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wtfvikesfan (449)When wide receiver Percy Harvin postponed his shoulder surgery on April 10th, my partner-in-crime couldn’t help but wonder if were headed for another Sidney Rice type of situation.
Barring the unforeseen, this minor surgery should not present any problems.
Harvin announced on his Twitter account that his surgery has been rescheduled for April 24th. The recovery period for this is expected to be three weeks, which puts him back on the field prior to OTA’s which begin on May 29th.
The other day I submitted myself to the torture of re-watching the “Missing Rings” special on my DVR about the 1998 Vikings. While watching the part where they discussed Cris Carter and all of the character issues that landed him on the open market for the Vikings to snag, I couldn’t help think about current free agent Jerome Simpson.
Simpson is by far the most talented receiver available right now, but teams are mostly acting allergic to the 26 year old after a substantial amount of marijuana in his position got him 15 days in jail and a three year probation period (and a likely NFL suspension). Of course, one more slip up by the cart-wheeling receiver and would certainly face a major suspension.
Simpson has improved over his first four NFL seasons with the Bengals and 2011 was his best from a production standpoint. He had 50 catches for 725 yards and four touchdowns.
After only having received a visit invitation from the St. Louis Rams, the Vikings have decided to bring Simpson in for a visit of their own on Friday.
The interest could be a signal that the Vikings don’t actually covet Justin Blackmon with the third overall pick, contrary to what Rick Spielman said yesterday.
Or, for the conspiracy theorists in the room, it could signal that Spielman actually does want Blackmon but is trying to make it appear like he doesn’t.
Or they just want to see what this kid is all about. Plain and simple.
It is no secret… We fans love us some NFL Draft.
We love it so much that some of us take time off from our jobs and family to watch. We love it so much that we want to gather into a virtual chat room to discuss with others. We love it so much that we spend roughly 11 months and 30 days discussing the next one. We love it so much that we go to extensive lengths to try (always unsuccessfully) to predict the outcome.
Here at VT, we love the NFL Draft so much that we put a ridiculous number of hours into making this your one stop shop for everything related to the event.
I love the Draft (as if you couldn’t tell) but if this report from PFT comes to fruition, I will love the Draft even more than I already do.
The NFL Network and ESPN, who both broadcast the live event, are supposedly in discussions with the league as to how they can eliminate the anticlimactic spoilers that come in the form of some announcer telling us who the pick will be prior to the official announcement or in the form of a cameraman capturing a prospect receiving a phone call five minutes before the pick is announced.
I have always hated the hell out of that trend, trying to be the first to tell us who is being drafted, as it just plain and simply isn’t as fun as the suspenseful walk to the podium and listening for that name you want to hear.
The Draft is always compared to Christmas amongst football fans. Ever since this pre-announcement spoiler thing came about, it was still like Christmas… except Santa wrapped all the presents in see-through plastic wrap.
I really hope that the networks are able to come to an agreement for the sake of an improved viewer experience.
If they do, that is just one more reason to love the Draft and everything that comes with it.
Today, the NFL announced their 2012 Regular Season Schedule.
