10 Most Popular VT Stories Of 2015

Image courtesy of Vikings.com

Yesterday, I talked about how proud I am of what the gang here at Vikings Territory accomplished in 2015, but that was looking at our successes from more of a global view.

Today, I want to take a second to acknowledge what was actually produced, which also serves as a bit of an experiment in measuring what you, the reader, craved most throughout the 2015 calendar year.

These are the ten most read articles VT produced in 2015 if you are interested in taking a trip down Memory Lane:

10. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS PURSUING ADRIAN PETERSON, PER BUCSBLITZ

By Arif Hasan

I don’t want to shock you, but this isn’t the last Peterson-related article you are going to see on this list. He was obviously one of the most scorching offseason topics for the Vikings as a seemingly endless stream of twists, turns, reports, rumors, rumors, reports, turns, and twists kept us all wondering how things would play out.

This report, from Scout.com’s BucsBlitz, is another one of those twists that we can now wonder about in terms of whether or not it was factual.

Ironically enough, it is Peterson and Tampa’s Doug Martin that will race for the NFL’s rushing title this weekend, and one has to wonder how a trade might have played out in the end.

9. PATTERSON RUMORED TO BE ON THE TRADE BLOCK

By Adam Warwas

The mystery of what Cordarrelle Patterson’s future holds is always one of great interest to Vikings fans, because his fall from grace was so abrupt, severe, and has gone largely unexplained by the coaching staff.

This article cited a note from Benjamin Albright who had said he heard the Vikings were soliciting offers from at least one team in advance of the NFL’s trade deadline. A trade scenario certainly seemed plausible at the time, especially after Stefon Diggs finally got to show what he was capable of, but nothing came of the report.

Patterson will likely remain a hot topic during this coming offseason.

8. TEN DRAFT TENDENCIES OF RICK SPIELMAN

By Ryan Boser

I’m glad I decided to do this article of our top articles from last year, because it acted as a great reminder that I need to get Boser to update this guest post to include the results of the 2015 Draft before this coming draft.

In advance of last year’s draft, however, Boser attempted to nail down certain draft tendencies that have been displayed by Rick Spielman and it was a very interesting read that brought of plenty of good (and some not so good) memories of being a Vikings fan on Draft Weekends through the years.

A little later on, Boser used the identified tendencies to mock a 2015 Vikings draft class. He nailed the Kendricks pick and did a nice job of predicting the positions that some late-round picks would be spent on.

7. THE CONSENSUS DRAFT BOARD GRADES YOUR TEAM’S DRAFT

By Arif Hasan

Every year in April and May, writers all around the internet joke and opine about how worthless draft grades are. Then they all promptly write their draft grades.

Why? Because the internet world of NFL fans love them… instantly. Everybody wants to know what the world thinks of their favorite team’s haul in the latest NFL Draft and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Arif used a consensus big board to try and grade each team’s draft class with unique, and perhaps more meaningful, strategy behind it that goes beyond the “one man’s opinion” realm of draft grades.

Oh, and the Vikings were given an “A+” which is looking to be fairly accurate with a little under one season of play to judge them on.

6. MINNESOTA VIKINGS WILL PURSUE S RAHIM MOORE IN FREE AGENCY

By Arif Hasan

When the free agency period is approaching, and after it has begun, fans of all 32 teams are hungry for news and rumors regarding interested parties in interesting players. Vikings fans are certainly not immune to that, especially after a few days of essentially sitting out of the free agency festivities.

Hasan cited a source that told him the Vikings would make Moore a priority in free agency, but Hasan quickly updated the post when Paul Allen told him the opposite.

In the end, we do not know if the Vikings ever tried to land Moore or not, but we do now know that he probably wasn’t going to be an answer to their problems at the position. After signing with the Texans, Moore has been a major disappointment and was benched way back in October.

5. WEAK PLAY HAUNTS STRONG SAFETIES

By Austin Belisle

Some of us thought the Vikings didn’t try hard enough to find an upgrade at strong safety this last offseason, and those worries have basically been confirmed throughout the 2015 regular season.

After a month of Vikings football taking place, Austin Belisle took a close look at the issues surrounding the play of Andrew Sendejo and Robert Blanton up to that point.

I love when Austin goes into detail-oriented mode with his articles (how great of an addition has he been for us!?!), and I assume this isn’t the last we’ll hear from him on the strong safety position. The clearest indication of that is how he concludes the article: noting the strength of this year’s rookie class at that position.

4. ADRIAN PETERSON’S CAREER WITH THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS SEEMS DESTINED TO CONTINUE

By Adam Warwas

I’ll let you guys in on a little secret about this article… I pre-wrote it weeks in advance of it being published.

Through all the twists and turns, we knew the drama would eventually come to an end, so I wrote the article in advance of things coming to a head. The original version was written under the assumption that Peterson would be traded, as I really thought that was the most likely outcome at the time, but made sure it was easily enough tweaked to reflect the news that he would remain a Minnesota Viking.

The article was basically a look back at some of the major moments shaping Peterson’s career as a Viking, but the pre-writing allowed me to include a lot of thoughtful quotes and memories from the team here at VT.

3. ROOKIE SEASON REVIEW: HOW TEDDY BRIDGEWATER COMPARES WITH OTHER QUARTERBACKS

By Darren Page

In one of the most successful guest posts in our history, the astute Darren Page took a very close look at Teddy Bridgewater’s rookie season to see how the Vikings young quarterback stacked up heading into his sophomore season.

“At the very least, the Vikings have themselves a worthwhile starter in Bridgewater,” Page concludes at the end of the article.

Indeed they do, Darren. Indeed they do.

2. BABATUNDE AIYEGBUSI: FROM THE LINE TO THE RING

By Lindsey Young

Months after it became obvious that Babtunde Aiyegbusi, the Polish born preseason fan favorite, wasn’t going to be a legitimate answer for the Vikings offensive line it didn’t mean the fan base was done showing interest in how his story was going to play out.

As it turns out, professional wrestling fans also had a reason to click on this story that Lindsey managed to “scoop” ahead of any other Vikings beat writers.

We’ll be sure to keep tabs on “Babs” and let you know how his wrestling career is going.

1. VIKINGS DOING ALL THEY CAN TO DUMP ADRIAN PETERSON, MULTIPLE TEAMS INTERESTED

By Arif Hasan

In the early morning hours of March 2nd, my phone started to blow up and I was confused as to what was going on, but knew it had something to do with Adrian Peterson. It wasn’t until some time had passed that I realized what was happening… it was Vikings Territory that was reporting something new on the Peterson drama in a surreal and unusual turn of events.

Hasan attributed the report to multiple unnamed sources who told him the Vikings were actively trying to trade Peterson and may not be above releasing him following a 2014 season in which he was suspended for his choice to discipline his child with a switch.

We may never know what exactly went on behind the scenes, but the Vikings ultimately decided to extend Peterson’s contract and keep him on board for this season, making this VT report just another twist in what was one of the most uncomfortable storylines in Vikings history.

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