Posts tagged: christian ponder

My First Mock – And The Vikings Select…

January 19, 2013, by 24 comments

The first mock draft of the offseason is really just a shot in the dark. There are so many unknowns at this point. Who’s actually going to declare at the draft? What will their combine performance be? What kind of scandals/off-the-field issues will take place?

But still, putting these things together are fun. It starts to familiarize everybody with a lot of the names we’ll be hearing for the new few months. It gets us acquainted with some of the opportunities the Vikings may have when they are on the clock for the first time at #23 (unless they trade up, of course). They serve as a starting point for discussion regarding what the Vikings should try and do in the draft.

All around, they’re just a good time.

By the time Adam and I put out our final drafts for 2012 though, I’d say we both did pretty good. As Adam mentioned in his mock draft, we both held strong to our belief that the Vikings would select Matt Kalil with their first pick (despite the endless amounts of rumors floating around up to the very start of the draft). We didn’t guess spot-on for a lot of teams (I had maybe 6-7?) but, for the most part, the draft panned out a lot like we thought it would.

Who knows what the Vikings are going to do this time. Picking at #23 is going to make things a lot more difficult to guess. When you are at #3 (or #4 if you trade down…) it’s a lot easier to surmise what the team is going to do. There are only two other players taken before it’s your turn. In our case this year, there are 22 players that will be taken off the board before we get our turn to select. Talk about endless possibilities.

So, let’s get to what I have in my first mock draft, shall we?

The first thing you’ll probably notice is that I have more quarterbacks being selected in the first round than most people do. In fact, I have two quarterbacks going in the top ten. (Mel Kiper doesn’t even have a quarterback going in the first round!) Sure, a lot of people are going to tell you that there is not a quarterback in this year’s draft class worth the number one pick. Or a top five pick. Or a top ten pick even. I’d agree with them looking at it objectively. But the truth is, a lot of these teams that are desperate for an answer at the quarterback position are not looking at it objectively. They’re looking at it hopefully. They are taking a chance and hoping that the guy they like will be the answer and the future for their franchise. And just like the Vikings did by selecting Christian Ponder much earlier than everybody thought, I believe there are a couple of teams that are so desperate for someone at the quarterback position, they will use their first round pick to try and find that center piece for their offense.

The second thing you’ll notice… Well, let’s just be honest. You scrolled straight to see who the Vikings selected. Okay, let’s talk about my selection for the Vikings.

Terrance Williams 2013 Draft

“With the twenty third pick of the 2013 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings select wide receiver Terrance Williams, Baylor.”

So, like Adam, I have also selected a wide receiver for the Vikings with their first pick. I have to be really up front and honest with you, I’m not really happy about the selection and was pretty torn when making it.

Here’s the deal: I think there are 4-5 receivers the Vikings could take at this spot that would almost be [hypothetically] interchangeable. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… I’m not sure that there is a true #1 receiver in this year’s draft class – a sure thing. Somebody who can start day 1 and instantly provide the Vikes with another weapon and someone who can stretch the field. The problem is that, much like the quarterback situation outlined above, I think teams are also more likely to reach on players that they think can somehow provide a spark for them offensively – the playmakers.

In the case of my mock draft, I think there are some guys the Vikings could get better value for at positions of need but we just need a wide receiver so dang bad. There are two or three defensive tackles I think would be great for the  Vikings at this spot. But, realistically, I don’t think the Vikings leave the first round without a wide receiver.

But let’s talk about Terrance Williams for a second because I don’t want to sell him short, I do like what I see from him.

Terrance Williams is a guy who, at 6’2″ and 205 pounds, plays physical and can go up and make a play on the ball. He isn’t blazing fast but he is a straight-line runner who can stretch the field and use his larger frame to overpower and shield off defenders. One of Williams biggest concerns is his route running (as he primarily ran go routes) and his tendency to try and catch the ball with his body.  Those shortcomings are coachable though and Williams has the physical traits to potentially be the type of threat the Vikings could use.

While this is the first wide receiver I have the Vikings taking in my mock draft, I do not think it will be the last. I would not be surprised if the Vikings took upwards of three wide receivers this year. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if we are looking at a radically different receiving corp in 2013. In fact, I suspect it.

