I feel like kyle has had some small improvements in blocking the last year or two, still not great but slight uptick. I think his lack of skill in blocking was compounded by our terrible o-line play in the past as well. To your point, he isn’t a blocking TE so expectations and gameplan should reflect that.
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2022 Minnesota Vikings (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter Heatman
- Start date
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Sheldon Richardson 2017 Highlights: #TTG4REAL Film Room
There are a lot of nice plays here. He has good power and leverage against linemen, often pushing his guy into the backfield. I only saw him play end on one of the Seahawks plays and he does a great job there. He drops back into a middle zone on one play and doesn't look natural there, but I suppose he got to the right spot. He plays the run very well and tracks RB to multiple gaps. On one of these plays he beats a double team (the center falls down on his initial block) and then is still able to get over to the 6 gap and tackle the RB, he pops the ball out on the tackle.
This isn't the bad plays.
There are a lot of nice plays here. He has good power and leverage against linemen, often pushing his guy into the backfield. I only saw him play end on one of the Seahawks plays and he does a great job there. He drops back into a middle zone on one play and doesn't look natural there, but I suppose he got to the right spot. He plays the run very well and tracks RB to multiple gaps. On one of these plays he beats a double team (the center falls down on his initial block) and then is still able to get over to the 6 gap and tackle the RB, he pops the ball out on the tackle.
This isn't the bad plays.
Rudolph is an awful blocker. Among the NFL's worst at TE. However, so are Zach Ertz and Greg Olsen, though they are better receivers than Rudolph.snore said:
Ultimately, this isn't about Rudolph, so much as it is about using Morgan more frequently. Using 2-TE sets as a base wouldn't be a bad idea. Keeps your 3 best pass catchers on the field, and improves blocking. The Redskins did that all the time, with good success.
Hov34
Eephus's Great Great Great Love Child
bicycle_seat_sniffer
Smells like chicken
Schedule leak: #Eagles will host Kirk Cousins and the #Vikings to open up the 2018 season on September 6th, per @howardeskin.
Not sure how true
Not sure how true
Likely true. The Thursday kickoff game of recent years usually has the SB winning team against one of the teams they beat along the way in the playoffs.
Aznflyer14
Footballguy
Agreed... It's not just Eagles, Saints, Vikings but also Rams. They have now field a terrify ball-hawking secondary. Their def coordinator (son of Bum) will get aggressive with his front line defense, wrecking havoc on QB.
CentralPA
Footballguy
Eskin is a d-bag but he is usually right when it comes to Eagles news. It makes the most sense. I expect this game will not be a blow out and will be a hard fought battle. I sense a little "Out-of-division" rivalry brewing between the Birds and Vikes. Good stuff.
Hov34
Eephus's Great Great Great Love Child
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Sources: Kai Forbath to Re-sign With Vikings
Forbath did fine last year aside from missing too many extra points.
Jeff Locke signed with the 49ers so the Vikings do need a new punter. After a shaky start Locke punted very well last year and showed some improvement in 2016 as well.
Forbath did fine last year aside from missing too many extra points.
Jeff Locke signed with the 49ers so the Vikings do need a new punter. After a shaky start Locke punted very well last year and showed some improvement in 2016 as well.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
10 remaining free agents who could help the Vikings
Who are other free agents that the Vikings should look into?
I think for the most part the Vikings are done with free agency. They addressed their two biggest needs and landed some top players in Cousins and RIchardson. The quality of free agents remaining isn't nearly as good.
According to sportrac the Vikings have $24 million in cap space after you account for the the $6 million allocated to their draft picks.
So they do have money to be able to sign more players, question is which players might be worth some investment?
I can see this $24 million being set aside for re-signing players such as Diggs, Hunter, Kendricks, Barr and/or Waynes and I would rather have those players back than to add anything I see available in free agency right now, although I imagine some of the players on Colliers list won't be very expensive.
If the Vikings do sign Barr to a long term deal, it may end up saving the Vikings cap space by doing so.
I think there are still some players such as Robison who could be cut to free up space. Not sure if Ealy or some other free agents might be better than him right now, thus worth cutting Robison and signing someone younger. I am hoping that Bower or Weatherly can play well enough to take more snaps this season. Bower seemed to have some good pass rush ability.
Who are other free agents that the Vikings should look into?
I think for the most part the Vikings are done with free agency. They addressed their two biggest needs and landed some top players in Cousins and RIchardson. The quality of free agents remaining isn't nearly as good.
