Monthly archive: January, 2012

Following Up On Senior Bowl Selection

January 6, 2012, by 2 comments

A few posts down, I mentioned that Leslie Frazier is confident that his coaching staff will be coaching a squad at the Senior Bowl later in January.

In the comments, some of you had questions I couldn’t answer about how it is determined who gets to coach the game, which is viewed as an added advantage in terms of up-close scouting of a decent number of prospects.

That question appears to have been answered through various tweets by Vikings beat writers.  It sounds like the option is given to teams based on the order of the upcoming NFL Draft, and teams are given the option to send their coaching staff if they like.

So with only two squads to coach, and the Vikings sitting at #3, why is Frazier so confident he’ll be asked to lead one of the teams?

Well, the game is only a couple of weeks away, and both Indianapolis and St. Louis are up in the air in terms of their G.M. and coaching positions, so it seems likely that at least one of those teams will opt out of the chance to coach a squad.

Hope that helps to clarify matters a little bit.

Jared Allen Is All-Pro

January 6, 2012, by 6 comments

The results are in for the AP’s All-Pro voting and it should come as no surprise that defensive end Jared Allen is the only representative from Minnesota to make the team.

Allen was a nearly unanimous choice with 49 votes.

The only other Viking to get receive a vote was center John Sullivan.  He received one vote.

The full listing of the voting results can be found by clicking here.

Erin Henderson The All-Pro?

January 5, 2012, by 7 comments

The hit website Pro Football Focus has taken the internet by storm the last few years with their unique stat tracking and player analysis.

This rating system of theirs pegged John Sullivan as the second best center in the NFL this season and Phil Loadholt as the best run blocking right tackle in the NFL this season.  In a year that Vikings fans had trouble recognizing any positives on the football field, outside of Percy Harvin and Jared Allen, it is always interesting to see their evaluations of individual players.

The latest tidbit of interest involves Vikings outside linebacker Erin Henderson, who is due to become a free agent in March.

Henderson has been named to PFF’s second team 2011 All Pro team as a 4-3 outside linebacker.

In fact, Henderson is the only Viking other than Jared Allen to make either the first team or the second team (Allen was on the first team), which means PFF has Henderson rated ahead of Chad Greenway. 

“Henderson isn’t on the radar of many,” says the article.  “Especially as a two down linebacker, but his play was so good it’s hard not to imagine some clever team giving him more than the Vikings can and get him on the field for every snap.”

After leading the league in special teams tackles, former Vikings linebacker Heath Farwell was named to the first team as a special teamer.

Raheem Morris To Interview With Vikes

January 5, 2012, by 4 comments

What better guy to turn Chris Cook’s life around than Raheem Morris, the now unemployed coach of the Tampa Buccaneers that managed to whip Aqib Talib right into shape?

Wait, what?

All joking aside, Leslie Frazier has apparently made up his mind that Fred Pagac will not be the Defensive Coordinator of the Vikings in 2012 and beyond.

An ESPN report indicates that Morris will interview for a “possible high-level defensive coaching position.”  According to 1500ESPN, Morris has already interviewed with the Redskins to become their defensive backs coach.

Like Frazier, Morris comes from a Cover-2 background and this is a clear indication that Frazier would like to see the scheme remain a part of Vikings football.  Pagac wanted to incorporate a more aggressive style of defense, mixing in more blitz packages and playing closer to the line of scrimmage.

Yesterday, I voiced my opinion that Pagac’s ideas were not completely unsuccessful and that he deserves more credit than he is receiving.

Frazier, however, is seemingly of the opinion that a change would benefit this team. 

Just not a change to the scheme he endorses, that is.

Vikes To Coach Senior Bowl Squad?

January 4, 2012, by 15 comments

Here is an interesting tidbit buried in a recent article over at 1500ESPN:

While no official announcement has been made yet, Leslie Frazier is apparently convinced that he and his staff will be coaching one of the teams at this year’s Senior Bowl, an annual event held in Mobile, Alabama that draws just about every scout, coach, and personnel guy in the business.

