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****OFFICIAL****Minnesota Vikings offseason thread (1 Viewer)

Paul Allen ‏@PAKFANVikes

33m
GM Rick Spielman navigating Mankato with a cane due to a bad hip. Asked him if he tore his labrum and is out for the season. He didn't bite.
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Gotta love PA!!

Sooooo ready for football to start. Really interested to see if Greg Childs can make a comeback...if he can the WR corps could be a real strength.

 
FunkyPlutos said:
Paul Allen ‏@PAKFANVikes

33m

GM Rick Spielman navigating Mankato with a cane due to a bad hip. Asked him if he tore his labrum and is out for the season. He didn't bite.
Click to expand...
Gotta love PA!!

Sooooo ready for football to start. Really interested to see if Greg Childs can make a comeback...if he can the WR corps could be a real strength.
Click to expand...
Childs is the only player opening camp on the PUP. Which means Mauti could get some snaps. A healthy Vikings team could really start things off right.

 
We've all heard people suggest that Adrian Peterson's amazing comeback in 2012 was, somehow, fueled by Performance Enhancing Drugs. He's heard the whispers, too. But with the National Football League on the verge of testing for Human Growth Hormone, the National Football League's best player is looking forward to having his blood drawn.

(Testing) will bring a lot of people to light. It'll clear a lot of people, on the outside, their curiosity when it comes to different players. So I'm all-in for it. I don't worry about those types of supplements, using those, because I'm all natural.
I suppose it's not surprising that people have speculated that Peterson had a little help in his comeback. Between people who are skeptical of everything and people that are, quite simply, sad that Peterson's injury wasn't significantly worse and that he got back to the top of the NFL so quickly, it would probably be more surprising if people didn't suggest it.

As we've said numerous times in the past. . .if anyone has any proof that Adrian Peterson is using or was using Performance Enhancing Drugs, they're more than welcome to present their proof in some sort of forum. Until someone does so. . .well, the suggestion really just sounds kind of dumb. I have a strange feeling that nobody's ever going to present that sort of proof, though. . .if only for the simple reason that such proof doesn't exist.

But hate, jealousy, and mind-numbingly stupid speculation are way more enjoyable than actual facts, aren't they? After all, it's much easier to simply accuse Peterson of taking illicit substances than it is to admit that your defense probably couldn't tackle an old woman in a phone booth, let alone a guy that's on his way to being on the short list of the greatest running backs in NFL history, and doing so in a "passing league."

When the NFL does start testing for HGH, it will be interesting to see which names are on the list. But for those that are waiting for the name Adrian Peterson to pop up on that list. . .I probably wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

http://www.dailynorseman.com/2013/7/27/4564236/peterson-looks-forward-to-hgh-testing-and-so-he-should
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Haters.

For every day I'm at camp, I'll be publishing a notebook on my observations at training camp and do the best I can to keep a running depth chart. These notebooks will be broken down by position grouping and include some daily features, like Longshot of the Day and Play of the Day.

My initial impressions of camp, based on what I've read of other camps, is favorable. The Vikings once again seem to be emphasizing special teams with a significant amount of time devoted to nailing down technical details of coverage.

Last year, positions coaches were very active in instruction and correction. That was in the second week of camp, so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison, but that didn't seem as much the case this time around.

It's not so much that they would hold back on correcting poor habits or behaviors, but seemed insistent on the use of repetition to teach rather than a longer conversation—players making mistakes almost always repeated the drill immediately. Players within the same position group would often speak up to correct poor habits.

Once again, the emphasis on execution over winning individual matchups was on display, and I think this is a significant and important part of what it means to create a coaching culture.

It's easy for us to say things like "professional athletes shouldn't need to be motivated" or dismiss the silly coaching aphorisms and motivational signs that we seem, but the point isn't that any specific set of words or signs will motivate a player. It's the idea that there are core values that an organization will prioritize and implement in order to achieve their goals.

No different from a corporate culture, it's something that we overlook until we see issues crop up on other teams, like the Bengals. It's why I think the Vikings were able to have 100 percent participation at OTAs and why we don't see as much discussion about how important it is to win your matchup in training camp—bettering oneself and your teammate is a more important long term goal than winning a short-term matchup.

Vikings practices have a lot more ambient noise than other camps, and much of that is due to the constant chatter of the players, a practice encouraged by coaches. Keeping the atmosphere relaxed, but the conversations football oriented accelerates the pace of learning and ease of transition.

The looks I had at wide receiver surprised me the most, and it seems like the battle for the fifth (and sixth?) spot will be a bit more tenacious than I initially thought, given the small sample of performances I saw from receivers I didn't expect much of, including Adam Thielen, Chris Summers and Rodney Smith. More on that when I touch on receivers.