According to sportrac the Vikings have $24 million in cap space after you account for the the $6 million allocated to their draft picks.
So they do have money to be able to sign more players, question is which players might be worth some investment?
I can see this $24 million being set aside for re-signing players such as Diggs, Hunter, Kendricks, Barr and/or Waynes and I would rather have those players back than to add anything I see available in free agency right now, although I imagine some of the players on Colliers list won't be very expensive.
If the Vikings do sign Barr to a long term deal, it may end up saving the Vikings cap space by doing so.
I think there are still some players such as Robison who could be cut to free up space. Not sure if Ealy or some other free agents might be better than him right now, thus worth cutting Robison and signing someone younger. I am hoping that Bower or Weatherly can play well enough to take more snaps this season. Bower seemed to have some good pass rush ability.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Minnesota Vikings 2019 Compensatory Draft Pick Update
Something else to consider in regards to the question of if the Vikings should sign any more free agents. Getting a 3rd round comp pick for Keenum would be pretty sweet.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Yeah. A somewhat surprising move as I think they like the long snapper they already have. Just adding competition I guess.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Vikings to Sign OL Tom Compton
Ceertainly nice to have depth at the tackle and guard positions as it seems he can play both. Perhaps an upgrade over Sirles?
I wonder how much they paid him and if the signing will have any effect on the comp picks or not. I don't see those details yet.
Ceertainly nice to have depth at the tackle and guard positions as it seems he can play both. Perhaps an upgrade over Sirles?
I wonder how much they paid him and if the signing will have any effect on the comp picks or not. I don't see those details yet.
FunkyPlutos
Footballguy
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Biabreakable
Footballguy
bicycle_seat_sniffer
Smells like chicken
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Yeah its Treadwell's job to take over but he has to earn it.
Stacy Coley showed some good things during preseason. He sort of reminds me of Diggs in how he wins. I could see him taking over the spot too if Treadwell does not improve enough.
I disagree with the author saying that the Vikings have not been good at finding WR under Rick Spielman or since Randy Moss. While there has been a vacuum of talent at the WR for a pretty long time since Moss, Diggs and Thielen are very good, they just came with later round picks instead of the more traditional way of adding WR talent.
I do agree Michael Thomas would have been a better pick than Treadwell, at the same time with the Vikings I don't think Thomas would have done as much early on in his career with the Vikings as he has done with Brees. He would be nice to have now that the Vikings have Cousins, but they have Treadwell, so just have to see if he can develop into a starter or not.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
I guess the Seahawks have signed Tom Johnson and Shamar Stephen to their team. So the Vikings have kind of traded those two for RIchardson.
The Vikings will need to add another defensive tackle to be their 4th, I am guessing through the draft.
The Vikings will need to add another defensive tackle to be their 4th, I am guessing through the draft.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Check out these receiving projections for Thielen, Diggs, Rudy et al.
Here is the link to his Vikings team projections.
He has Cousins being sacked 37 times but I don't think he accounted for that lost yardage on the sacks. 561 pass attempts 4336 yards 27 TD 14 INT 37 sacks
I am not sure how Clay end up with 14 interceptions or the sack numbers.
Cousins has a career sack percentage of 4.8 so on 561 attempts one should expect 27 sacks. The Vikings offensive line is not as good as Washingtons has been besides last season when many of their starters were hurt. So I could see adding 5 sacks to this I suppose, but not 10.
Cousins interception rate is 2.6% on 561 attempts that would be 14 interceptions, so I can't really argue with that. I just hope he throws fewer picks than this, but I guess we will see.
Nice to see some numbers.
What do you all think?
So for Cousins this works out to 4335
Here is the link to his Vikings team projections.
He has Cousins being sacked 37 times but I don't think he accounted for that lost yardage on the sacks. 561 pass attempts 4336 yards 27 TD 14 INT 37 sacks
I am not sure how Clay end up with 14 interceptions or the sack numbers.
Cousins has a career sack percentage of 4.8 so on 561 attempts one should expect 27 sacks. The Vikings offensive line is not as good as Washingtons has been besides last season when many of their starters were hurt. So I could see adding 5 sacks to this I suppose, but not 10.
Cousins interception rate is 2.6% on 561 attempts that would be 14 interceptions, so I can't really argue with that. I just hope he throws fewer picks than this, but I guess we will see.
Nice to see some numbers.
What do you all think?
