Monthly archive: June, 2012

Links Of The Week: OTAs End

June 17, 2012, by 2 comments

Mike Wobschall from Vikings.com makes some observations from OTA #7. In one note, “Wobby” describes plays where both Christian Ponder and Joe Webb are scrambling to the right. Don’t like to hear that our QBs are still fleeing from pressure but glad that they’re able to if their hand is forced. There are also some great notes for OTAs #4-6.

Jared Allen is awesome. Watch Allen’s latest charitable event “Night Ops Golf” here on Youtube.

Stop the press. Everyone’s favorite hip-hop entrepreneur Bryant McKinnie showed up to camp phat. (See what I did there?) Will he even make the Raven’s roster this year?

I missed this one over the course of the week. Apparently, NFL Comissioner, Roger Goodell, sent out a memo to all teams addressing recent DUIs and reminding team players and personnel to “be responsible.”

The folks over at Pro Football Focus have been looking at each NFL team and determining that team’s “Secret Superstar.” Who was their selection for the Vikings? Go check it out. Who should we look out for on the Packers, Bears and Lions according to PFT? Linebacker D.J. Smith, cornerback Tim Jennings and defensive end Willie Young, respectively.

I really can’t stand this idea that the NFL is strictly a passing game and running the ball has lost its importance in the NFL. Adam and I will have to take the topic up in our next “Coin Toss.” Nevertheless, National Football Post has a good article up discussing the topic, using the Vikings lack of success even with Adrian Peterson as a prime example.

Although ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski expects Christian Ponder to “improve significantly this season” he still has Ponder ranked 28th out of 30 on his “Top QBs” list. Kevin Seifert from ESPN’s NFL North blog further inspects Jaworski’s analysis.

Vikings.com has some great OTA videos. Definitely check those out.

Our buddy Gil over at The Vikings Den landed a writing gig with Rant Sports. He’ll continue writing for TVD though and we wish him the best of luck. In this particular post, TVD looks at if the Vikings missed out by not signing linebacker Rocky McIntosh.

While the Vikings run play-action more than almost every team in the NFL, it turns out they’re not very good at it. (This is always something that has bothered me. With such an incredible running back, you think our play-action would be much more effective. I absolutely hate it when a quarterback doesn’t know how to sell the play-action. I think a good “just kidding” hand-off can really screw up a defense. Hopefully this is something Vikings QB Christian Ponder has been working on this offseason. Okay, rant over.)

Today is Father’s Day. And despite the fact that Chad Greenway’s father was recently diagnosed with leukemia and is now receiving hospice care, the Vikings linebacker still decided to host a Father’s Day fundraising 5k run. Please keep Chad and the Greenway family in your thoughts through these trying times for them.

Erin Henderson Wants A Nickname

June 15, 2012, by 43 comments

Erin Henderson Needs Your Help...

One of our readers (Sandiamond) pointed out that Vikings linebacker Erin Henderson is hosting a contest on Twitter to come up with a nickname for himself. The winner, chosen by Henderson, will receive a signed photo and football.

I know that a majority of our readers aren’t Twitter users but I thought some of you guys might like to join in on the fun anyway. Leave your nickname ideas in the comments below and I will relay all of them to Henderson himself. (Meaning, I”ll tweet the names to #50 later…)

I’ve been thinking on it for about five minutes or so and can’t come up with anything good myself, but I just know some of you guys will have some great ideas.

Of course, if one of us did happen to win, VT would facilitate getting your prize to you.

Have at it!

(Note: If you do use Twitter, just tweet your nickname idea with the hashtag #EH50EGO.)

Chris Cook: “I got to rest a lot”

June 14, 2012, by 25 comments

Cornerback Chris Cook has been making some Twitter followers angry because some of his tweets would suggest he is not fully focused on football, which is not something fans want to see or hear after Cook’s health and legal troubles have resulted in what can best be described as an “absence” during his first two NFL seasons.

Cook concludes that those fans that don’t like his tweets should simply refrain from reading them, or unfollow him all together.  I’m no Twitter expert (Brett, you should weigh in) but getting upset about people’s tweets expressing how upset they are about your tweets seems a little tweet-diculous.  Can Cook not unfollow or ban those posting things that are making him angry, the same as he suggests those people should do?

Anyways, Bob Sansevere recently interviewed Cook and I feel like he blew a golden opportunity to ask some good, tough questions.

Sansevere asks Cook about his sleep habits, his twitter accounts, threw him a softy or two about being “misunderstood,” and attempts to lead Cook towards saying he is a Pro Bowl talent.

Here is my favorite Cook quote from the piece:  “I feel like I’ll be better. A good thing about being away from the game is I got to rest a lot. I got my legs up under me. I got to study more. I studied myself a lot on tape from games I have played and from practices. I feel like I’ll be better.”

So, that is the good thing about being suspended?  Geesh, just imagine how good he could be in 2013 if he slips up and gets suspended for all of 2012!

Ugh.

Minicamp Schedule Is Set

June 14, 2012, by No comments yet

The Vikings offseason training activities are drawing to a close and the next step is minicamp.

