a better job engaging the LDE who does not get outside him as well this time, but I thought he was a bit grabby. Harris handles the NT pretty well and Fusco actually gets some help from Berger this time.

1st and 10 Vikings line up with 2TE and Zach Line at FB. McKinnon the HB. Charles Johnson outside on the right. Rudolph and Ellison on the left side. Ellison goes in motion across the formation before balancing the line with a TE on each side. The Raiders have their strong side LB near the line threatening blitz and the linebackers shift to the right side after Ellison motions, including the safety who is now on Rudolph with the left corner playing free safety behind him. Berger and Fusco engage their blocks first, against the NT Lumpkin and RDE Justin Ellis, Fusco pushes the Ellis back and then releases him to Kalil who is coming in behind him. Fusco gets to a second level block on safety Nate Allen. Kalil picks up Ellis after Fusco lets him go and knocks him back. Rudolph does an alright job blocking Mack on the backside of the play, although he does let Mack crash to the play side limiting cut back options. Berger gets pushed back at first by Lumpkin and then gets ridden to the play side. The LDE Denico Autrey plays outside technique while the strong side LB Benson Mayowa plays outside of Ellisons block. Clemmings gets contact but Autrey is able to keep his distance from him and gets off the block to help tackle McKinnon who has cut back inside. Harris completely misses Lofton who attacks the hole but he does manage to get out on Malcolm Smith the other LB. Lofton beats Zach Line to the hole forcing McKinnon to cut the play inside behind Berger, Line does manage to knock Lofton down and outside, but this was in the backfield, the hole was stuffed. While I would give most of the credit to Lofton for beating Zach Line to the hole, the potential to get a good run out of this on the cut back would still have been possible if Berger could have sealed Lumpkin to the left side. Something Sullivan is much better at doing when fully healthy and if Clemmings could have sealed Autrey to the right side. I don’t think Zach Line is as good as Jerome Felton. Hopefully MyCole Pruitt can contribute later on. Chase Ford not the best blocker either. If Pruitt could be trusted to block Mayowa on this play then Ellison could be the FB and I like his chances to do a better job against Lofton than Line did. Four yards on the play.

2nd and 6 Bridgewater shotgun with McKinnon on his right side. Rudolph lined up close on the left, Ellison outside on the right, Mike Wallace in the slot and Charles Johnson outside on the left side. Wallace and Rudolph are on the line with Johnson and Ellison playing a bit off. Kalil Mack has shifted back to the left side of the line against Clemmings. DE Harris Shelby has checked in and Ellis is playing NT. Lumpkin at LDE. Benson Mayowa is now the LB on the right side. Charles Woodson comes up near the LOS. Lofton and Malcolm Smith are the inside LB. Kalil does lose Shelby to the outside a bit because of good punch from Shelby to get Kalils hands off him, but he hustles back into it and gets a block around Shelby’s neck area to hold him off while he repositions himself between Shelby and Teddy. Mayowa gives Rudolph a shove before releasing out to the left flat are where he must be playing zone. Rudolph doesn’t get slowed much by the jam and runs a post between the two inside LB picking up coverage from Malcom Smith, Lofton is reading Teddy and drifting to the right. Bridgewater did not look this pass off, he was looking in this area possibly reading the coverage on Rudolph at first before targeting Mike Wallace coming free underneath of Rudolphs route. Charles Johnson runs a go route clearing the corner out of this area making the match up Mike Wallace on Mayowa with support from Lofton who was reading Teddy. The pass was a bit high but certainly catchable. I think Wallace was thinking about getting turned upfield after the catch a bit too much, which may have distracted him from the ball. Wallace needs to catch that though. This is twice now I have seen Teddy and Wallace fail to connect. The first one may have been because Teddy waited too long, but this was a catchable pass. Mike Wallace seemed to acknowledge that pointing to himself. Mack does beat Clemmings to the outside with a nice rip move, but McKinnon is there to pick him up on the outside and does a good job of rerouting Mack back to Clemmings. Harris did fine pass blocking as did Berger.

3rd and 6 3WR and 1TE with McKinnon in the backfield to the left side, Bridgewater in the shotgun. Charles Johnson outside to the left with Mike Wallace in the slot to his side. Jarius Wright outside on the right with Rudolph on the right side. Johnson and Rudolph on the line. Kalil Mack back on the right side against Kalil. The Raiders are in a nickle formation with Ray Ray Armstrong and Malcolm Smith the inside LB and Mayowa the LDE. Mayowa gets a good pass rush against Clemmings, but Bridgewater is able to step up in the pocket as Clemmings routes him behind Teddy’s drop. Jarius Wright goes in motion towards the inside near Rudolph before the snap. Rudolph clears Woodson from Wright by running a route downfield and somewhat picking him. Wright runs a drag route across the formation underneath. Wright is forced to alter his route back towards the LOS because of Armstrong coming up and getting in the way of his path. After stepping up in the pocket Teddy delivers the ball a bit high to Wright who fails to make the catch.