I didn't find the practices to be at the pace I think is optimal, but neither am I a football coach or have any experience with this sort of thing. It is a reasonably fast camp that has a little bit of room to be faster.

Versatility seems to be a key theme this year. Aside from the receivers running a variety of routes on offense, I see a number of players on the defensive line and offensive line taking snaps in drills outside of their natural or expected position. Nose tackle Chase Baker, for example, was an edge rusher against Phil Loadholt. I also saw Marquise Jackson rush inside.

There isn't anything significant I can saw about scheme at this point, and I made a point to watch more of the individual matchups than track movement or formation. Today, I focused far more on defense. Tomorrow, I expect I'll see a lot more of the offense.

Obviously these will change over the course of camp, but these were where the first snaps were taken. Some things change—for example, Rhodes would occasionally step in in place of Robinson on first team base snaps—but these are for the most part where people took snaps.

RDE: Jared Allen, Everson Griffen, George Johnson, Collins Ukwu

NT: Letroy Guion, Fred Evans, Chase Baker, Anthony McCloud

UT: Kevin Williams, Christian Ballard, Sharrif Floyd, Everett Dawkins

LDE: Brian Robison, Lawrence Jackson, D'Aundre Reed, Marquis Jackson

CB: Chris Cook, A.J. Jefferson, Brandon Burton, Bobby Felder, Greg McCoy

CB: Josh Robinson, Xavier Rhodes, Jacob Lacey, Marcus Sherels, Roderick Williams

WLB: Marvin Mitchell, Desmond Bishop, Gerald Hodges

MLB: Erin Henderson, Audie Cole, Michael Mauti

SLB: Chad Greenway, Larry Dean, Tyrone McKenzie

S: Harrison Smith, Robert Blanton, Andrew Sendejo

S: Jamarca Sanford, Mistral Raymond, Darius Eubanks, Brandan Bishop

That's the best that I can do, although the order of Sherels, McCoy and Williams is speculation. I did not see which round of third-team snaps they took. The rest is accurate as I saw them, except Ukwu and Jackson may be switched around.

Defensive LineThere's nothing too interesting here, except that Floyd was taking third-team snaps instead of second-team snaps. But this is not entirely worrisome either; no rookie is taking first team snaps except Xavier Rhodes in a way. By the time training camp ends, we'll see some significant movement.

The most impressive non-starting defensive linemen was not Griffen or Evans, like I expected, but Chase Baker. He played with more speed than I remember from last year and availed himself well in one-on-ones. Floyd also looked very good, while Griffen was surprisingly lackluster. Anthony McCloud moved with much more bend than I expected and rushed with both power and speed moves.

The least impressive defensive lineman was Marquis Jackson, who couldn't generate pressure against any of the offensive linemen and found himself stonewalled fairly often.

An interesting battle here will not just be at base cornerback between Rhodes and Robinson, but also at nose tackle, where the Vikings have indicated in some part that Guion's spot is nowhere near secured. Evans can overtake it at any time. Particularly intriguing to me is the battle between D'Aundre Reed and Lawrence Jackson. The Vikings may only carry four defensive ends, and if they do the cut will be between those two.

Linebackers

Perhaps most surprising to the people I talked to was that Mitchell was taking first team snaps at weak-side linebacker instead of Desmond Bishop, who most expected. At Frazier's presser, he did indicate that there would be a lot of rotation here, and we might even see Hodges take first-team snaps before the position has settled (he may already have and I've just missed it).

More than anything, it seems like Bishop hasn't had the opportunity to learn as much as Mitchell and the others have about the position, which is what Frazier indicated was part of the decision to have him play as an outside linebacker in the first place. Things will likely change once Bishop learns the defense, but without OTAs (or minicamp), he's a little behind.

Audie Cole (now with less hair) and Michael Mauti are easy fan favorites, and both took charge of their respective defenses. Nothing of note from a play perspective, as I mostly watched walkthroughs, but the two of them had command of the defense and were in charge of adjustments.

There is a small possibility that there could be more blitzing from linebackers based on what I saw, but that could have just been a focus of the particular play being walked through.

SecondaryThe battle for starting cornerback is both interesting and boring. There doesn't seem to be much doubt that Rhodes is going to start on the outside, and he's already taking some of the first team reps away from Robinson to do so. None of the cornerback corps has stood out to me quite just yet, but I also didn't spend a lot of time looking at them yet. The rare instances of matchups, like during scrimmages, didn't turn out too favorably for the unit as a whole.

Of note, Xavier Rhodes did seem to give up a deep sideline catch to Joe Webb, but I won't put too much weight into this one way or the other.