Donnybrook
Footballguy
I wonder what are the odds the Vikings take a running back in the first 3 rounds. It not what I want them to do but I think Spielman values running backs and he committed to best player available philosophy. Have a feeling that Spielman will probably take one before he takes a Olineman just to troll me.
If I remember correctly at the time of the draft part of the reason that Treadwell appealed to the Vikings was his blocking ability as a WR. Treadwell definitely hasn't lived up to the expectations but I don't think Thomas would have had nearly the impact to date in Minnesota as he has with the Saints. Usage has been totally different and I don't think it is 100% based on the WR themselves.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Yes.
There were folks like Arif Hasan who thought Thomas would be a better pick than Treadwell in the first round though. I wasn't one of them but seems pretty obvious I was wrong abut that, even if Thomas was still playing less than Diggs and Theilen.
I completely agree Thomas wouldn't have done as much with Diggs and Theilen emerging, but I think he still would have made more plays than Treadwell has and earned playing time over Wright as well most likely.
They didn't though.They drafted Treadwell who did have an amazing catch last season, but he clearly wasn't playing well enough. This could change and I hope it does, just not optimistic based on what has happened with Treadwell so far.
I guess Mike Zimmer said that Treadwell may need a change of scenery too? On top of saying Treadwell needs to get out of his own way. Its not a good sign for his future as a Viking with Zimmer talking like that.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Report: Kendall Wright meets with Minnesota Vikings
Not sure if I want Wright taking Theilen or Diggs out of the slot.
Not sure if I want Wright taking Theilen or Diggs out of the slot.
sports_fan
Footballguy
FunkyPlutos
Footballguy
I think I've said it before about the Vikings' use of Treadwell, but it really bothers me - so I'll say it again..."Why don't they use Treadwell in the red zone?"
Especially after that catch against the Packers, I don't understand why they don't throw it up to him. I don't care if he can't run routes, create separation, or whatever it is that is holding him back - go to the corner, jump, catch it!
If they have him on one side and Rudolph on the other - teams can't double both. I don't think it is that hard. I might be missing something, but I don't believe they have even tried it with him.
Especially after that catch against the Packers, I don't understand why they don't throw it up to him. I don't care if he can't run routes, create separation, or whatever it is that is holding him back - go to the corner, jump, catch it!
If they have him on one side and Rudolph on the other - teams can't double both. I don't think it is that hard. I might be missing something, but I don't believe they have even tried it with him.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Yeah I think this is one of the main things they could be using Treadwell for.
He only has 2 targets in the red zone with the Vikings so far,
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Zimmers comments from the press conference he says he is glad Murray agreed to restructure. He says he likes having two different style of RB to switch up and that Murray is good in the red zone (converting TDs he is tall) and he had some explosive plays.
While I am not really a fan of Murray, he did have some good success on runs early on in the game. It seems clear that Zimmer wants to use a tandem although Cook will still get the majority of the work, I still have to wonder if they might use Murray at the goal line over Cook or not. Cook who had 9 red zone opportunities in 3.5 games, but Murray hadn't recovered from his surgery yet at that time.
As far as drafting a RB in the 1st 3 rounds I would prefer the Vikings go in another direction with those picks. I think there is enough quality depth at the RB position that the Vikings could use a 4th or 5th round pick on one and still get a good player. CJ Ham is okay as well.
Why? Jarius Wright was doing just that down the stretch last year, and Kendall Wright is better than him.
I'm still upset that the Bears didn't keep Wright over signing a bum like Gabriel.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Both Diggs and Theilen do a lot of work out of the slot themselves and I do not want to take those opportunities away from them.
They did use Jarius Wright in 3 and 4 WR sets last year and at times he was lining up in the slot. Both Wrights can play outside as well, so its not that they cannot be used in that way, but I think Kendall Wright may be better from the slot than outside, he ran 70% of his routes from the slot with the Bears last season. I think he wins that way more than Jarius Wright does, as Jarius can threaten the deep ball downfield as well, Keenum just wasn't taking many deep shots for him to show that.
The only concern I have about this is taking good opportunities from the slot away from Theilen and Diggs to accommodate what Wright does best (similar to Diggs in some ways with the drag routes and so on).
Kendall Wright may be better than Jarius, I am not sure about that though. He will presumably be cheaper than Jarius was.
It would be great if Treadwell would improve and make this all somewhat a moot discussion, but not counting on that.
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Biabreakable
Footballguy
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Vikings Salary Cap Update: Am I Seeing What I’m Seeing?
The 5th year option would pay Trey Waunes $13 million if the Vikings decide to use it.
