The 2012 Vikings roster thread (Small News, Discussion of players on the team(2)

[ellesmeire]

3 DE package on 3rd down.

Griffin/Robison/KWill/Jared, I guess that means Ballard gets less time. Yeah it sucks.

[100%CHEESE FREE]

Kalil gives Vikings a scare on Monday

The Vikings believe they’ve found a left tackle around whom an offense can be built. (After all, having a great left tackle like Joe Thomas and Jake Long is the key to years and years of . . . . Never mind.)

But rookie left tackle Matt Kalil, the fourth pick in the draft, gave the Vikings a scare on Monday.

According to Jeremy Fowler of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Kalil left practice on Monday with a trainer. He later returned after having an MRI conducted on his thumb.

The MRI revealed no damage. And so a day after the Vikings got back one of their key players in Adrian Peterson, they didn’t lose another one.

But they at least had to sweat a little before they knew the answer.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...nday/#comments

[BigB4570]

3 DE package on 3rd down.

Griffin/Robison/KWill/Jared, I guess that means Ballard gets less time. Yeah it sucks.

I agree. The Giant's push Tuck inside on 3rd down and I think we do the same thing with either Robinson (who I believe has done this in the past when we had Ray) or Griffin himself.

[VCU4LIFEGOVIKS]

Kyle Rudolph - TE - Vikings
Aug 16 - 10:45 AM

The Star-Tribune notes that Christian Ponder looks for Kyle Rudolph "a lot."

Rudolph dominated the first three weeks of Vikings camp, drawing praise almost daily. Per the Star-Tribune, he "has big hands, long arms and added confidence. Don't be surprised if he leads the team in targets this season." Although Percy Harvin is the better bet for the team-lead in targets, Rudolph is soaring up draft boards as a sneaky TE1.

Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune
http://www.rotoworld.com/playernews/nfl/football?rw=1

[100%CHEESE FREE]

I don't think people understand just how bad of options (besides Havin and Simpson and Rudolph) We have at WR.

What a joke. C'mon Vikings fans! are you seriously telling me we are ok here?

our safties are just as weak as our WR's are.
it's really sad. I watched our first preseason game again last night and was just pissed at what depth we have. TE, QB, C, CB, OLB, and RTDT, are set up with good depth.
SS-Harrison smith..then who?
FS-? nothing
MLB- Brinkley should be the depth (need to go back to E.J.)
LTDT- Really need a big plug here, not two Kevin Williams type guys. already have Ballard, Guion, and now Guyton.
DE- having Griffen back to full time helps Allen, But Robinson needs Ballard or Guyton behind him. Reed would make an ok OLB in a 3-4.
LT- Kalil.. then who?
LG- Johnson, then who?
RG- Fussco better kick it in gear or the schwartz will have it.
RT- Loadholt then Love. Not bad, but Love is always hurt and Loadholt better play well all year, cause after him right now is Brown or Schwartz. Brown needs cut today!!!!!
HB- Good shape
FB- Good shape

We are not looking good at all.
Ya, First preseason game, C'mon MAN!!!!
Is this really our team for the year?
There is so much work to be done and our coaches themselves have not stepped up and looked for better depth.

D'Imperio, a.j love, Karmar jordan, Shuler, Murphy, Holmes, Buche, Brown,
all need to go on offence

on D: Frampton, Sanford, Felder, Stroud, Baker, Charleston, Mckenzie, Owusu, Jacobs, all need the boot and retool.

It's so broke, that it's not even funny.

None of those guys except maybe Sanford has potential.
Putting any of those guys in the game is to me just a body to stand there and do nothing.
I mean who is bringing in these crappy guys?
Spielman! C'mon man! you did well in the draft and FA, but Coaches! Start compianing, grow some balls, and tell Fraiser you need better people. Stop trying to make what you have work.
We never have good development guys unless we get them in the first or second round it seems.

I'm quoting this post in this thread so we can get a discussion going about the guys we have on the roster and weather we have adequate depth.

I personally don't agree with everything Daniel is saying because I do like some of the guys on his list, but they may end up as cuts. I'm not going to waste time talking about the stars/unquestioned starters that we have on our team.

I'll start with the O-line
Joe Berger C/G: I like Berger a lot, I think he did a good job for us when he started at C when Sullivan was hurt last year. He can also help out at Guard but he's not as good there.

Pat Brown RT/LT: Hasn't done much or even looked that good when he's seen the field. I'd like to see somebody better, but he is just a backup and he's very affordable ($540k).