A member of the secondary that did stand out, however, was Robert Blanton. In individual drills, it was pretty clear he had the capability to read receivers and sharpen his angles in order to accommodate that. I'm not sure who he was covering for the interception he recovered, but it was Ponder who threw the ball.

This shouldn't be extraordinarily surprising, given that he looked good in his limited time on the field last year and spent his college years as a cornerback, but his instinctive understanding of leverage, as well as the trust he had in his read of the receiver was nevertheless notable. Were he wrong, he would have given up an easy touchdown.

The other standout was Andrew Sendejo, but not because he looked great in drills (he did look good). He simply was very comfortable with the defense and on point in correct adjustments and calling out checks (along with Michael Mauti). That familiarity is to be expected, but third-team defenses rarely act with such confidence.

On special teams, I was consistently impressed by Greg McCoy as a gunner. Looked crazy good, but that could have been a function of the blocking. Perhaps unfortunate, however, as McCoy did not look to be on top of coverage when asked to defend in base snaps.

Roderick Williams did a very good job in the very few snaps that I saw. He diagnosed a play correctly, and popped the ball out of Rodney Smith's hands. To both players' credit, neither stopped the play. Smith positioned his body well so he could re-catch the ball, bobbling it twice before securing it. Unfortunately for him, Williams kept forcing him out and the catch was ruled incomplete.

Offense Depth ChartI wasn't there for most of the offense, so this depth chart is largely speculative, and in some part rooted in what I saw in scrimmages. Unfortunately, scrimmages involve a lot of rotation, so it won't be perfect. I'll pay more attention to this tomorrow.

QB: Christian Ponder, Matt Cassel, McLeod Bethel-Thompson, James Vandenberg

HB: Adrian Peterson, Toby Gerhart, Bradley Randle, Joe Banyard, Jerodis Williams

FB: Jerome Felton, Matt Asiata, Zach Line

TE: Kyle Rudolph, John Carlson, Rhett Ellison, Colin Anderson, Chase Ford

FL: Greg Jennings, Jarius Wright, Joe Webb, Stephen Burton, Adam Thielen, Erik Highsmith

SE: Jerome Simpson, Cordarrelle Patterson, Chris Summers, Rodney Smith, LaMark Brown

LT: Matt Kalil, DeMarcus Love, Tyler Holmes

LG: Charlie Johnson, Jeff Baca, Troy Kropog

C: John Sullivan, Joe Berger, Camden Wentz

RG: Brandon Fusco, Seth Olsen, Travis Bond

RT: Phil Loadholt, Kevin Murphy, Brandon Keith

The FB/HB designation is because I noticed Asiata in second-team fullback, so I did not list him at halfback. He could still very well also be the "third" running back on the roster.

Greg Childs is unlisted. Same reason as Nathan Williams above (PUP).

The offensive line was largely determined by looking where they lined up in line drills, not in scrimmages. This will be more accurate tomorrow. John Sullivan didn't take the majority of the first-team snaps at center, just the first ones. Frazier had already indicated that he would be taking fewer training camp snaps in light of the surgery.

Travis Bond also took drill snaps at right tackle.

The wide receiver designations are fluid and a number of receivers rotated in for first and second team snaps, particularly when switching to "11" personnel or different groupings. Jennings and Wright primarily played slot in those instances.

QuarterbacksI wish I had more to say here, but I don't. I've decided not to keep track of quarterback statistics in training camp this year because I don't think it productively adds to the discussion. I explore the reasons a bit further in the podcast, but suffice to say I do not think the statistics provide a good proxy for development or growth.

What little I saw of Christian Ponder wasn't great. There wasn't enough adjustment to the wind and he walked into a touch sack more than once. Poorly thrown balls seemed to litter practice, but he also happened to do a decent job moving the chains in drills and accomplished much of what he needed to in the third down drill.

There are also clear issues with the wide receiver corps at this point, and Ponder has not developed the timing necessary for the offense to function. Nearly every receiver drifted off route and was imprecise in his depth. More on this later, but some of what looked to be inaccurately placed throws were actually the result of receivers breaking too early or moving out of place.

That's not to say chemistry is the overriding reason for this early performance. If anything, it's simply rust and getting back into the game.

Matt Cassel didn't look good either, although I'm not so sure chemistry is as big a controlling factor. Like Ponder, Cassel is testing the limits of the receivers, but I'm not so sure Cassel is putting the ball in good places for the receivers even knowing that. His passes had to be saved more than Ponder's, which led to some highlights that didn't need to be highlights.

I noted one poor decision by McLeod Bethel-Thompson and one poor throw, but didn't see enough to form an opinion. I didn't see any of James Vandenberg.