Of course, and as always, we are focused on the Minnesota Vikings and here is what 2012 looks like for our favorite team:
| 1 | Sep 09 | JAC @ MIN | Mall of America Field | 1:00 PM | Tickets | CBS | |||
| 2 | Sep 16 | MIN @ IND | Lucas Oil Stadium | 1:00 PM | Tickets | FOX | |||
| 3 | Sep 23 | SF @ MIN | Mall of America Field | 1:00 PM | Tickets | FOX | |||
| 4 | Sep 30 | MIN @ DET | Ford Field | 1:00 PM | Tickets | FOX | |||
| 5 | Oct 07 | TEN @ MIN | Mall of America Field | 1:00 PM | Tickets | CBS | |||
| 6 | Oct 14 | MIN @ WAS | FedExField | 4:15 PM | Tickets | FOX | |||
| 7 | Oct 21 | ARI @ MIN | Mall of America Field | 1:00 PM | Tickets | FOX | |||
| 8 | Oct 25 | TB @ MIN | Mall of America Field | 8:20 PM | Tickets | NFLN | |||
| 9 | Nov 04 | MIN @ SEA | CenturyLink Field | 4:05 PM | Tickets | FOX | |||
| 10 | Nov 11 | DET @ MIN | Mall of America Field | 1:00 PM | Tickets | FOX | |||
| 12 | Nov 25 | MIN @ CHI | Soldier Field | 1:00 PM | Tickets | FOX | |||
| 13 | Dec 02 | MIN @ GB | Lambeau Field | 1:00 PM | Tickets | FOX | |||
| 14 | Dec 09 | CHI @ MIN | Mall of America Field | 1:00 PM | Tickets | FOX | |||
| 15 | Dec 16 | MIN @ STL | Edward Jones Dome | 1:00 PM | Tickets | FOX | |||
| 16 | Dec 23 | MIN @ HOU | Reliant Stadium | 1:00 PM | Tickets | FOX | |||
| 17 | Dec 30 | GB @ MIN | Mall of America Field | 1:00 PM | Tickets | FOX |
Co-Owner of the Minnesota Vikings, Mark Wilf, took time this weekend to try and squash rumors that the Vikings had, at some point, pursued Bill Parcells to run their football team.
He went as far as to say that the reported event “never happened” and then went on to gush about the man they hired, Rick Spielman.
“From A to Z, he has all the tools you need to run a football operation,” Wilf said Saturday. “We felt he was the perfect choice to be our general manager. Rick has the ability to follow through on a plan. He’s disciplined, but will be aggressive when he has to. It’s a plan that we’re all comfortable with. We’re following his lead.”
Look, I’m not calling Mark Wilf a liar, but even if they had been in talks before settling on Spielman what else is he going to say at this point in time? Whether or not the Vikings talked to any other candidates will have no impact on how the owners talk publicly about Spielman now that he is their man.
After all, with the most important Vikings Draft in recent memory right around the corner, we wouldn’t want to see season ticket holders lose whatever faith they might have in this organization’s ability to turn things around.
I am a big fan of drafting best player available, regardless of need, and building your team around solid, young players instead of reaching to fill a void. After all, there is nothing wrong with having good depth at a position and/or getting better at something you are already good at.
Still, teams have needs and the Minnesota Vikings are quite obviously no exception.
With that, I present you with my rankings of how the Vikings needs stack up going into this year’s Draft:
1. Safety
There is perhaps no positional group on any team in the NFL that needs upgrading more than the Vikings need to upgrade their safeties. Heck, at this point I would say the Vikings have a greater need at safety than the Dolphins do at quarterback. The thought of Jamarca Sanford and Mistral Raymond being starters instead of depth players, especially in our division, should worry even the most enthusiastic optimists.
The public has narrowed down the Vikings options for the third overall selection in the upcoming Draft to essentially two: Draft Matt Kalil or trade down.
Rick Spielman says he will be open to trading down, according to Pro Football Weekly, even when the team is actually on the clock.
“There are times we have been in (the war room) and we’ve done deals on the clock,” Spielman said. “It’s an unknown, but you’re prepared for both ways. We’ll be ready and we’ll have a good idea of what we think the value of that third pick is.”
“If we want to get out of that pick, we’ll (determine) what it will take to get out of that pick,” he continued. “Plus you have to be careful of how far you would want to go back (down in the draft). You have to know what you’re looking at, depending on how far you go back. Are you getting yourself out of the (range of) the supposedly blue-chip type of players?”
“I think once we get through our draft meetings and get our board finalized and get the coaches involved, we’ll have a pretty good idea of what we want to do,” he said.
Trade partners could consist of either the Cleveland Browns or Miami Dolphins if either become smitten with quarterback prospect Ryan Tannehill. However, other teams may be willing to move up and grab a blue chip player such as Matt Kalil or Morris Claiborne.
As much as I would like to see the Vikings turn the three pick into a gold mine of other picks, as we draw closer I am becoming increasingly convinced that they will simply make Kalil their selection and stay put.
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