Bridger Buche RT: UDFA, Honestly the guy is just a camp body, I don't remember seeing him on the field.

Grant CookG: Ditto

Chris DeGeareG: 5th round pick in 2010. He played quite well in 2010, filling in for an injured Anthony Herrera (to the point that I thought he was probably going to beat Herrera out in 2011) but regressed badly in the 2011 pre-season and ended up on the practice squad. If he can get it together he could be nice backup guard.

Tyler HolmesT: Another UDFA camp guy

Levi HornT: Played for the Bears and would be pretty lucky to land a spot as a backup lineman (I think that we're going to have better ways to spend a roster spot)

DeMarcus LoveT: 6th round pick in 2011, Love has been a bit of a disappointment. He had the makings to be a good lineman but he was exposed in the 2011 Senior Bowl. I think he has a lot of potential but he has been injured quite a bit since he came here and missed a lot of camp. He's got to show something soon or else his future with the team could be in jeopardy.

Kevin MurphyT: UDFA, he was part of our horrible 3rd string line that fell apart around Webb last week.

Austin PasztorG: Ditto

Quinten SaulsberryC: Probably our best UDFA lineman, he could be a nice developmental project guy. At the very least he should be a good candidate for the PS. I just can't see him beating Berger out to be the 2nd string Center though.

Geoff SchwartzG: He was supposed to compete to be our new starting RG, instead he got hurt and missed camp. Schwartz should be useful at a guard or a tackle. He signed an affordable contract with us so unless he's really slow recovering I figure he sticks.

Lets break it down further, out of our backups now, we have three who have started games and seen some play time (Berger, DeGeare and Schwartz) and two young guys who have some promise (Love and Saulsberry) along with some run-of-the mill guys (Brown and Horn) and some nondescript UDFA backups.

All in all this isn't too bad, we have guys who are pretty experienced who between them can cover all positions on the O-line.

[ellesmeire]

Is it just me cheese or do you have something good to say about every single person no matter how pathetic they are...

[Daniel0227]

O-line:

Tackle- I like Kalil, Last preseason game showed me some good things and bad. Last night watching Reif with the loins helped me to see why some people had Rief ahead of Kalil. It's close. I do like Kalil alot and happy to have the guy. Wish we had Hutch next to him atleast for one year.
Johnson- looks ok, and I feel like he is back to the position he should be in.
He was a RG for the colts. I don't know why he is a LG?
Sully- Sully is good. Glad to have him. hope he stays healthy.
Fussco- This one is going to get alot of my attention tonight. He has to step up and hold his ground. He has the talent.
Loadhold- He's been good, but tonight against Williams is going to be interesting. I have a feeling they are going to bring a ton of heat through loadholt and Fussco. Gonna be a huge test and worth watching every down. esp passing plays. Might show a really bad weakness in our line. Fingers crossed for the RT side.

The only guys I like as backups on the line are: Beger, Schwartz, and Saulsberry.

The rest I really don't care for. Esp Brown. Man that guy sucks.

QB's: are good.
HB's: I thinks It's strong here. Not much speed behind Pet and Todman though. wish we would drop Hilliard and get another speed guy like James starks or someone in that mold.
We already have Felton as a bruser.

WR's: This area scares the H### out of me.
Harvin, Simpson and...........?
Burton will be interesting to see tonight, and seems like Aromashudo took some steps back. Could be a night to see what these guys are made of against a really good secondary. To me I hope it exposses how thin we are here.

TE's: Good

Defence:

There are some positions here that are just flat out driving me crazy.
DE looks good
DT does not. DT is such a key area for the Tampa 2. You have to have that Big, Fat, Run stopping DT. Pat is so missed that it's not even funny. Look at the size of K-Williams and then look at Guion, Gyton, and Ballard. It's like they are trying to get ready and develop guys for when Williams retires or leaves. Hello!!!! what about Pat!!!!
Ya, K-will has been so good for so long, but Pat was just as important, and we have done nothing to fix LDT. Just wierd thinking and does not make sence.

LB's: Love Greenway, And Henderson, But Brinkley worries the H### out of me too. At this point I would rather have E.J. back.
I still want to point out how important it is to have a MLB that can drop back into coverage. His zone is right back with the safeties.
Audie cole looks nice. Just should have got a vet like Lofton or someone.
Deen looks good, and so does Elimimian.
That MLB spot though. Just such a weakness. It will show. Keep an eye on it.