Wide ReceiversThe receiver corps was largely disappointing. Greg Jennings flashed some incredible route-running at times (it's truly a pleasure to watch) but also dropped a few catchable balls. I've noticed that he doesn't really secure the ball until late in the process, and it's a bit loose before that. I'd hesitate to say that he's 'body-catching' in the sense that he presses the ball against his pads, but he's not using his fingertips in catches, which lead to some of the throws bouncing out of his hands.

I imagine this is not too much of an issue because this problem is generally exacerbated with quarterbacks who fire with a lot of velocity, like Brett Favre. It wasn't an issue in the past, so I'm not worried about it.

Jerome Simpson was actually good to watch and I didn't note any problems other than a fumble during drills. He's the type of player that is good during camp and without the pads on, but we've yet to see it translate into on-field play. This year he's not as loud or jovial, although that may be because it's the first day. He also didn't have a highlight reel to speak of but largely executed.

Cordarrelle Patterson had an impressive play that people are talking about, but clearly lacks refinement. Impressive about that play was his ability to create exclusive real estate by generating leverage as soon as he gained position, by using his arms to maintain space. Most surprising to me on that play, however, was that his release off the snap was excellent, given that that is an area marked as a weakness for him coming out of college.

There is a limit to this type of praise, however, as the player he beat was Andrew Sendejo, neither the team's best example of a cover player nor actually a cornerback. Patterson's rough route-running is killing his timing with Ponder, who's throws look off target and create trouble for Patterson, who has to adjust backwards in the route to catch the ball.

Sharing this problem was Jarius Wright who also drifted off of routes and made more work for himself by forcing himself to work back to the ball when he didn't have to. He's still an impressive and explosive player and his release off the snap is among the best in the camp.

Joe Webb shocked me with his play today. From far away, his route running looks good and he caught the vast majority if not all the passes thrown his way. Up close, I noticed a number of problems I didn't see from further away that could complicate his ability to get on the field as a receiver. He makes every move look like a lot of work and doesn't have an ease of transition.

His footwork is a bit cluttered and he needs to work on his handwork throughout the route. None of this should be surprising or even taken as that much of a criticism, and it's fair to say that Webb seems to be learning the position quickly. Also, beating Xavier Rhodes is no easy feat and he did that at least once.

Of the rest of the receivers, the plainly most interesting was Adam Thielen, who caught my attention during special teams drills. He initially started off as a punt gunner working too hard to get downfield, but quickly improved. His technique was good but he needed to generate more speed off the snap.

It didn't take long for him to do that, and he generated separation to move downfield, even pulling in a quick and wicked inside move more than once to beat the blockers. Pretty good stuff.

The only receiver I had significant and consistent problems with was LaMark Brown, who didn't look refined or athletic. There's a hitch in his release that isn't very good and means he gets into his route half a second later than other receivers. Chris Summers looked smooth and I was impressed with Rodney Smith's awareness and technique, something I've consistently knocked him for in the past.

I didn't see enough of Burton or Highsmith to form real opinions of them, but I would have liked Burton to show more precision when running his routes.

Running BacksI didn't see very much of the running backs today. I saw virtually none of Adrian Peterson other than a good run and a dropped pass. All I saw from Toby Gerhart was a dropped pass. Matt Asiata didn't look that great and didn't exhibit the patience needed to expose a defense.

I saw some of the backs in blocking drills, and Asiata was the only one who didn't look on point, blocking a little high. Randle might not be able to block high, but he was nevertheless stout. Line did well, as did Felton. AD and Gerhart did not participate in the drills I saw.

As a gunner, Randle was weird and unnatural, not consistently driving forward. He has to learn this fast if he's to make the team. I liked that he didn't look small, just short. I'd wager he weighs much more than the 189 pounds he weighed in at during his Pro Day, and I approve. This would suit his running style better, anyway.

Tight EndsI saw nothing of the tight ends, other than a dropped pass by Colin Anderson and John Carlson lining up at fullback. Carlson hit the line awkwardly on a play-action pass and popped up instead of driving forward, eliminating himself as a checkdown on the play or becoming a pass protector. I don't think he should continue to line up here.

Offensive LineNothing of note here as the only thing I saw were the one-on-ones. Seth Olsen looked consistently bad against multiple players. Jeff Baca played with more strength than I thought but was beaten once. Loadholt needed to move better against Brian Robison. Brandon Fusco is simply overmatched by Kevin Williams. Didn't win once.

Kevin Murphy surprisingly stonewalled Everson Griffen. Camden Wentz needs to show more, but Fred Evans isn't a fair matchup. Evans also later beat Joe Berger.

Sharrif Floyd looked explosive, using edge moves and power moves to beat Seth Olsen and Travis Bond.