For the first drive I thought the pass protection did pretty well.

 
I have a feeling that they are going to use Ellison at FB and then keep Ford as a 4th TE. Line isn't a good fullback. I like the kid and his story but I like our chances better with Ellison, mentioned in the previous post.

Great job Biabreakable!!

And PA gets worse and worse each year!! I used to enjoy his homerism a little bit but now everything is wayyyy overboard!

 
Maybe it's the purple colored glasses but Charles Johnson looks like he could be really, really good this year.

 
Maybe it's the purple colored glasses but Charles Johnson looks like he could be really, really good this year.
I have been thinking the same thing. Have overpaid for him in a couple drafts, because it seems like him and Bridgewater have a very good connection.

 
How is Wallace looking? Everyone is talking about Johnson,Rudolph, even Wright. Is Wallace just going to be a high priced decoy and can Teddy get the deep ball to him. Vikings look like a 10 win team.

 
Once Peterson is in games and they can't double anyone I have a feeling Wallace will get his.

 
How is Wallace looking? Everyone is talking about Johnson,Rudolph, even Wright. Is Wallace just going to be a high priced decoy and can Teddy get the deep ball to him. Vikings look like a 10 win team.
Not sure if they are holding back the playbook or what is going on, but Wallace has been very quiet in preseason. Only has 1 catch, had a drop last week on a short route. I think they are keeping it very vanilla and don't want to get Bridgewater killed in the preseason with the changes that they have made on the offensive line.

Because of this I really can't give a good estimation on Wallace. It is very hard to say at this time.

 
It is too early to say what kind of contribution Wallace will make.

Norv Turner made it clear though. He only cares about how players perform on the field in games. Players who make plays in the games will play more and players who don't won't. So if Mike Wallace wants to be a big part of this offense, he is going to have to start making some plays.

I don't like the lack of effort on blocking I have seen from Mike Wallace.

 
I don't think the first string offense can get into the rhythm necessary to open up the deep ball when they play 2-3 series total. Wallace dropped an easy crossing pass last game. Teddy sea to trust Wright more than Wallace in the intermediate passing game.

Wallace won't be the top WR IMO this year for the Vikes. Maybe a few big plays here and there. I think Johnson, Rudolph, McKinnon and Wright will be the better value plays on this team.

 
I don't think the first string offense can get into the rhythm necessary to open up the deep ball when they play 2-3 series total. Wallace dropped an easy crossing pass last game. Teddy sea to trust Wright more than Wallace in the intermediate passing game.

Wallace won't be the top WR IMO this year for the Vikes. Maybe a few big plays here and there. I think Johnson, Rudolph, McKinnon and Wright will be the better value plays on this team.
Agreed I think Wallace wifi be boom or bust week to week for FF purposes

 
Taylor Heinicke played well under the bright lights in Dallas and looks good enough to make the roster. Dominique Williams runs hard and might get the nod over Banyard if the Vikings keep 4 running backs.

 
Zimmer said the linebackers played fine.

However I noticed on one of those runs by McFadden that their left guard was able to get outside and seal off Watts, which effectively caused him to block Hodges inside as well. With two guards pulling, those LB need to either shoot the gap where those guards used to be and stop the RB in the backfield or they need to do a better job of not getting sealed away from the play. Too much reading and not enough reacting.

Defensive backs were also not getting off of blocks.

 
Taylor Heinicke played well under the bright lights in Dallas and looks good enough to make the roster. Dominique Williams runs hard and might get the nod over Banyard if the Vikings keep 4 running backs.
Man, tough call. I like Joe, guy works hard and deserves a spot. I dont know..

 
I like Heinicke's arm, even though he's a shortie.

As for RB's, I think we have to keep AP, Asiata and McKinnon for sure. After that it's a matter of do we want to keep 4 RBs or keep 3 or 4 TE's? A FB like Line? Tough call for sure for the skilled position players.

At WR, I think it's easy to say the number will be 6 as in we'll end up keeping Chas, Wallace, Wright, Patterson, Diggs AND Thielen.

 
I like Heinicke's arm, even though he's a shortie.

As for RB's, I think we have to keep AP, Asiata and McKinnon for sure. After that it's a matter of do we want to keep 4 RBs or keep 3 or 4 TE's? A FB like Line? Tough call for sure for the skilled position players.

At WR, I think it's easy to say the number will be 6 as in we'll end up keeping Chas, Wallace, Wright, Patterson, Diggs AND Thielen.
I was impressed with Heinicke too. Tough decisions all around. My guess is only keeping 3 TEs, cant see us not keeping the 6 WRs you mentioned..

 

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