Debate the Vikings’ offseason needs in The Football Fan Forum
2010 Preview:
8/6/10: Hey, you know that whole Brett Favre retiring thing. Turns out it was pretty much a hoax. Even though no one in the media heard it straight from his mouth that he was retiring, the entire world went into a panic and assumed he was retiring because of some alleged text messages.
8/3/10: It appears Favre is retiring. With Tarvaris Jackson, they are a 8-8 team. They won 10 games with Jackson in 2008, but the division is significantly better since then.
I touched on the Vikings a bit in Green Bay’s write up, but I’ll elaborate here. These are Brett Favre’s 2009 stats. 4202 yards, 363 completions, 68.4 completion percentage, 7.9 YPA, 33 touchdowns, 7 picks, a 107.2 QB rating. Those yards were his 3rd highest total of his amazing career, those completions the 2nd highest (tied) total of his career, the completion percentage was a career high (by a whole 1.9%), the YPA also a career high, and those picks were a career low, by a lot. He threw 6 fewer picks last season than he had in any 16 game season of his career. That QB rating, 7.7 points higher than any season of his career.
Let’s not talk about whether or not Brett Favre is coming back. He is coming back. There is no arguing that. He hasn’t retired yet, as he does most off seasons, so I don’t even know why we’re talking about whether or not he’ll return. He had ankle surgery which was necessary for him to play in 2010. That’s not something someone does if he’s not planning on playing. He jokingly said he would return if Southern Miss’ baseball team made the College World Series. He wouldn’t have done that if he hadn’t made up his mind about returning. Brett Favre is coming back.
But, even though he is coming back, to expect a soon to be 41 year old quarterback to match a season in which, arguably, was the best season of his amazing career across the board, is crazy. That and the Packers being a better team, as well as the possible suspensions of Pat and Kevin Williams, make this team slightly worse overall than last year, and my projected record will show that.
Projection: 11-5 2nd in NFC North
Power Ranking: 7
Last season: 12-4
Draft:
#34 CB Chris Cook (Virginia)
Cook fills a bit of a need as the Vikings probably would be best served bringing in another starting caliber cornerback, in this pass heavy league, with Cedric Griffin being average and injured and Antoine Winfield getting up there in age, but he’s a slight reach here and Jimmy Clausen would have made a lot more sense. What happens when Favre retires?
Grade: C
#51 RB Toby Gerhart (Stanford)
They needed a backup for Adrian Peterson with Chester Taylor leaving for Chicago and Gerhart is a good player who fits the range, but I would have rather have seen them take a guy who can catch more passes out of the backfield in the way Taylor could.
Grade: B-
#100 DE Everson Griffen (USC)
Ray Edwards is a free agent in 2011 and even if he returns, they could still use some more pass rushers. In terms of pure value, this may have been the steal of the night, up there with Clausen at 48 and Damian Williams in the mid 3rd to the Titans. If Griffen pans out and capitalizes on his upside, there would be no stopping this line at all. Forget about protecting your quarterback. It wouldn’t even matter. Running backs getting holes? Forget about it. Not happening.
Grade: A
#161 G Chris Degeare (Wake Forest)
A slight reach in the 5th, but in the 5th, a slight reach is alright. It’s very possible they just saw something more in him than I did. He has great size and fits their blocking scheme well and they needed more interior linemen. Adrian Peterson actually struggled late last season running the football because of their interior line and we’ve certainly seen plenty of starting caliber guards come out of the mid rounds before.
Grade: B
#167 MLB Nathan Triplett (Minnesota)
They may have had bigger needs, but there is nothing wrong with taking a guy who fits the draft range, from in state. Plus, if EJ Henderson is not ready to go next season or gets hurt again, Triplett could step in. Jasper Brinkley was a real liability in coverage last year as he insisted on biting on every play fake ever.
Grade: B
#199 QB Joe Webb (UAB)
In 2000, the Patriots drafted a quarterback with the 199th pick by the name of Tom Brady. In 2010, the Vikings used the same pick on a quarterback, Joe Webb. Coincedence. Probably, but hey, you never know. Maybe he’ll be the next Brady. Or more likely he’ll end up at wide receiver and provide solid depth.
Grade: B-
#214 TE Mickey Shuler (Penn State)
They have a good solid tight end, but they lacked depth behind him. Shuler provides that, though they had bigger needs.
Grade: B-
#237 MLB Ryan D’Imperio (Rutgers)
Another middle linebacker? I know Jasper Brinkley was bad, but they most likely are going to have EJ Henderson back for week 1 next year. I guess D’Imperio could play special teams or another position and he does fit the draft range, but I would have prefered they had taken some depth at center, defensive tackle, outside linebacker, or safety.