Special TeamsI've already written about the special teams performances of many of the players, so I'll just list the punt unit's first, second and third lines as far as I could tell. This is important, as this will determine in a big way who makes the team.

First punting unit: Andrew Sendejo, Desmond Bishop, Harrison Smith, Robert Blanton, Tyrone McKenzie, Rhett Ellison, Larry Dean, Audie Cole. That is missing one player I do not know. Naturally, Cullen Loeffler was the long snapper and Jeff Locke was the punter.

Second punting unit: Toby Gerhart, Christian Ballard, Gerald Hodges, Audie Cole, Matt Asiata, A.J. Jefferson and others.

Third punt return unit: LaMark Brown, John Carlson, Darius Eubanks, D'Aundre Reed, Desmond Bishop, Jerodis Williams and others.

First punt return unit: Chris Cook, Andrew Sendejo, Desmond Bishp, Rhett Ellison, Tyrone McKenzie, Matt Asiata, Larry Dean, Christian Ballard, Robert Blanton, Marquis Jackson.

Punt returners: Marcus Sherels, Cordarrelle Patterson, Stephen Burton, Jerome Simpson, Greg McCoy, Joe Webb, Josh Robinson. Those are in no particular order.

Jeff Locke looked great, but the wind was really killing the chemistry between Loeffler and Locke, which still needs work. On short punts, Lock averaged 4.3 seconds of hang time, and so needs a little bit of work there. That is not as bad as it sounds, though, as one punt ruined the average at 3.2 seconds. On long punts, he averaged 4.7 seconds, which is very good. He also had a good directional sense and a strong leg.

Random and Inconsistently Awarded AccoladesBubble player of the day: Adam Thielen looked incredibly good in special teams and in team drills, catching a highlight pass to make up for Matt Cassel's overthrow.

#90: Marquis Jackson was the worst player I saw today, although I did not see everybody. I suspect the offensive line will change my mind. If so, it might be Seth Olsen.

Eat Crow: This goes to both Joe Webb and Rodney Smith, who both significantly outperformed my expectations

I Called It: Patterson isn't the body-catcher we thought, but I feel better about calling Desmond Bishop at the Will spot, even if it was for entirely none of the reasons I predicted (which actually shouldn't count, but this is my notebook, not yours).

As Expected: Nothing to say about the vets, but Jerome Simpson did as well as I expected him to, which is good, but not great.

Step Up: Asiata is better than what I saw.

Pleasant Surprise: No new injuries. Rhodes had to walk off the field after a ding to his knee, but returned with full force.

http://www.dailynorseman.com/2013/7/27/4561838/minnesota-vikings-2013-training-camp-day-one-notebook
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FunkyPlutos said:
Anyone see the scrimmage tonight? If so, thoughts...
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I was there. A few thoughts:

1. WR Cordarrelle Patterson is the real deal. Whoever said he catches balls with his body/pads, I'm just not seeing it. Everything was right in the hands (like he had stick-um on those gloves), with his only "drop" on the evening (other than one pass thrown at his ankles) being a play that should have been an INT, that he broke up and then almost hauled in. He also looked good on punt/kick returns too. If you give him a seam/gap, he's got that quick step up into his next gear. And if he hits that next gear without a defender in the immediate vicinity? He's gone...down the field for a TD. I think he's a keeper!

2. DB Xavier Rhodes didn't take the field. Very minor injury is what I was told. Nothing serious.

3. LB Desmond Bishop limped off the field earlier in the sessions. Didn't look like anything serious! But given the fact that he's coming off of a significant injury, a bit of a reason for concern.

4. QB Christian Ponder looked pretty solid...connecting on some intermediate and one beautiful long pass down the right sideline to (I think) WR Simpson. He also had a beautifully thrown/timed TD to the back right corner of the end zone to TE John Carlson. He was keeping the Purple faithful happy...until he threw a brutal INT while trying to force the ball into WR Jennings on the left side (~8-10 yards downfield). I swear you heard an audible GROAN from the thousands of fans in attendance (standing room only...as there wasn't even standing room for most of the scrimmage).

5. QB Matt Cassel looked okay, but not as good as Ponder (sans brutal INT, IMHO). He didn't have any picks, but he threw one shorter pass in the left flat that I swear made it half-way to his target. No pass rush or contact to speak of...he just threw a 10 yard pass about six yards...I think two-hopping its way to the intended target.

