VT News

Vikings Territory Presents Our Draft Season Features

April 16, 2012, by 6 comments

It is almost here!  Almost!  Can you feel it?

The single most anticipated event of the offseason is less than two weeks away and we have some big plans for our readers.  Vikings Territory has designs on making this site the place to be during the 2012 NFL Draft, and the features that will make it so are now being unveiled.

Here is what we have lined up so far:

NFL Draft Live Chat

We plan to bring you the latest news, rumors, and analysis during every single moment of the 2012 NFL Draft.  Myself, Brett Anderson, all-star VT reader Malte, and The Viking Den founder Gil Alcaraz IV will man the live chat each day to ensure everything runs smoothly and is the best Draft experience on the web.

To sign up for an automatic email reminder for the event, and to get a tip on how to ensure your live chat experience is the very best it can possibly be, then click here to check out our new page.  Make sure to add that page to your favorites list.

VT Big Board

Using a unique blend of expert opinions from around the web, as well as our own rankings, we have stacked nearly 400 prospects in our Vikings Territory Big Board.  Brett will be working up a sweat to ensure the Big Board is updated quickly and accurately so that you will know who has been selected by which teams and who is still available as the Draft progresses.

The Big Board is hand tailored to highlight the best players available, but also with a slant towards the roster needs of the Minnesota Vikings.

Check out our Big Board by clicking right here, and be sure to let us know what you think of the rankings!

Updated Draft Order

The Draft Order has been set for a while now, but once the trades start to fly then keeping track of who has what picks can be increasingly difficult.  We will do our best to update this Draft Order, which you can see by clicking here, as information becomes available during Draft Weekend.

There will be no need to go to another site if you want to keep it simple!

Trade Value Charts

There are a number of opinions on the relevance of various NFL Draft Trade Charts.  However, most fans want to reference these quickly and easily on Draft Day.

We have included two of the most popular Trade Charts available, and have descriptions of how each were developed.  This will make for easy reference on Draft Day.

Click here to see the charts.

As you can see, we plan to be working hard for three days straight because we really, really, really hope you will be here with us for the entirety of the event.  We aim to please, so let us know if there might be any other features you would like to see us add between now and then!

All of the features mentioned above can be accessed via the menu at the top of the page, too.

Gerhart Still On Track

April 12, 2012, by 7 comments

Is this Adam posting?!?  Really?  Sorry for my absence as of late, everyone.  Those of you that have been reading my rambling jottings for a while now will likely remember a couple of years back when I had to miss the NFL Draft because the company I work for held their annual shareholder meetings (attendance not optional for employees) during Draft Week.

Luckily, since we have big plans for a weekend-long live chat, this year I will be around for the entire draft which is good news.  The bad news, however, is those meetings are this week so I have been swamped.  Brett has done a fantastic job, however, of keeping the site updated with his Draft analysis and I really, really appreciate it.

As always, I couldn’t go too long without posting, though, so I wanted to pass along a little bit of good news that is a couple of days old.

Running back Toby Gerhart injured his MCL at the end of last season and decided to forego surgery and proceed with rehabilitation.  Gerhart thinks he will be ready by the time OTA’s get started.

“I should be able to do everything once we get back,” Gerhart said.  “I’m still strengthening the quad, and the MCL has healed on its own. The key is just doing more running. I still get a little soreness when I run, but that goes away the next day. I’m on track.”

This is an important piece of news as Gerhart stands to carry a heavier-than-normal share of the work at the beginning of this season, as Adrian Peterson is still on the mend from his ever-serious knee injury of his own.

Back To Work… After This

April 2, 2012, by 11 comments

I just wanted to write a quick note to let you know that I am back in the saddle now and will be updating the site a lot this coming week.  Last week was filled with a horribly sick family, a heavy work load at the real job, and lastly a bit of travel.

If you live where I do, you tend to feel disconnected quite a bit from the “real world.”  Thus, whenever I travel “outside” I come to a number of realizations and I thought it would be fun to avoid the topic of football in this post and list a few things I learned over the last few days: 

  • Eating at Golden Corral is a horrifying experience that nobody should ever, ever have to endure.  Seriously.
  • I practically grew up in Dairy Queens during the Denis the Menace era because I was lucky enough to have a grandpa that owned and operated multiple franchises in Minnesota.  It had been years since I have seen the server tip my Blizzard upside down like they did in the old days, but I am happy to report that the practice is making a comeback!
  • I’m not a fan of Hollywood making movies out of books that actually get kids to read, because then they don’t have to read them.  However, The Hunger Games is a worthwhile film that they didn’t screw up too badly on the adaptation.  Read the books first, though!
  • When did Wal-Mart raise their prices?
  • My boy made me a proud papa in his first trip to Toys-R-Us.  How many kids will go straight past all of the noisy, flashing, remote control, battery operated toys and grab the plain old dinosaur models instead?  He just grabbed a few of them and sat down in the middle of the store and commenced in playing with old fashioned toys.  Love it!

