When you are a blogger, especially a hack blogger, lists can be your best friend. I like lists. I like to use them. They keep me organized and look nice. Columnists often get more creative in how they relay information and opinions, but I stick with lists.
So… not to shock you: I have a list for you.
Here is my list of the top five things I will be watching for in tonight’s matchup against the 49ers:
1. Harrison Smith To Bring The Big Hits
Reports surfaced this week that first round rookie safety Harrison Smith got into it with Percy Harvin over some contact that was made during practice. Smith made some comments following the incident that suggest he may be a little frustrated with practice rules that are keeping him from showing the coaches what he can really do. I look forward to seeing him in action tonight.
2. Moss Reemerges With Niners
I should probably be most concerned with the Vikings and only the Vikings, but I have always enjoyed watching Randy Moss play football regardless of which uniform he is wearing. Tonight he makes his return to the NFL after taking 2011 (and some would argue 2010) off, and I am excited to see how he does. Oh yeah, and it’ll be fun to see the Vikings corners try to blanket the aging Freak.
3. Blair Walsh Kicks Things Off
I think kicker is one of the most underrated positions in football, but some recent contracts being dished out around the league indicate that teams realize the value of having a dependable leg on the roster. Rookie Blair Walsh will be under the microscope all season long and the scrutiny, or praise, will begin tonight. Much has been made of his field goal attempts during training camp (where he seems to be faring pretty well), but after years of watching Ryan Longwell I am equally interested to see if he can boot a kickoff or two out of the back of the end zone.
4. The Young Skill Players
Vikings receiver coach George Stewart recently stated that he thought Manny Arceneaux has improved more over the last year than he has ever seen out of any player. Manny is one of many young offensive skill players I am curious to watch. The young receivers have a chance to make a name for themselves and the third running back spot could be an interesting battle if Jordan Todman or Derrick Coleman can outshine Lex Hilliard.
5. Ponder Is Where It Is At
You guys are going to eventually get tired of me ending my lists this way, but the theme is repetitive because it is a fact: 2012 is all about Christian Ponder.
If you haven’t noticed, I have been uncharacteristically absent this week, despite all of the big news coming out of training camp.
It isn’t that training camp isn’t important, but sometimes life things just simply take priority over position battles.
Today, that priority comes in the form of a new little baby girl!
At 9:15 a.m. (Alaska Time) today, Harbor Grace Warwas joined us and is happy and healthy, as is Mrs. Warwas.
Nearly two years ago our son, Gates, was born and I declared he would be the solution to the Vikings woes at the safety position. We have about 20 more years before that comes to fruition, but now I am trying to figure out how Harbor will fit into the Vikings organization.
I’m thinking that she will end up as the NFL’s first female head coach… after Leslie Frazier retires with 33 consecutive Super Bowl titles under his belt, of course.
The Vikings had 10 draft picks in April, and before a preseason game has even been played, 10% of them are no longer on the team.
Two torn patella tendons have already ended rookie receiver Greg Childs’ season with the Vikings, and it may have already ended his career with the team as well.
On Monday morning, the Vikings waived their fourth round pick, according to PFT. This is an extremely disappointing turn of events for the young receiver who was beginning to flash in training camp and was an option to be a starter in week one.
If Childs makes it through waivers, which is not a guarantee, then the Vikings may be able and willing to stash him on the injured reserve and give him another chance at success a year from now.
Joe Oberle of CBS Sports reported yesterday that Geoff Schwartz suffered an abdominal injury Friday at practice. Schwartz was sent back to the Twin Cities to have some tests done. The tests came back showing Schwartz has a sports hernia surgery. He is set to undergo surgery and will likely be out of the action 4-6 weeks. Geoff Schwartz, in my opinion, was one of the better signings of the offseason and the right guard position was shaping up to be a well fought for spot on the roster. Now, it is likely Schwartz competition for the spot, Brandon Fusco, will get the nod to start.
2. Vikings Sign New Guard
Apparently, the Vikings offensive line is in worst shape than I thought. According to this article at Star Tribune, the Vikings are dealing with several injuries up front – Pat Brown (knee), Kevin Murphy (heat-related illness), DeMarcus Love (shoulder) and Geoff Schwartz (see above).