6. DB Marcus Sherels had a great night! Looked awesome on kick returns. Broke up a couple passes. Picked off another.

7. WR Greg Jennings didn't do much...other than draw a LOT of defensive attention away from other players. Not that he had a bad night! Just that the team's QBs were forced to look in other directions.

 
datonn said:
FunkyPlutos said:
Anyone see the scrimmage tonight? If so, thoughts...
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I was there. A few thoughts:

1. WR Cordarrelle Patterson is the real deal. Whoever said he catches balls with his body/pads, I'm just not seeing it. Everything was right in the hands (like he had stick-um on those gloves), with his only "drop" on the evening (other than one pass thrown at his ankles) being a play that should have been an INT, that he broke up and then almost hauled in. He also looked good on punt/kick returns too. If you give him a seam/gap, he's got that quick step up into his next gear. And if he hits that next gear without a defender in the immediate vicinity? He's gone...down the field for a TD. I think he's a keeper!

2. DB Xavier Rhodes didn't take the field. Very minor injury is what I was told. Nothing serious.

3. LB Desmond Bishop limped off the field earlier in the sessions. Didn't look like anything serious! But given the fact that he's coming off of a significant injury, a bit of a reason for concern.

4. QB Christian Ponder looked pretty solid...connecting on some intermediate and one beautiful long pass down the right sideline to (I think) WR Simpson. He also had a beautifully thrown/timed TD to the back right corner of the end zone to TE John Carlson. He was keeping the Purple faithful happy...until he threw a brutal INT while trying to force the ball into WR Jennings on the left side (~8-10 yards downfield). I swear you heard an audible GROAN from the thousands of fans in attendance (standing room only...as there wasn't even standing room for most of the scrimmage).

5. QB Matt Cassel looked okay, but not as good as Ponder (sans brutal INT, IMHO). He didn't have any picks, but he threw one shorter pass in the left flat that I swear made it half-way to his target. No pass rush or contact to speak of...he just threw a 10 yard pass about six yards...I think two-hopping its way to the intended target.

6. DB Marcus Sherels had a great night! Looked awesome on kick returns. Broke up a couple passes. Picked off another.

7. WR Greg Jennings didn't do much...other than draw a LOT of defensive attention away from other players. Not that he had a bad night! Just that the team's QBs were forced to look in other directions.
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You forgot the Rabbit on the field (made all of the defenders miss, should be the new punt returner) :lol:

Griffin looked beast mode, I have a feeling he will be top resigning priority of all the DL pending FAs

Ponder's pass to Simpson was very nice. They don't have to connect all of the time to keep defenses honest just to have to show the threat.

I am really pulling for Webb, I know it is a long shot, but I think if he can get his route running down he could be a very good receiver. He shows very good hands

our punter has a very strong leg

There could be some growing pains with Walsh because of the fact of the new holder. He missed a couple, but finished it off with a close to 60 yarder that looked like it had room to spare.

 
I think Ponder is going to do well this year but if not what would be plan B for next year? The QB free agent crop (Cutler, Freeman, Vick) for next year looks razor thin as Freeman and Cutler will likely be resigned. Would we be forced to reach for another QB in the draft again next year and start all over again?

 
Just watched the Bills/Vikes game.

Oof.

Not much to like in that game.

Poor play. Poor coaching. Poor adjustments (or lack thereof).

 
I trying not to over-react to preseason this year. Last year the Vikings looked terrible against the 49ers in pre-season and then beat them in the regular season.

 
I'm having a hard time buying into whatever it is the coaching staff is doing. I don't put much stock in wins/losses during preseason, but playing Ponder less than every other NFL starter in week 1? Complaining about the Bills approach in game 2 (i.e. actually working on a defense they hope to use and be good at)? I just don't understand. I'm trying to stay optimistic because I thought they'd be improved, but I don't see what they could possibly be achieving this preseason. Most notably I don't see any effort to better gameplan against blitz defenses we'll no doubt be seeing until Ponder can beat it (Friday would have been a golden opportunity), or simply getting chemistry among the new pieces in the passing offense while AP is on the shelf. Last chance to hone their regular season objectives is against San Francisco. Not the opponent I'd have chosen do that successfully against... being that they are a likely NFC playoff team/(opponent?). Unless I'm missing something, the plan appears to be mailing in the preseason and hoping to find lightning in a bottle when the regular season starts. It's bizarre.