Make sure to check out the scouting video of Terrance Williams below. Also, here are a couple of names I toyed with putting in that #23 spot instead of Williams:

John Jenkins, DT, Georgia
Justin Hunter, WR, Tennessee
Robert Woods, WR, USC
DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson
Kawann Short, DT, Purdue
Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia
Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida State

Brett’s 2013 Mock Draft v1.0

Webb Has Value To 2013 Vikings

January 19, 2013, by 42 comments

Joe Webb went from “too talented not to have on the field” to “get him out of here” as fast as any player not involved in a scandal that I can think of.

That will happen, of course, when you put up a stinker the way Webb did in the Wild Card round, against the Packers, that resulted in a 54.9 quarterback rating and a loss.  The quarterback rating doesn’t describe just how bad Webb’s performance was, however, as most of the good came after a whole ton of bad and when Green Bay’s defense had already declared victory.

Many assume that Webb’s inability to show up in the big game means he will be gone as soon as the Vikings can find a replacement.  I don’t think that is necessarily the case.

Besides having all of the same excuses that Christian Ponder has benefitted from this season, such as depleted receiver options and an offensive coordinator that inexplicably went away from his strengths, Webb presents unique value in 2013.

That value stems from a point that I plan on beating to death this offseason: the Vikings have a ton of mobile quarterbacks on their 2013 schedule, as I pointed out here.  All six of the Vikings losses in 2012 came against shifty quarterbacks and they project to play nine games against mobile quarterbacks next year, and that isn’t even counting what Chip Kelly manages to put together in Philadelphia.

That means the Vikings defense has to improve in this area.  Of course a big part of that will consist of offseason personnel moves such as upgrading at linebacker and keeping Antoine Winfield in the fold.  Other than putting the best players on the field to keep these quarterbacks from taking off, preparation in also going to be key.

Who better to prepare a defense, by running the scout team, than a fleet footed, option running quarterback like Webb?

Webb is sure to never be as good as Cam Newton or RGIII, but if he can at least be effective at pretending to be them then he may already have a role carved out for him that keeps him on the roster in 2013.

Besides, at a salary of $575,000, it is hard not justifying him sticking around as an asset to not the offense, but the defense.

Free Agent Quarterback Rankings

January 15, 2013, by 66 comments

Hello, everyone.  Sorry for the absence, right after my latest comments/arguments in the previous thread karma came a knocking and a little something called influenza decided to have its way with me.

The plus side is that my Nyquil induced episode of Fear and Loathing provided ample thinking time about the upcoming free agency period and the Draft.  With the Draft still 100 days away (exactly) I decided I would spend the next few days taking a look at some of the names we can ready ourselves to see on the free agent market.

Up first are the quarterbacks and the rankings, while specific towards the Vikings, are my own and are certainly up for debate.  With both Leslie Frazier and Rick Spielman singing Christian Ponder’s praises following this season, it seems unlikely that we can expect any huge moves towards a new starter, but the Wild Card round certainly proved we could use some competition at the backup spots.

TOP TIER

The top tier of the quarterback free agency class includes only one name, and is sure to include zero by the time free agency actually rolls around.  Joe Flacco gets the top spot here, but his stock has never been higher after an improbable Divisional Round victory, and he will surely warrant the franchise tag at the very least.

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A Log Jam In The NFC North

January 12, 2013, by 80 comments

All of the NFC North teams are now tied for first place within the division.

The San Francisco 49ers decisive Saturday Night whooping of the Packers ended any hope (or fear) of a team from the North winning the Super Bowl.

While Vikings fans have to be elated to see their most hated enemy’s Super Bowl hopes dashed, it is somewhat painful to notice exactly how the 49ers took away a Victory.

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick was selected with the fourth pick of the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft.  This was nearly a full round later than where the Vikings decided to place the future of the quarterback position on the shoulders of Christian Ponder.

I’m not going to launch into a hate fest of Ponder, but it is hard to deny that Kaepernick is clearly the better quarterback right now and that he has progressed faster than Ponder.  He is just plain and simply getting it done both through the air and on the ground.