The Vikings will hold their minicamp next week, starting with Tuesday morning walk-throughs, and will end with a Thursday morning practice.

After that, we will enter the dead period:  Training Camp in Mankato is scheduled to begin on July 26th.

Minicamps, unlike parts of training camp, are not open to the public but there should still be plenty of reports coming from all the normal updates and we will be sure to keep you all updated.  The things to keep an eye over the next week mostly involve individual player health and the progression of the younger players on the roster.

2012 Vikings Predictions – Game By Game Record Predictions (Part 2)

June 13, 2012, by 26 comments

Last week I kicked off a little series here at VT where we look forward to the 2012 Season and make some bold predictions. We started off by looking at the first quarter of the Vikings 2012 schedule and guessing (an educated guess, of course) what the outcome of those games might be. Now we will look forward to the second fourth of our schedule to determine where the Vikings may be at the halfway mark of the 2012 season.

But first, a little recap of my predictions for the first four games:

Week 1: Jacksonville (W, 1-0)
Week 2: @ Indianapolis (W, 2-0)
Week 3: San Francisco (L, 2-1)
Week 4: @ Detroit (L, 2-2)

Continue Reading →

Smith, Burton, And Others Get Time With The First Team

June 13, 2012, by 6 comments

Here are some interesting tidbits for how the depth chart looked during Tuesday’s OTA practices:

SAFETY:  It didn’t take long for first round pick Harrison Smith to “work his way up” the depth chart and received mostly first team reps on Tuesday.  Across from him, Mistral Raymond and Jamarca Sanford rotated first team reps.

“I saw a play (Tuesday) where he really got angry,” Leslie Frazier said of Smith. “He got pretty fired up, and you kind of need that out of your defensive backs. You need them to have a little something about them, and it was good to see.”

CORNERBACK:  Smith and Matt Kalil aren’t the only rookies to be getting first team reps at this point.  Third round cornerback Josh Robinson received some reps as the starting right corner.  It isn’t clear why, but Antoine Winfield missed Tuesday’s practice, and it is equally unclear if Winfield’s absence resulted in Robinson getting his chances with the first team.

LINEBACKER:  Jasper Brinkley suffered a minor groin injury last week and, while he is expected to be fine, has missed some time.  Chad Greenway has been in South Dakota dealing with his family matters and Solomon Elimimian has had to sit out with a hamstring injury.  That means that the starting group of linebackers has looked like this:  Erin Henderson, Larry Dean, and Tyrone McKenzie.

WIDE RECEIVER:  With the absence of Percy Harvin, Stephen Burton has been filling in as the go-to flanker with the first team.  Burton has generated a lot of offseason buzz, along with Jerome Simpson, and these reps with Christian Ponder could give him the inside track to a roster spot.

OFFENSIVE LINE:  Matt Kalil, Charlie Johnson, John Sullivan and Phil Loadholt.  These guys are assumed to be occupying four of the starting spots along the offensive line from day one, which means there should be one hell of a competition for the starting gig at right guard.  Right now, Brandon Fusco is acting as the starting right guard with Geoff Schwartz getting reps with the second team.

KICKER:  Blair Walsh has been handed the kickers position on a silver gold platinum platter.  On Tuesday, during 11-on-11 drills, Walsh made four of six field goal attempts.  He missed from 42 and 44 yards.

Greenway’s Absence Understandably Due To Father’s Illness

June 13, 2012, by 4 comments

The Minnesota Vikings have had good, spirited attendance at OTA’s so far this year by all accounts.  A few veterans have stayed away, including Percy Harvin after his shoulder presumably started to act up after attending the very beginning of OTA’s.  Jared Allen has also been away, which is not really a surprise given that is pretty much the norm for number 69.

One player that has been somewhat of a mystery has been Chad Greenway whose absence has been attributed to the vague reason of “family situation” up until this point.

According to reports, however, Greenway is indeed dealing with an unenviable and difficult situation.  His father, whom we can all remember for his words after Greenway was drafted, has been battling leukemia and is currently getting hospice care.

“I talked with him a few days ago and I don’t know if we’ll have him back for mandatory minicamp,” Leslie Frazier said. “His family situation is something he’s dealing with so we may or may not have him back for that but it’s understandable, what he’s experiencing.”

According to the reports, a number of South Dakota farmers have banded together to help Alan Greenway out by bailing his hay this season.

We here at VT would like to pass along our best wishes to Alan, Chad, and the whole Greenway family. This is surely the most trying of times for the Greenway family, and I know many of you would be eager to help out, but I have been unable to find any sort of fund being organized for Mr. Greenway.  If I find one I will be sure to pass that along.

In the meantime, Pennies for Patients has always been a standup organization to support in the battle against leukemia.

[UPDATE: It should be noted that the sixth annual Greenway's Gridiron Gallup will be held this Sunday, Father's Day, in Minneapolis.  The 5k run helps to raise funds for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board youth athletic programming.  For more details, you can click here.]