It could be possible as the article suggests to keep all of these players at these prices for a few years. I tend to think at least one of these players won't be with the Vikings, but they can likely solve this $10 million gap by cutting Robison or something like that if they want to pay all of these players these prices.
So estimated $45 million to extend those 3 players and currently 20 million in cap space available right now. The Salary Cap likely goes up another $10 million next season.
The 5th year option would pay Trey Waunes $13 million if the Vikings decide to use it.
It could be possible as the article suggests to keep all of these players at these prices for a few years. I tend to think at least one of these players won't be with the Vikings, but they can likely solve this $10 million gap by cutting Robison or something like that if they want to pay all of these players these prices.
BigJim®
Footballguy
At those values I think both Hunter and Barr are replaceable. Kendricks seems like a steal at $8MM. Like you I'm not worried about it with our core. I trust Zimmer to find guys who can excel, and vets (here or elsewhere) willing to fit into a salary cap to play on this D.Biabreakable said:
I really like the Wright signing. I have not paid much attention to him because of the offenses he's been part of, but I liked what I saw of him his first couple seasons on the Titans.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
I have followed Kendall Wrights career pretty closely as he was a 1st round pick and I have had him on multiple fantasy teams over the years including last season. He is a talented player but there are some limits to what he can do. I think he is more of a true slot WR than Jarius Wright, but Kendall Wright is better inside than Jarius is.
That said I only have seen a few Titans games a year and I think I only caught one Bears game where he was playing last year. One of the games I recall watching Wright left the game because of some minor injury bothering him. I do think he has missed quite a bit of time to stuff like this in the past as another thing limiting him.
He was healthy for all 16 games last season for the first time since 2013. His snap counts with the Bears was still somewhat limited, a lot of games at or near 50% with 3 games of him playing 70% or more of the snaps with another 2 games where he only played 21% and 31%
The Vikings do not need to start him more than 50% of their offensive snaps though so perhaps this isn't a big concern. Wright may be a decent replacement for DIggs if he misses a few games again.
As you say though the Vikings have a plan. I haven't seen any numbers for what they are paying Kendall Wright, but I am guessing the contract means they are paying about the same amount of money they would have spent on Jarius when you consider the $2 million dead cap for cutting Wright and whatever they are paying Kendall.
That said I only have seen a few Titans games a year and I think I only caught one Bears game where he was playing last year. One of the games I recall watching Wright left the game because of some minor injury bothering him. I do think he has missed quite a bit of time to stuff like this in the past as another thing limiting him.
He was healthy for all 16 games last season for the first time since 2013. His snap counts with the Bears was still somewhat limited, a lot of games at or near 50% with 3 games of him playing 70% or more of the snaps with another 2 games where he only played 21% and 31%
The Vikings do not need to start him more than 50% of their offensive snaps though so perhaps this isn't a big concern. Wright may be a decent replacement for DIggs if he misses a few games again.
As you say though the Vikings have a plan. I haven't seen any numbers for what they are paying Kendall Wright, but I am guessing the contract means they are paying about the same amount of money they would have spent on Jarius when you consider the $2 million dead cap for cutting Wright and whatever they are paying Kendall.
FunkyPlutos
Footballguy
Sounds like they have some interest in Marquette King...
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Yeah I love this guy. Very big for a punter and a good tackler from what I have seen.
Locke turned into a very good punter last season and he showed improvement in 2016 as well. The game against the Bears he was able to make multiple great kicks to pin them deep. Oh well.
skol asylum
Footballguy
The King in the North. Make it happen.
FunkyPlutos
Footballguy
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Your right. Just realized Quigley is the one making those nice punts last year not Locke.
Just goes to show how closely I pay attention to punters.. not much. I have no idea how well Locke kicked for the Seahawks last year.
While King is interesting I would prefer them keep Quigly who is better at placing the ball and not as many touchbacks. With DeFlippo the Vikings may be going for it more frequently on 4th downs.
Donnybrook
Footballguy
Biabreakable
Footballguy
I assume your referring to the title of the article saying that the Vikings were/are the best defense in the NFL.
In many ways they were statistically. The defense wore down at the end of the season though.
While the Rams have a good defense as well, it was not as good as the Vikings last season. They have made some additions to their defense in Suh and some new corner backs. The Rams defense should be improved I think. Does not mean their defense is better than the Vikings though. The Rams do not have an outside pass rusher of note and they also no longer have Ogletree. They had decent corners already so adding the new corners doesn't improve them that much in my view.
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