What hurts even more is that Kaepernick led an option style offense that posted a ridiculous 579 yards against Green Bay’s defense.  The Vikings employed a similar scheme in the Wild Card round’s opening drive, with Joe Webb making the surprise start, but inexplicably abandoned the option after finding success on that drive.

Why Bill Musgrave and Leslie Frazier “adjusted” their offensive scheme after that first drive will be a question that, for most fans, will never be adequately answered.

Soon, why the Vikings opted for Ponder over Kaepernick in the 2011 NFL Draft may be a question that Rick Spielman finds equally difficult to answer.

The Top 5 Vikings Offseason Storylines

January 9, 2013, by 42 comments

It took about a whole two, maybe three, hours before the disappointment from getting our butts handed to us via the Green Bay Packers vanished and the excitement for the offseason completely consumed me. Free agents? The draft?! Possible trades? Veterans leaving? New talent?

I love it.

Don’t get me wrong, I was as bummed about the loss as the next hardcore Vikings fan (well, maybe not as much as this guy…) but the postseason letdown didn’t feel as bad this time. Maybe it was because deep down I knew once it was announced Christian Ponder wouldn’t be starting that we would lose the game and then the next three to four hours was just a realization of that fact. Maybe it’s because nothing could have happened in the playoffs that would take away from what an amazing season 2012 was. (And, folks, it was an amazing football season.) Who knows, really.

What I do know is that I was, and am, at peace with what the Vikings did this year and what I think they’ll do in the near future.

There’s a lot to be excited about with this team. There’s a ton to look forward to this offseason and some great stories to look out for.

Here are five of the biggest stories headed into the offseason. Stories that we will be covering in [exhausting] detail here at Vikings Territory, I’m sure. Of course, there will always be a few (maybe more) developments that catch us all by surprise. You can be sure we’ll have those, too.

(Note: These do not include general things like “the draft” or “free agency.” It’s a given those will be huge. I tried to think of specific storylines that will provide intrigue, mystery and excitement.)

5. The New Stadium

I almost didn’t include the stadium on the list because it seems that, now that we’ve got our stadium, it’s more of a “I don’t care how it happens, just get it here” type thing. But, after Adam mentioned it to me when I queried the inner-workings of his very knowledgeable Vikings mind, I started to see why it could become something we talk about frequently during the offseason.

It shouldn’t be long until we start seeing a real design for this thing.  And that will be pretty dang cool. We’ll finally get to see what this thing will look like. What features it will have. Does it have a retractable roof? Seat warmers? Does it have a mammoth monitor floating eerily above the ant-sized players a hundred or so feet below? Who knows.

It will be something tangible at that point. Something we can look at and say, “Okay. So that’s going to be where I take my children to watch my Minnesota Vikings a few years from now.” (Maybe more if you’re me).

It’s been an idea up until this point. A finalized design that we can see is a big step to it becoming a real, real reality. (A real one.)

4. Backup Quarterback Backup Plan

Christian Ponder’s late season surge (and potentially even his absence from the playoff game at Lambeau) solidified his role as the Vikings starter at quarterback next season. Head coach Leslie Frazier has even already made it public. That’s all good and fine, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Vikings still need to figure some things out at the quarterback position during the offseason.

I’m not going to torch Joe Webb too much because I honestly feel like he’s better than what he showed Saturday in Green Bay. The guy was thrown into an incredibly difficult situation under an offensive coordinator who remained steadfast in his stubborn ways and refused to adjust his game plan to increase the likelihood of success for Webb. Nevertheless, I don’t think Joe Webb is somebody who can really threaten Ponder for the starting position and light a fire under his butt, so to speak.

I think Ponder is going to be a good quarterback with a little more development. I take a lot of heat for that position but I’ve held it since he was drafted and I still hold it today. But I’ll be the first one to tell you that it is not a sure thing. He is not a sure thing. And the Vikings need to have a Plan B just in case it doesn’t pan out with #7.