 
BigJim® said:
I'm having a hard time buying into whatever it is the coaching staff is doing. I don't put much stock in wins/losses during preseason, but playing Ponder less than every other NFL starter in week 1? Complaining about the Bills approach in game 2 (i.e. actually working on a defense they hope to use and be good at)? I just don't understand. I'm trying to stay optimistic because I thought they'd be improved, but I don't see what they could possibly be achieving this preseason. Most notably I don't see any effort to better gameplan against blitz defenses we'll no doubt be seeing until Ponder can beat it (Friday would have been a golden opportunity), or simply getting chemistry among the new pieces in the passing offense while AP is on the shelf. Last chance to hone their regular season objectives is against San Francisco. Not the opponent I'd have chosen do that successfully against... being that they are a likely NFC playoff team/(opponent?). Unless I'm missing something, the plan appears to be mailing in the preseason and hoping to find lightning in a bottle when the regular season starts. It's bizarre.
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The bold part was so horrid.. "Do you know who I am?? Mr. Ponder!! You should NOT be confusing me during the preseason like that :cry: "

Seriously.. 3rd year in the league and you still have problems reading blitzes ??? :bye:

 
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snogger said:
BigJim® said:
I'm having a hard time buying into whatever it is the coaching staff is doing. I don't put much stock in wins/losses during preseason, but playing Ponder less than every other NFL starter in week 1? Complaining about the Bills approach in game 2 (i.e. actually working on a defense they hope to use and be good at)? I just don't understand. I'm trying to stay optimistic because I thought they'd be improved, but I don't see what they could possibly be achieving this preseason. Most notably I don't see any effort to better gameplan against blitz defenses we'll no doubt be seeing until Ponder can beat it (Friday would have been a golden opportunity), or simply getting chemistry among the new pieces in the passing offense while AP is on the shelf. Last chance to hone their regular season objectives is against San Francisco. Not the opponent I'd have chosen do that successfully against... being that they are a likely NFC playoff team/(opponent?). Unless I'm missing something, the plan appears to be mailing in the preseason and hoping to find lightning in a bottle when the regular season starts. It's bizarre.
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The bold part was so horrid.. "Do you know who I am?? Mr. Ponder!! You should NOT be confusing me during the preseason like that :cry: "

Seriously.. 3rd year in the league and you still have problems reading blitzes ??? :bye:
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I agreed with several of Barreiro's takes on Sunday Sermons yesterday, including: "It's not against the rules to make a team pay for heavy blitzing once in a while"

 
“Kevin Williams suffered a hyperextension injury to his right knee in last night’s football game. An MRI exam today revealed a significant bone contusion as well as a posterior capsular strain. Kevin was fortunate in that there was no injury to any of his ligaments.” – Head Coach Leslie Frazier
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This is kind of good news I guess. Could have been worse. I have heard this was a pretty cheap block that caused the injury.

Also Jerome Felton will miss the 1st 3 games do to DUI suspension. Good thing the Vikings have Ellison. It also looks like Zach Line will make the team although he is not ready as a blocker.

 
Biabreakable said:
“Kevin Williams suffered a hyperextension injury to his right knee in last night’s football game. An MRI exam today revealed a significant bone contusion as well as a posterior capsular strain. Kevin was fortunate in that there was no injury to any of his ligaments.” – Head Coach Leslie Frazier
Click to expand...
This is kind of good news I guess. Could have been worse. I have heard this was a pretty cheap block that caused the injury.

Also Jerome Felton will miss the 1st 3 games do to DUI suspension. Good thing the Vikings have Ellison. It also looks like Zach Line will make the team although he is not ready as a blocker.
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I am really interested to see if the NFL fines Looney for that hit. The league fines defensive players for hits that happen so fast that they seem unavoidable. They should fine Looney because he made a conscious decision to go low on Williams. Looney is a 300 pound lineman. He needs to man up and block Williams at the waist.

I also interesting to me that Minnesota will lose Felton for the game against Detriot. Detriot, on the other hand, will have Nick Fairley in their lineup who drove drunk and attempted to elude police last year. Why is Fairley getting a free pass?

 
Mcleod Bethel-Thompson (MBT) looks like a mini-Favre. He played well enough that the Vikings will have to roster him in order to keep him. I like him better than Cassel.

 
Just happy the Vikes didn't go 0-4 in the preseason.

Forget the stat, but the odds are against you if you're winless in the preseason.

 
Joe Banyard making it hard for the Vikings to decide between him, Asiata and Zach Line I bet.

The best thing to take out of this is the back up offensive lineman doing well enough to help these guys be successful.

 
Vikings cut Stephen Burton. By most reports he had an excellant training camp but he made a couple of mistakes in the preseason games. The worst was giving up on a slant route that resulted in a Christian Ponder interception. He also had a bad drop in the fourth pre-season game.

 
Is there a full list of cuts yet? Rosters were due in 25 minutes ago and they took it down to the last minute I guess.

