An Extra Week At Mankato? Sweet!

May 17, 2012, by 9 comments

The Vikings have announced their training camp schedule and the most notable thing to pass along is that they plan to stay in Mankato for three weeks this year instead of two.

Usually the Vikings would go back to Winter Park for week three of training camp, but the ability to stay put is expected to be a welcomed change this year as players and coaches can stay in the nearby dorms and literally do nothing but focus on football every minute that they aren’t sleeping.

The elongated period of time is thought to be a result of the school’s lack of need for the dorm rooms and also frustration over Leslie Frazier’s decision to only hold camp in Mankato for 10 days last offseason.

The three week training camp is scheduled to start on July 26th and the team will soon be listing a full schedule of practice sessions.

Murphy Was A Wanted Man

May 17, 2012, by 5 comments

The Vikings have made some fairly low level moves over the last few days, and the most intriguing is their decision to claim Harvard offensive lineman Kevin Murphy, which we mentioned yesterday.

Us fans are always on the lookout for training camp “sleepers” and signs point towards Murphy as a candidate to keep an eye on.  What signs?  Well, for starters, the Vikings weren’t the only team that wanted the young tackle after he was cut by the 49ers.

According to a Scout.com source, both the Detroit Lions and the Houston Texans put in a waiver claim on the 6’ 7” rookie.  So, it should at least be an encouraging sign that Rick Spielman wasn’t the only NFL G.M. that wanted this guy on the roster.

One of the most intriguing things about the remainder of this offseason will surely revolve around Spielman’s willingness to use his waiver priority (the Vikings are third) when other teams part ways with players.  Murphy is surely not the last guy that will join the Vikings via this route between now and the season opener.

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.

Continue Reading →

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.

Governor Makes Stadium Bill Official

May 14, 2012, by 5 comments

While there were both cheers and jeers at the State Capitol today, Governor Mark Dayton made good on his promise to sign the Vikings stadium bill into law.

The stadium fight has gone on for over a decade, starting long before Zygi Wilf and family even owned the team, but it finally appears to be coming to a close.

The final step is for the Minneapolis City Council to vote on the bill, which is not expected to be a problem.