Personally, I’d like Spielman and Co. to do some superb scouting and find a quarterback in the middle rounds who has a lot of upside. It’s also possible the team could just to go the free agent route. (Also, let’s not kid ourselves, it’s entirely possible the Vikings could not address it at all…)

Nevertheless, I think how the roster shapes up behind Ponder is something to keep an eye on.

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I Couldn’t Help Myself… Mock Draft 2.0

January 7, 2013, by 48 comments

If your team loses early in the postseason, and you have your own blog, then the reward is being able to turn your gaze towards the NFL Draft.  So, with the Vikings getting a slap upside the head from Green Bay last weekend, I couldn’t help but update my mock.

Last time around I assigned Missouri defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson to the Vikings.  Since then, however, the Vikings success meant they worked themselves all the way down to the 23rd selection and the more I looked at Richardson the more I am convinced he will be long gone by that point.

I ended up taking Richardson off the board at the 11th spot (Chargers) and had to see how things worked themselves out by the time the Vikings were “on the clock” in my mock.

A number of interesting option still existed at 23, which is a good sign for when the real deal actually rolls around, and I was awfully tempted to consider North Carolina State quarterback Mike Glennon.  While I think some quarterback-needy team might trade up to this point and try to grab Glennon, I just don’t see the Vikings realistically spending their first rounder on the quarterback position unless the coaching staff is suddenly and surprisingly dismissed… which won’t happen.

The Vikings will likely target a quarterback at some point in the Draft, but I highly doubt it’ll be that early, as they remain committed to developing Christian Ponder.

I did select someone on the offensive side of the football, however, and could help Ponder in his efforts to improve what has been a very lackluster passing game.

At #23, with USC’s Robert Woods the only other receiver selected prior, I assigned Tennessee product Cordarrelle Patterson to the Vikings.  The rest of the mock can be looked over by clicking here.

He has great size at 6’ 3” and 205 pounds and impressive elusiveness and has helped quarterback Tyler Bray lead an impressive passing game.  He has also contributed significantly by taking handoffs, returning punts, and returning kicks.  Sound familiar?

He is a physical receiver capable of out jumping most defenders, and possesses the ability to consistently make any catch he can get his hands on.  The only knock on Patterson is that he is still raw and needs to work on his route running, which is completely coachable.

For those unfamiliar with Patterson, here is a nice little highlight reel to get you familiarized.  At the very least, take note of how his legs never stop churning… despite the ridiculously long strides this guy take:

Whenever A Season Ends, An Offseason Begins

January 6, 2013, by 67 comments

The Vikings, led by backup quarterback Joe Webb, got their asses kicked at Lambeau Field in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

There really is no nicer way to put it than that without being dishonest.  The game was a debacle in all phases of the game.  Embarrassing production on offense, deadly mistakes on defense, turnovers coming from the special teams, and a coaching staff that seemed outmatched nearly the whole time.

With that being said, Saturday night’s letdown is just one black mark in what was otherwise a very pleasant surprise of a season, with the Vikings netting 10 wins after getting just three the season prior.

The Vikings accomplished many of their stated goals in 2012.  They kept Ponder upright for 16 games in an effort to gauge his progression.   The offensive line improved with players that never once had to miss a start.  The running game was one of the best that the world has ever seen, with Adrian Peterson making a very convincing bid to be the NFL’s MVP.

On defense, Alan Williams put together one of the better looking secondaries, albeit lacking depth, that Vikings fans have seen in years and years.  The pass rush was fairly consistent and the run defense was usually fairly stout, with only a select few exceptions in each area.

The special teams unit was overall one of the best in the NFL.

Following a phenomenal Draft from Rick Spielman, and Eric Sugarman earning every penny of his salary in keeping this squad relatively healthy, the Vikings are certainly a lot further along in their rebuilding process than almost anybody expected.

With that being said, there is not a position on this roster that couldn’t stand to be improved, other than kicker, and the Vikings now have another offseason full of opportunity to get even better.  They have an offseason to evaluate the coaching staff, search for free agents, prepare for the NFL Draft, and continue to develop their current talent.

While I was hoping not to be starting this for a few more weeks, the offseason unfortunately does begin today, and we here at VT are excited to do you the favor of filling it full of analysis, irresponsible speculation, rumor mongering, and discussion.