The game will be played on January 23rd, so it is highly likely that any coaching changes will be made prior to that date to ensure Frazier’s real staff of the future are the ones taking advantage of an up-close look at these prospects.

Frazier is so certain the Vikings will be coaching one of the two teams that he asked offensive line coach Jeff Davidson to postpone his scheduled hip replacement until after the Senior Bowl.

Turnover On Defense Could Be Coming

January 4, 2012, by 6 comments

Now that the Tidily Winks have landed in their proper places at Winter Park, and it has been clarified that Leslie Frazier has control over who leaves and who joins the Vikings coaching staff, the next question that will need to be answered is, well, who leaves and who joins?

According to a lengthy report from Tom Pelissero, the changes are most likely going to be experienced on the defensive side of the football.

For starters, defensive line coach Karl Dunbar has reportedly told players that he will not be returning, although it is unclear whether that is by choice or otherwise.

Defensive backs coaches Joe Woods and Matt Sheldon have also been preparing for the possibility that they will not be welcomed back.

It is widely expected that defensive coordinator Fred Pagac will either be dismissed or allowed to return to his previous post as the linebackers coach which is currently occupied by Mike Singletary (I will get to that in a second).  Pagac was not allowed to run the cover-1 blitzing defense, which is his preferred scheme, and reportedly “lost the confidence of some players” and was stripped of his play calling duties for a portion of November.

I find the case of Pagac to be a mysterious one, and tend to fall out of the majority here in thinking he should not be fired.

It was Pagac’s play calling and defense that largely kept the Vikings in close contests for the first five weeks of the season while they tried their best to bail out a completely inept offense.

Later on, the excuses began to pile up for a defense that began to lose their punch.  Those excuses are just that, excuses, but it is hard to deny that the Chris Cook legal situation and numerous injuries in the secondary gave Pagac very little to work with.

Then, when Pagac was seemingly given permission to take the gloves off and run his cover-1 scheme in the final week of the season, the Vikings generated a ton of pressure against the Bears and allowed 17 points, the second lowest point total allowed by the Vikings all season long.  The defense hadn’t played better since week five (when they were healthier) against Arizona, but again the offense didn’t have the firepower for the Vikings to win the game.

I’m not saying the Vikings couldn’t do better than Pagac, I just think he needs to be given a little more credit for the job he has done in his first year as a coordinator.  If the Vikings let him go, I get the feeling he will succeed elsewhere.

Okay, back to Mike Singletary.

According to Pelissero’s report, the close friend of Leslie Frazier (and assistant Head Coach) made a complete ass out of himself this season.  There are apparently concerns about his intelligence and also his preparation for game day, both of which are not good things to have said about you, no matter what type of coach you are.

Singletary supposedly often left assistant Jeff Imamura in charge of position meetings, skipped meetings the night before December’s game against Detroit to attend a wedding, and “occupied himself much of the season with side projects” instead of preparing his players to win football games.

It is not completely known who will for sure be leaving, or who their replacements might be, but it does seem likely that Singletary will be asked to move along.

These are all answers we should get soon enough.

Gerhart Doesn’t Expect Surgery

January 4, 2012, by No comments yet

As we mentioned yesterday, Vikings running back Toby Gerhart suffered MCL damage after being hit by Major Wright in the season finale.  This was sobering news considering fans of the Vikings are already wondering if Adrian Peterson’s knee injury will cause him to miss time in 2012.

Gerhart had a pretty positive message on Tuesday, however, and it sounds like he thinks surgery will be unnecessary for him.

“Swelling should go down with rest as my range of motion returns,” said Gerhart to the Pioneer Press.

This year, Gerhart saw more action than he previously had because of Peterson’s various injuries, but it may surprise some fans to learn he actually averaged more yard per carry than Peterson did.

Peterson averaged 4.7 yards per attempt while Gerhart ended the season at 4.9.

Of course, opposing defenses stacked less guys in the box with Gerhart standing in for Peterson, but he still showed some impressive ability to be an every down back.  He ran for 531 yards and one touchdown this season.  He also caught 23 passes for 190  yards and three touchdowns.