NFL Draft 2012

Murphy Was A Wanted Man… Version 2.0

May 18, 2012, by 1 comment

Yesterday I made a big deal out of the fact that the Vikings used their waiver power to land Harvard offensive tackle Kevin Murphy, grabbing him ahead of two other teams that put in a claim on him.

The headline ran said “Murphy Was A Wanted Man.”

As it turns out, I should have emphasized the past tense.

Apparently Murphy was unable to pass his physical with the Vikings so he was immediately waives by the team.  Also waived on Thursday was South Carolina defensive back C.C. Whitlock who was signed by the Vikings as an undrafted free agent soon after the Draft ended.

The Vikings currently have two vacant roster spots and it’ll be interesting to see how they fill them.  Signing a kicker could make for some minor drama while my eyes keep gravitating towards a few free agent runners that might fit the low risk and low cost mold that Spielman seems to covet.  And, yes, I am talking about Mewelde Moore.

WELCOME TO THE BIG SHOW: Greg Childs

May 16, 2012, by 9 comments

Welcome to part six of our ten part series entitled “Welcome to the Big Show” where we attempt to bring you a comprehensive, in-depth look at each of the Vikings ten Draft selections of 2012. In case you missed them, here are links to the first five: Matt Kalil, Harrison Smith, Josh Robinson, Rhett Ellison, and Jarius Wright.

Make sure to go back and check out Brett’s fine article on Wright.  As we all know by now, Wright and Greg Childs have been friends and teammates since a very young age.  Childs is the subject of today’s “Welcome to the Big Show” segment.

PERSONAL HISTORY

During his junior year at Warren High School in Arkansas he put up 65 receptions and made 15 of them count for touchdowns, and earned a spot on the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s all-Junior team.  In 2007, he was an all-State selection as a senior.

Childs left high school as one of the most heavily recruited players in the nation.  He received scholarship offers from Tennessee, Ole Miss, Colorado, Mississippi State, and Texas Tech before deciding to stay close to home and become a Razorback.

Childs turned 22 on March 10th of this year which makes him the youngest receiver on the Vikings roster.

He met fellow Viking rookie Jarius Wright in the third grade when he moved to Warren.  Wright was a popular kid at the elementary school and they decided to target Childs for some old fashioned bullying.  It took about two years for them to finally become friends, and they have been teammates ever since the seventh grade.

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Don’t Expect Rookie Contracts This Week

May 16, 2012, by No comments yet

This is the time of year where Vikings fans get annoyed as they see other teams get their rookies under contract while nothing louder than a cricket is coming out of Winter Park on this front.

According to CBS Sports, we will continue to wait until at least next week before any rookie contracts are finalized according to a team source.

It is not exactly clear why the Vikings are always seemingly behind other teams in regards to signing their rookies, but the truth is that it isn’t that big of a deal.  The team will almost certainly have all of their rookies under contract soon enough and they have great attendance at their offseason workouts.

Vikings Make A Pair Of Moves

May 16, 2012, by 1 comment

Rick Spielman continues to tool around with the bottom of his roster, hoping the depth moves will provide adequate competition in training camp.

On Tuesday, the team signed defensive end Nick Reed (24 years old) is 6’ 1” and 248 pounds.  He played in 16 games as a rookie in 2009 with the Seahawks where he totaled 17 tackles, a sack, two batted passes, and two fumble recoveries (one of which he returned for a touchdown).

Reed was out of the game in 2010 but returned last season and spent time with the Bears and the Bucs, having a minimal impact.  The Oregon product seems like a guy capable of turning some heads in camp, as he has been productive in the past, and fits the mold of the type of player Spielman is seeking out these days.

Harvard offensive tackle Kevin Murphy (22 years old) stands at a massive 6’ 7” and 295 pounds.  The 49ers picked him up as an undrafted free agent in April but they waived him earlier this week, and the Vikings claimed him off of waivers.

Murphy is likely not the last time the Vikings utilize the waiver system in an attempt to upgrade their roster.  Remember, they get the third priority because of their 3-13 record in 2011, so only the Colts and the Rams will have a higher priority.

The Vikings waived offensive lineman Jose Valdez and another yet-to-be-named player to keep their roster size at 90.  As soon as we know the other player that was waived, we will be sure to pass that along.

[UPDATE:  It turns out that the second player cut was defensive end Kevin Cyrille who signed with the team in April as an undrafted free agent out of Florida Atlantic.]

Vikes Pick Up A CFL First Rounder

May 14, 2012, by 3 comments

The CFL Draft doesn’t generate a ton of buzz for those of us that prefer real football the NFL, but just like in any sport, teams make significant investments into their roster during the Draft and hope to see them pay off.

The Toronto Argonauts made quite the investment when they traded their second and fifth round picks with Saskatchewan to move up into the first round and grab Tulsa guard Tyler Holmes.  Holmes never played in the CFL, however, as he returned to Tulsa for his senior season.

He may never play in Canada.

On Monday, the Vikings waived wide receiver Kris Adams to make room for Holmes who had been there on a tryout basis. 

Holmes has nice size at 6’ 5” and 308 pounds and was named a Conference USA honorable mention last season.  He figures to be best suited for zone blocking assignments and questions about his strength led to him being undrafted.

He was a starter in all four seasons at Tulsa.

Welcome To The Big Show: Jarius Wright

May 12, 2012, by 1 comment

Today we present to you part five of our ten part series called “Welcome to the Big Show” where we dive deep into the history, stats, outlook etc… for each of the Vikings ten Draft selections of 2012. We got a little mixed up last week and accidentally skipped Jarius Wright so we are coming back to him today. If you’ve missed any of the previous entries, here are links to the first four: Matt Kalil, Harrison Smith, Josh Robinson and Rhett Ellison.

Welcome To The Big Show: Jarius Wright

Player Info

Name: Jarius Wright
Position: WR
College: Arkansas

Personal History

Jarius Wright was born to Jeanette Hooper and Joe Wright on November 25th, 1989 in Warren, Arkansas.

Wright had an impressive high school career at Warren High School where he was a teammate with the other Vikings wide receiver selection in the fourth round, Greg Childs. The long-lasting relationship between Wright and Childs is a very interesting (incredible) one and should definitely be highlighted. Wright was ranked as the 30th best player in the nation at his position as a high school prospect in 2007.  He was targeted by multiple colleges (including Minnesota) but ultimately decided to stick with his friend, Childs, at Arkansas as a Razorback.

At Arkansas, Wright was involved in what was recognized as one of the most explosive offenses in college football. He went on to break school season-records with 66 receptions, 1,117 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2011. At Arkansas, Wright majored in Sociology.

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Links Of The Weekend: Stadium Euphoria

May 12, 2012, by 2 comments

Well, we all know what topic has dominated Vikings news this week, and we’ll get back to assessing the ongoing roster transformation soon, but in the meantime let’s highlight some of best articles available right now.  Most are stadium related, but I tried to find a good mix.