 
Beo said:
Is there a full list of cuts yet? Rosters were due in 25 minutes ago and they took it down to the last minute I guess.
Click to expand...
Full list:

Vikings moves: Released TE Colin Anderson, RB Joe Banyard, S Brandan Bishop, OG Travis Bond, CB Brandon Burton, WR Stephen Burton, DT Everett Dawkins, S Darius Eubanks, CB Bobby Felder, TE Chase Ford, OT Brandon Keith, DT Anthony McCloud, LB Tyrone McKenzie, OT Kevin Murphy, DT Spencer Nealy, DE D'Aundre Reed, WR Rodney Smith, WR Adam Thielen, DE Collins Ukwu. Placed OG Seth Olsen on injured reserve. Placed FB Jerome Felton and OG Demarcus Love on suspended list. Placed WR Greg Childs on physically-unable-to-perform list. Placed DT Christian Ballard on reserve/left squad list.

From http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/82939/minnesota-vikings-cut-down-analysis-2

 
Donnybrook said:
Beo said:
Is there a full list of cuts yet? Rosters were due in 25 minutes ago and they took it down to the last minute I guess.
Click to expand...
Full list:

Vikings moves: Released TE Colin Anderson, RB Joe Banyard, S Brandan Bishop, OG Travis Bond, CB Brandon Burton, WR Stephen Burton, DT Everett Dawkins, S Darius Eubanks, CB Bobby Felder, TE Chase Ford, OT Brandon Keith, DT Anthony McCloud, LB Tyrone McKenzie, OT Kevin Murphy, DT Spencer Nealy, DE <a data-ipb="nomediaparse" data-cke-saved-href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/14075/d" href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/14075/d" aundre-reed"="">D'Aundre Reed, WR Rodney Smith, WR Adam Thielen, DE Collins Ukwu. Placed OG Seth Olsen on injured reserve. Placed FB Jerome Felton and OG Demarcus Love on suspended list. Placed WR Greg Childs on physically-unable-to-perform list. Placed DT Christian Ballard on reserve/left squad list.

From http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/82939/minnesota-vikings-cut-down-analysis-2
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Thanks. Glad to see Webb, Mauti, and Baker make the team.

 
Kalil played really poorly compared to how he played last season. Hopefully that does not carry over into the regular season. John Sullivan is still somewhat recovering from micro fracture surgery to his knee and may have had some rust when he played briefly.

Thu, 08 Aug 2013 11:20:46 -0700

Minnesota Vikings C John Sullivan (knee) has been able to participate in all practices during training camp even though he underwent microfracture surgery this offseason. Sullivan has not suffered any setbacks with his knee

Read more: http://www.kffl.com/player/18421/NFL/John-Sullivan#ixzz2db3TpRKO

For the most part the Vikings played their back up offensive linemen trying to develop their depth. They did not run what their offense is going to be really at all during preseason, instead evaluating the depth of their team and what players are worth keeping.

So I wouldn't read too much into how the Vikings performed in preseason at all.

Ponder is still Ponder.

 
I went back and watched the last preseason game with the Titans again today out of boredom and I have to tell you that I think we have something with Chase Baker at NT. At the start of the game when the Titans had their first team offensive line in he was firing off the ball and disrupting plays in the backfield. I was really impressed and along with Shariff Floyd I think we have a nice new DT duo forming. Also does anyone know why Ballard has left the team? If it has been disclosed already I missed it and was just curious.

 
Hey guys I started a fresh thread dedicated to the 2013 season so check it out when you get a second.

 
Donnybrook said:
Tom Pelissero‏@TomPelissero

#Vikings claimed J'Marcus Webb off waivers from #Bears. There's your swing tackle.

Tom Pelissero‏@TomPelissero

People who rip #Vikings picking up Webb don't get it. He has 44 NFL starts, minimum salary of $630K. Better than most 3rd tackle options.

Agree with Pelissero on Webb. I don't know who the Vikings released to add Webb.
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Claimed T J'Marcus Webb and waived T Troy Kropog.

http://www.vikings.com/team/transactions.html

Webb might suck as a pass blocker but that is not what he is here for.

Beo I am not sure why Ballard has been away from the team. I can only assume it is something personal and that is why the team is not going into detail.

 
Biabreakable said:
Donnybrook said:
Tom Pelissero‏@TomPelissero

#Vikings claimed J'Marcus Webb off waivers from #Bears. There's your swing tackle.

Tom Pelissero‏@TomPelissero

People who rip #Vikings picking up Webb don't get it. He has 44 NFL starts, minimum salary of $630K. Better than most 3rd tackle options.

Agree with Pelissero on Webb. I don't know who the Vikings released to add Webb.
Click to expand...
Claimed T J'Marcus Webb and waived T Troy Kropog.

http://www.vikings.com/team/transactions.html

Webb might suck as a pass blocker but that is not what he is here for.

Beo I am not sure why Ballard has been away from the team. I can only assume it is something personal and that is why the team is not going into detail.
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Ok thanks Biabreakable. I wasnt sure if they said why and I had just missed it. Hope everything is ok with him/his family.

 
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