| Vikings Free Agency (FA) |
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| Written by Drakesax | ||||||||
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The Vikings ended the year with a few gaping holes. After they passed on most of their free agents have a few more. With the opening of FA this past week the Vikes started answering some questions. They've still got a few to answer such as: who is going to be our primary back-up at QB (can we really live with Brooks for another year?), will Shiancoe cut the mustard as a pass-catching TE, who's going to play DE for the Vikes this next year, do we need to add depth at LB, the passing defense was awful do we need help at the CB position to go along with the moves at safety, and do we have enough offensive play-makers to get teams out of the eight and nine man fronts?...
The QB situation is horrible right now. T-Jack could be something but consistency isn't something he's shown us yet. I can't say I'm fully confident in him let alone the thought that Brooks could be stepping in to run the team if T-Jack goes down again. Don't get me wrong BB seems like a nice enough guy. I'm just not confident he can do much more then hold a clip-board real well. There wasn't much of anything on the FA market but the Vikes weren't quick enough to get anything worth getting. Now, we've either got to make a trade or look to the draft. I'd love to see the Vikes pull the trigger for either Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson. Since Anderson signed his new deal I don't think that the Vikings would have to give up a first and a third round draft pick to get him, but I don't see the Browns settling for anything less then that. I think it makes sense for the Vikes to make a move like this. I'd rather they try to pry Quinn away from the Browns, because I think he's more of the real deal then Anderson. That fact might be what the Vikes have going in their favor the most. If Cleveland thinks that they have something in Quinn they might be willing to move Anderson for a little less then a first and a third round draft pick. Who knows what we'd have with this years first round pick. We have needs on both sides of the ball but if other teams had to fear our passing game a little more that should open things up for the running game. The stronger the running game is, and the overall offense for that matter, the better our defense is going to be because our opponents are going to be on the back-heel. If Quinn or Anderson aren't in the cards we could look possibly to J.P. Losmen. If a trade isn't where we want to go the draft is stocked with ample prospects this year.
I can't stand to watch Shiancoe as our primary pass-catching TE anymore. We blew a lot of cash on him so I guess we've got to keep him and we probably need to give him another chance. Maybe with a stronger WR corp Shiancoe will be able to find a little more room. Shiancoe isn't a blocker, unless he trips and falls in someone's way. Garrett Mills interests me. Mills has speed and can catch. In the one game he played last year he had some spunk that hasn't been seeing at the TE position in Minnesota since, well since forever. The Vikes have already spent too much on the position to really go after anyone high in the draft and there really aren't great options in FA.
Defensive End is rough right now for the Vikes. Robison and Edwards look like they are presently at the top of the depth chart. I think Edwards can play full time in the NFL, he hasn't shown a keen ability to get after the passer yet though. Robison looks like a good situational pass rusher but I'm not sold on his run defense. With Udeze having cancer and James being about as durable as a saltine the Vikes are going to have to add a player or two at DE. If they go out and sign Kearse then I think we can go out and add some depth or promise for the future during the draft. This is something we'll have to look at soon in our draft preview.
Losing Thomas to San Fransisco in FA has taken our primary back-up at all three LB positions. Heath Farwell is a great special teamer but he's not the answer at MLB or SLB, he might be able to fill in at the WLB position. Rufus Alexander might have some ability but we didn't get a chance to see any of it last year due to his season ending injury. Let's hope the Vikes have seen something special in him while he's been rehabbing this past season and this off-season.
Winfield is a stud at CB. Griffin has some question marks in his game. I don't think Griffin has the top end speed to stick with all of the WR in the NFL but his coverage skills seem to be up to snuff and lord knows he can hit. Before the Madieu Williams signing I was hoping the Vikings would have thought about moving Griffin to safety. With Griffin at safey the Vikes could have taken a run at Asante Samuel but with the money that the Eagles gave him I'm glad we didn't. I'm willing to see if Griffin can lock down his side of the field a little more comprehensively this coming season. I think that Marcus McCauley can develop into an excellent nickel back and in the future he might give Griffin a run at the starting position or possibly he'll be Winfield's replacement down the line. With the current roster the Vikings will assuredly need to add a little depth at the safety position and we need youth there too so I'm looking to some second day draft picks. Darren Sharper can't have too many more seasons in his body so we'll have to replace him in the next few years, so now's the time to groom a replacement.
Bernard Berrian is a nice addition at the WR spot. I don't think he's a true #1. Rice is a nice developing receiver and in due time I could see him as a #1. Having two guys that are border-line #1 WR has to put us in a better position then we were last year when we had four #4's. Adding one solid receiver and developing another receiver should really take some pressure off of T-Jack and should keep some safeties out of the box. Safeties out of the box means Peterson can run just that much more freely. I think we might have added that little extra added punch to help push the offense to the next level.
We need another QB. Shiancoe needs to be replaced like a Ford Pinto. We need more then warm bodies behind our starters at the LB position. We need to add some depth and youth at the safety position, Sharpers teeth are getting a little long. I think we can stand pat for the time being at CB. Let's hope we've added enough talent on the offensive side of the ball to free up Peterson. Peterson's presence can't hurt guys like Rice or Berrian either though.
This is my first blog on this site. I'm looking forward to getting my thoughts down on print about one of my true loves...Minnesota Sports. Thanks for reading!
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