As a result of these injuries, the Vikings have signed some help for the line – Grant Cook, a rookie from Arkansas. The Vikings let undrafted rookie defensive end Eric Latimore to make room for Cook on the roster. Cook originally signed with the Packers as an undrafted rookie but was released by Green Bay late last month.
Cook should feel a little more at home with two fellow rookie Razorback alums on the Vikings roster – wide receivers Jarius Wright and Greg Childs.
3. Josh Robinson Returns
The fastest man in this year’s draft class, Josh Robinson, returned to practice after pulling his hamstring while trying to cover rookie wide receiver Jarius Wright the first day of training camp. Robinson wasn’t heavily involved in practice and instead just ran some individual drills. But still, the fact that he’s back on the field is a good sign.
4. Alan William’s Plans For The Defense And Jared Allen’s Disapproval
New Vikings defensive coordinator Alan Williams said in a press conference that he plans to use a “hockey-style philosophy with his defensive line.” In other words, he wants to frequently swap players on the defensive line out to always have a fresh front four. As you can probably imagine, Jared Allen (you know, the guy that played 99.9% of snaps last season) wasn’t ecstatic about the news. Allen told reporters that he had heard nothing about this new defensive scheme and that if it was actually implemented, he would fight it to remain on the field as much as possible. What did Leslie Frazier have to say?
“Believe me, we’ve talked about this a number of times. So contrary to what Mr. Allen had to say, we’ve talked about this subject. We’re going to try to keep our guys fresh. We want him fresh. He knows. We talked about it even this morning. We always go into it every season talking about we’re going to try to cut his reps down. And then lo-and-behold, it doesn’t always work that way … We’re going to play him but we are going to try to get him off the field when we can and make sure he’s fresh in those key moments. It does a disservice to him and our team if we play him every snap. And then when we need him in key situations, he’s fatigued. That’s just not smart. We’re going to try to manage that. We did a pretty good job of it at times a season ago. We need to do more of it and we’re going to make a concerted effort to try to get him off the field at times. Without hurting the team. We don’t want to hurt the team. He’s our best pass rusher, one of the best in the NFL.”
5. Greg Childs Impresses and His Injury
Let’s start off with the good news first: Rookie wide receiver Greg Childs has looked pretty good so far during training camp. He’s made a number of really good grabs and looked like he could potentially see some playing time in four or five-wide sets this season. Childs even had a really great highlight grab the other day in practice (check out the video below).
And now, for the bad news. Unfortunately, that may be the last highlight we see from Childs for a while as last night he tore the patellar tendon in both knees during a scrimmage. Yes, you read that correctly - both knees. The Vikings released the following statement: “Greg Childs suffered a torn patellar tendon on his right and left knees last night. He is expected to have them surgically repaired within the next few days.”
It is likely Childs will miss the entire season.
6. Kyle Rudolph. Best Tight End In The NFC North?
Kyle Rudolph continues to gather steam as training camp continues. It is obvious him and Christian Ponder have developed a great chemistry. That coupled with the fact that he has all the physical skills to be special and because he’s on an offense that plans on heavily relying on tight ends could mean a break out year for the sophomore tight end. His performance in training camp already has Kevin Seifert from ESPN.com asking if Kyle Rudolph could be “as good as any player at his position in the NFC North.”
7. Guys Off To Great Starts
Mike Wobschall (also known as Wobby) has done a great job covering training camp this year. In this post on the Vikings.com blog, Wobby lists 10 Vikings players who are off to a great start. Who made the list? Some of the more surprising names are CB Bobby Felder, DT Letroy Guion, TE Rhett Ellison and RB Derrick Coleman. Kyle Rudolph, Matt Kalil, Antoine Winfield, Percy Harvin, Jerome Simpson, Chad Greenway and Rick Spielman (?) also make the list. Head over to Vikings.com to check it out and see Wobby’s reasoning.
8. Doleman In Canton
Chris Doleman was inducted into the Hall of Fame last night. The Vikings Age has a good summary of Doleman’s career that you might like to check out. You can also head over to NFL.com if you’d like to see video of Doleman’s induction speech.
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