Dana Turner
Posts: 1958
Joined: 7/27/2007
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Sorry, I just checked and saw how long this was, yikes. Well, we are stuck in our houses here in Shanghai and I'm freakin' bored. Damn Corona virus! I wonder if their beer sales have dipped??
The defense, or at least the philosophy is set. There isn't going to be any large changes in scheme or tendencies, the Vikings will have to make any progress on the offensive side of the ball. If the Vikings would have scored one more TD in each of the six losses we had this year, we would have had three more wins and a tie at Seattle. Our defense is just the way Zimmer likes it. We are going to give a little and try not to give a lot. Keep thme to Field goals in the red zone and try to win the close one. It's been that way forever and it is what it is.
So, we need to be better on offense. This will be the second year with Kubiak and Rocco, so some stability will be present, that's a good thing. We obviously need to strengthen the interior of the offensive line, I'm 100%sure that fact is not lost on the coaching staff. We are not in there every day and I'm pretty sure they did what they felt was best for chemistry this year, but two things have been glaring weaknesses and they must get worked on in the off-season. First and foremost, Bradbury needs to add about 20-30 pounds of muscle, most of it to his ass. His lower body needs to be a point of focus and it is doable. He has all the smarts needed to become a very solid center in the NFL, he just needs to get stouter
Guards, well for sure, left guard. But really, both guards and I'm thinking that Kline can be effective in his second year with Rocco. We were all pretty worried about him coming in last year, but to our surprise, he actually played pretty solid and has the potential to be one of those Berger/Fusco types. You guys remember those journeymen that actually played some solid and unexpectedly good football for the Vikings. I think Kline has a chance to be one of those types. Lets face the facts, you need good offensive linemen that can play in unison together, compliment each other. We saw what a great offensive line got Dallas a couple years back, all those first and second round picks amounted to "0" titles. Yes they we really good together, but the rest of the team wasn't up to the task. Pick your poison, it's a tricky business, we need a solid offensive line and we are not far from that. So, that leaves LG and LT. Can we do that in house or at least part of that in house. I think we must resign Hill. That guy is funny, he isn't a very good RT, but when he is on the left, there isn't a drop off between him and Rieff, they pretty much play at the same level, Hill is better at the left than the right. Rieff either takes a pay cut or leaves, he simply doesn't earn the type of money he's getting and the tape shows that. I don't know if O'Neil is ok to move to LT or if Udoh is a guy that will progress or not. Is Collins going to take a step forward. We probably need a guy to fall in the first round to get a starter right out of college. Udoh is certainly an athletic big man, time will tell. So, is Samia ready to take a step up to play guard? He has the attitude the O-line needs, but it takes more than attitude to be consistent in the NFL and I think that is what they are needing from him, consistency.
Our three needs as I see it are IOL, CB and DT, in that order. Next would be a safety if we loose Kearse or Harris. We would only have three safeties, that would be counting Sendejo, if we loose one of them. I believe Kearse wants to leave, so I am thinking he will be gone. I like Harris, I always have since he came out undrafted to the Vikings, but I don't believe we can spend $11 million a year on him, that would be over $20 million a year on two safeties. If Smith would restructure and make a deal to take him to retirement as a Viking, maybe we free up some money that way.
The Vikings have four draft picks in the first three rounds and also need to draft a QB. That QB conversation is another time. I think the Vikings take a CB if a top 10 O-line guy doesn't fall in to their lap. There will be some very good CB's sitting there at #25. Looks like 4 QB's will go before we pick, that's a good thing. If the O-line guy does fall, take the best CB or DT available with the second, then whichever you didn't take in the second, look at in the third along with Safety. Draft the best punter with the other third.....just checking to see if you were paying attention, LOL.
This whole thing will be predicated on the off-season for the O-line growth. We have a lot of athletic, young guys in that room and their are positions up for grabs. Will one or two guys grab this moment and plant themselves in an open spot, it's right there in front of them. I don't see us playing in the FA market at all, we have like 200 of our own FA's to sift through, this team needs to see a couple of these guys step up in a big way!
< Message edited by Dana Turner -- 1/27/2020 7:55:54 PM >
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