As many of you know, I’m dealing with a health issue that for now is extending further than I anticipated, but is less severe to make up for it (which is a net positive, trust me). As a result, the site was a bit dead over the weekend and I missed out on reporting some news.
So, here’s a roundup!
– A few days ago, rising Star Tribune beat reporter Master Tesfatsion reported that the Vikings are in a tough spot to get home games in prime time because of the agreement that the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Vikings had agreed to in order to allow the Vikings to use TCF Bank Stadium while the new stadium is being built where the Metrodome once was.
That agreement spells out the fact that the Vikings can only hold one weeknight game in a season, but only when class isn’t in session. The school gets full veto power over that game. There is no Monday game time slot that happens on a Monday when the University doesn’t have classes scheduled in the fall semester, and Thankgiving is the only day on a Thursday there aren’t classes scheduled at UMN. That means the two weeknight slots are Monday, Week 16 on December 22nd and Thursday, Week 12 on November 27th.
The Vikings will also be asked to avoid playing at home the same weekend the Gophers do, but that will be next to impossible. It will likely mean the Vikings will minimize the amount of times that happens instead of eliminating the instance entirely.
Incidentally, should a home basketball or hockey game be scheduled at the same time as a Vikings home game, all parking will be prioritized for the Gopher event instead of the Vikings event.
– Winter Park looks different to returning players.
Head Coach Mike Zimmer had the team build a theater-style meeting room that fits the entire team (they didn’t have that before, I guess), upgraded the weight room and revamped the nutrition program, per Nate Davis at USA Today.
The Vikings are using the extra two weeks they have afforded to them as a team with a new head coach in order to familiarize Zimmer with the players, though activities are restricted basically to team meetings and strength training. They’ll distribute and drill in the new playbooks as well as create the tone for the rest of the season.
– The Daily Norseman has updated their Mock Draft Database.
In it, the Vikings select a quarterback nearly three-quarters of the time, and Teddy Bridgewater leads the pack. Johnny Manziel is a close second. There are more than a few selections of Derek Carr, and even a few of Blake Bortles. There also happens to be a fair bit of Khalil Mack and Anthony Barr, as well as some defensive backs and receivers. I encourage you to check it out. It even has excellent infographics that track those selections over the offseason.
In the offseason, this all qualifies as news.
View Comments
That last line made me grin.
I like that the players are returning to a dramatically different meeting room and an upgraded weight room. That sets apart the Zimmer era from the previous eras right off the bat. Go Zimmer, go!
Concerning TCF stadium, I'm less interested in Mon/Thu games than I am in the availability of single game tickets given the reduced seating capacity. Are there any good reports on how many season ticket holders are likely to renew versus the new final seat count after renovations? I'm very much interested in taking my dad to an outdoor Vikings game, and my two boys as well. I was planning on seeing 4 or 5 games at TCF over the next two years, but I'm hearing rumblings that single game tickets may be pretty difficult to come by. Have you heard anything on that front?
Fewer seats fewer tickets, makes sense.
It boggles my ming that Manziel is picked by so many people at 8. I don't ever recall hoping this much that the Vikings don't pick someone. God forbid we do pick him, never mind what I think of his football accumen, but does anyone really think he would want to play two seasons in the cold at TCF? He seems way too "Hollywood" for that. I can't stand the thought from a football perspective and a personality perspective I will be happy if we take anyone other than Manziel at 8. Actually Bridgewater is the only qb I think is worthy of the 8 pick.
Don't die on us, Arif. :^)
I still dont believe the Vikings draft a QB in round 1 this year ~ This is a QB class full of question marks ~ Not one QB stands out from the rest of the bunch and none of them are a sure thing ~
IMHO the Vikings go defense in round one and could trade down and still go defense ~ The only way I see the Vikings going offense in round 1 is if they go after a WR or OL and both could prove to be BPA ~ If they plan to run AP like they have in the past OL makes all the sense in the world ~ Trading down and taking the best left OG in the draft not only helps open holes for AP but keeps Cassel or Ponder upright more often giving them extra time to find a open target ~ Drafting a WR like Mike Evens would really help the Vikings spread the field helping to open running lanes while keeping the defense guessing ~
That being said I still believe they go defense ~ Most likely a DB or LBer ~ However a DL isn't out of the question by any means ~
The easiest way to add start power is to add a WR because the offense is all ready proven ~ Even with Ponder at QB the offense still avg. 22 points a game in all but 1 of his starts ~ If I remember right the offense avg. 23 points with Cassel ~ Correct me if I'm wrong because I'm going off memory ~ Evens would be a great fit and a wonderful redzone target ~
And I say this with the thought of trying to get AP a SB ring before its too late ~ IMHO any QB in this draft needs to set and learn for a year or two ~ However I also believe the Seahawks proved that you can win a SB with a OK offense outside of Marshawn Lynch and their OK passing game ~ While everyone seems to be in love with Wilson he was not some kind of passing king thats for sure ~ He played avg but got by because many times the defense and ST gave him a short field so scoring was up while his passing yardage wasn't ~ Its not like Wilson had a bunch of 300+ yards passing games ~ He didn't ~ Unless I'm missing something ~ But he had a lot of short field to score on while the defense held scores down while adding a bunch of turnovers ~
JMHO so take it for whats it worth ~ Nothing ~