Grade: C-
Overall:
This was a fairly solid draft and the steal of a borderline 1st round prospect in Everson Griffen in the top of the 4th was great for them. Chris Cook does fill a need and both Gerhart and Degeare will fill valuable roles for them. However, they left a few too many needs untouched, safety, center, defensive tackle, outside linebacker. Also, if Brett Favre retires either this offseason or next, they’ll either not have a solid backup or have to start a rookie. Taking Clausen in the 2nd would have allowed for a pretty seemless transition at the quarterback position, especially if Favre was able to play at least one more year. If Favre retires this season, I know, they have a strong supporting cast, but they won’t have a good quarterback. Tarvaris Jackson is average at best and Sage Chokesenfels is the only quarterback I know who can blow a 17 point lead with 4 minutes left AND the ball. In this division, which has quickly become one of the best in football, that could mean 7-9 wins and 3rd or even fourth (depending on Matt Stafford’s development) place.
Grade: B
Key undrafted free agents:
QB Ryan Perrelioux (Jacksonville State)
G Thomas Austin (Clemson)
WR Ray Small (Ohio State)
OT Marlon Winn (Texas Tech)
Positions of need:
Defensive Tackle:
Pat Williams says he’s 50-50 about returning next year. Even if he does return, he’ll be 38 in October and could retire after 2010. They don’t have very much depth behind the two Williamses. The defensive tackle position has been the strength of their team for years and they can’t risk losing that. They need to acquire a talented young defensive tackle to throw into the mix and to groom to be Pat Williams’ future replacement. Brian Price and Jared Odrick will be options at 29.
Quarterback:
Brett Favre could literally retire any minute between now and forever and maybe one of those times he might not come back. Tarvaris Jackson could be a decent quarterback on this team with this supporting cast and get them into the playoffs, but with all the talent they have, they are going to want a quarterback in the future with the talent to lead this team to good things. Unfortunately, I doubt any franchise quarterback will fall to them in the draft. They could look for a talented backup quarterback on one of the other teams and trade for him, the way Houston did when they traded for Matt Schaub. Kevin Kolb could be an option.
Drafted Joe Webb (#199)
Offensive Guard:
How did Adrian Peterson struggle late in the season? Well, awful interior blocking had something to do with it. They look for big lineman so they could target a big guard in the middle rounds. Maurkice Pouncey and Vlad Ducasse could be options in the 2nd and John Jerry could be an option in the 3rd.
Drafted Chris Degeare (#161)
Cornerback:
Antoine Winfield is losing some of his speed at 33 and he has had some recent injury issues as well. Asher Allen was drafted in the 3rd last year and he has some upside, but more as a kick returner than a defensive backs. Cedric Griffin just had a nasty ACL tear in the NFC Championship game loss and he wasn’t much above average even before his injury. They need some depth at the position, at the least.
Drafted Chris Cook (#34), Signed Lito Sheppard
Outside Linebacker:
Ben Leber isn’t great and he’s also over 30. He’s also in his contract year. If they have a talented outside linebacker drop into their laps, I could see them taking him.
Defensive End:
This becomes a bigger need if Ray Edwards isn’t brought back. Even if he is brought back, they could use some defensive end depth. Ray Edwards did have 8.5 sacks last year, but 4 of those came against Green Bay and Detroit, who have awful offensive lines.
Drafted Everson Griffen (#100)
Safety:
They never did replace Darren Sharper. Both of the guys they have at the safety position right now are pretty average and there is little depth at the position either.
Running back:
If Chester Taylor leaves as a free agent, they’ll need to bring in a capable backup for Adrian Peterson.
Drafted Toby Gerhart (#51), Signed Ryan Moats
Free agents:
QB Tarvaris Jackson (restricted)- resigned 1 year 1.1 million
RB Chester Taylor- signed with Bears 4 years 12.5 million
FB Naufahu Tahi (restricted)- resigned 1 year 1.1 million
OT Artis Hicks- signed with Redskins 3 years 9 million
OT Ryan Cook (restricted)- resigned 1 year 1.1 million
DT Jimmy Kennedy- resigned 3 years 6 million
DT Fred Evans (restricted)- resigned 1 year 1.7 million
DE Ray Edwards (restricted)- resigned 1 year 2.5 million
CB Benny Sapp- resigned 2 years
CB Karl Paymeh (restricted)- not tendered, signed with 49ers 1 year
S Eric Frampton (restricted)- resigned 1 year 1.1 million
Offseason moves:
Vikings claim WR Marko Mitchell
Vikings re-sign DE Ray Edwards
Vikings sign RB Ryan Moats
Vikings sign CB Lito Sheppard
Vikings re-sign QB Tarvaris Jackson
Vikings re-sign DT Fred Evans
Vikings re-sign OT Ryan Cook
Vikings re-sign S Eric Frampton
Vikings re-sign DT Jimmy Kennedy
Vikings sign CB Benny Sapp
Vikings sign K Rhys Lloyd
Vikings tender QB Tarvaris Jackson
Vikings tender FB Naufahu Tahi
Vikings tender DE Ray Edwards
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