Okay, glad I got all that off of my chest.  Football updates are coming soon.

Links Of The Week: Draft Month Is Upon Us!

April 2, 2012, by 1 comment

Howdy, everybody. It’s been kind of slow as far as Vikings news goes the past couple days. Nevertheless, we wanted to supply everyone with some of our favorite articles of the week during this little dry spell. So, here we go:

First things first, Donovan McNabb is hilarious. First he proclaims that Robert Griffin III isn’t going to work out in Washington. Now, in response to the declaration that Tim Tebow is the most criticized quarterback in the NFL, McNabb vehemently insisted that, in fact, he [himself] is.

Chris Kluwe is getting his #5 jersey back.

Rick Spielman recently did a pretty lengthy, insightful interview with PFT Live. Check it out.

And then, for some analysis on Spielman’s various interviews and smokescreens, the Vikings Age has a nice little article wondering if Spielman maybe tipped his hand on Kalil.

Could someone really want to come up and take the Vikings #3 spot for Ryan Tannehill?! Some believe it is quite possible.

There were some rule changes decided upon at the recent Owner’s meeting. Still no 18 game season, though.

Ugh… Is this stadium issue ever going to end? I know you have heard it before, but it seems like it is closer than ever with things supposedly ramping up this week in the House of Representatives.

Check out who the Vikings have scheduled private workouts with so far. What, no receivers?

Much like we did a few days ago, The Vikings Age have put together their own report card of sorts for how the Vikings (and Spielman) have done so far this offseason.

I’m going to miss Visanthe on this team. Here’s a short video of him recently signing autographs for fans (a goodbye of sorts) and answering a few questions (including how he feels about Darren Sharper and the bounty scandal, if he “Twitters from the throne”, and more).

Now that we are officially in draft month, check out the most recent Mock Draft of Walter Football. It includes five full rounds so you can see more than the [inevitable] Kalil selection.

And finally, an official announcement: Vikings Territory will be participants in the best community Mock Draft on the internet right now representing the Minnesota Vikings along with two other “GMs”. You can check out the previous mocks (we’ll be #MockThree) at the #MockOne website. We’ll have more info and details on this as it starts up.

 

You Asked And I Try To Answer

March 17, 2012, by 5 comments

Friday evening I solicited questions from the audience and I will try to hit as many as I can in this segment.

A few of them were too silly to answer in this post, but I’ll try and match the silliness and reply to them in the comments section.

Here we go.

NORSEMAN66:  Is there going to be a live chat during the draft (each day)?

ADAM:  Yes!  Brett and I plan to host live chats here at VT for every selection of the 2012 NFL Draft and we are way excited!  Barring any last minute major changes, you can consider this a done deal.  One thing I might be interested in, though, is recruiting one or two of you to be a moderator during the chats to help out with the work load.  If you have interest, click the “Contact Us” tab at the very top of the page and let me know your availability that week.

BJOHNNY:  What are your thoughts on Speilman? Is he in over his head, clueless or a crafty genius?

ADAM:  Where is the “other” option, Johnny?  I think Spielman’s approach to free agency makes this year’s Draft even more important to him.  Building through the draft is regarded by almost everyone as the best way to put together a winning football team, but you still have to draft well to see those results.  Let’s wait and see how the Draft and the next few waves of free agency go (and maybe even a football game or two) before judging the approach too harshly.

Continue Reading →

Open Mic Night

March 16, 2012, by 21 comments

Well, with the first week of free agency coming to a close, I want to give you all an opportunity that I haven’t given since jumping to Vikings Territory.

Bring on the questions!

Ask me about free agency.  The Draft.  Why I haven’t joined Twitter.  What my hairstyle is these days.  Whatever.

Leave your questions in the comments section below, and I’ll try to get to them all sometime this weekend.

Thanks for a great week… we continue to shatter our own traffic records, and we appreciate each and every one of you!

QF

Fabricating Excuses

March 6, 2012, by 6 comments

If you haven’t noticed (you better have!) I am relying on Brett even more than I usually do to help me keep the site fresh with the latest news and rumors surrounding the Vikings.

It just so happens that this is one of those weeks when my real job has me tied up all hours of the day, and I am even more worthless than normal when I get home.

But don’t worry, I talked to Rick Spielman today and he said they would host a few more meetings with ownership and wait until Saturday to make any big roster decisions.  That will give me time recoup from the long work week and bring you the latest, greatest Vikings news as free agency approaches.

Spielman said that his free agency plans are finalized and that the team is simply waiting for March 13th to roll around.  In the meantime, he plans to attend as many pro days as possible, including Oklahoma State and USC, where he will get up-close looks at Matt Kalil and Justin Blackmon.

Oh, and if you are wondering what the heck I am babbling on about, click here to read all about Spielman’s recent statements regarding his plans for the week.