CB: Thank GOD we have this looking good. We went from trouble to solid.
I don't like Carr on the outside. He needs to stay at the Nickle. Bowman looks great. Cook looks a little rusty, but he will get there, and I am pumped to see Robinson tonight. Love this guy. Winfield is winfield. Always lights out.

Safeties:
Ok, this area is killing me 100x's worse than the MLB spot or LDT spot.
I love Smith at SS and I feel like the best guy behind him is Sendejo.
Sendejo has been awsome and is just the kind of guy we need as a backup working to a starter role. Love the guy. Watch his angles and reads, they are good.
Now to the rest.
Sanford does not impress me one ounce. I mean C'mon man! really? Sanford our starter?
Raymond? I am pulling for the kid, but he just has no Idea what is going on out there.
No instincts what so ever. He has heart, and tools, but is light years away from a starting role at FS. Still have yet to see Blanton, But watching him at ND, shows he is a good smart, kid who understands coverage and has a good ability to bring great depth.

This is why I feel like we need a few vets still.
I wish we would have picked up Reggie Nelson, or some vet FS to hide such a huge hole. Lets face it. Smith is what we Got. If I was doing the line up tonight, I would line Smith at SS and Sendejo at FS and keep them there till the third quarter.
It's no joke. We have no depth here what so ever.
Anyway, Thats my take on the roster.

[ellesmeire]

I agree with you Daniel.

WR- ****ing scary tbh right after Harvin
DT- It is just mediocre after KWill and he isnt what he used to be
MLB- Brinkley sucks in coverage, nothing has changed either
S- Harrison is going to be a stud but both of our other guys are going to suck at S

Overall those positions might be better than last year but they probably still will ****ing suck. I am just hoping guys like Simpson, Guion, Brinkley and Raymond can step up and play better than my expectations.

[KeepinItTwizted]

The thing that scares me most is our safeties and MLB. I don't think Brinkley has what it takes and I really thought audie Cole looked good in that last game. I really hope to see a lot more of him..

Our WR core after the last game has really gotten to me. I was a supporter of who we had but after watching them drop countless balls, I feel that we should take a look into Kenny Britt and Chad Johnson. Both have now had off field troubles but Chad Johnson does a lot for the people too... Something this state could use, everyone says no and the problems he would cause...

Let's take a look at Brett Favre, no one wanted him here. Once he came in and was kicking *** everyone loved him. I think Chad Johnson has a chip on his shoulder and will have something to prove this year, whoever gets him is gonna get him cheap... If we got him for say league minimum that is still a help even if he doesn't do much because he will be taking the focus off Simpson and Harvin at times allowing them to get open.

WR1 Jerome Simpson
WR2 Percy Harvin
WR3 Chad Johnson
WR4 Jarius Wright
WR5 Stephen Burton

I'd like our chances with that line up better than what were going to be entering the season with. The more options we give Ponder, the faster he's gonna turn into that QB of the Future.

I understand our youth movement. If we have vets in there fighting for a job I think we would have more progress out of the young guys making a better effort to beat out those guys for a spot.

[vikingsfan0845]

The thing that scares me most is our safeties and MLB. I don't think Brinkley has what it takes and I really thought audie Cole looked good in that last game. I really hope to see a lot more of him..

Our WR core after the last game has really gotten to me. I was a supporter of who we had but after watching them drop countless balls, I feel that we should take a look into Kenny Britt and Chad Johnson. Both have now had off field troubles but Chad Johnson does a lot for the people too... Something this state could use, everyone says no and the problems he would cause...

Let's take a look at Brett Favre, no one wanted him here. Once he came in and was kicking *** everyone loved him. I think Chad Johnson has a chip on his shoulder and will have something to prove this year, whoever gets him is gonna get him cheap... If we got him for say league minimum that is still a help even if he doesn't do much because he will be taking the focus off Simpson and Harvin at times allowing them to get open.

WR1 Jerome Simpson
WR2 Percy Harvin
WR3 Chad Johnson
WR4 Jarius Wright
WR5 Stephen Burton

I'd like our chances with that line up better than what were going to be entering the season with. The more options we give Ponder, the faster he's gonna turn into that QB of the Future.

I understand our youth movement. If we have vets in there fighting for a job I think we would have more progress out of the young guys making a better effort to beat out those guys for a spot.

Have you not paid any attention to Chad whoever the past few years? The Dolphins have a worse group of receivers than we do and he was getting buried on the depth chart. Just like in New England he was failing to learn the Miami play book. The guy sucks and has nothing left in the tank. Why waste our time and money on him when we can give a young guy like Manny Arceneaux a shot and see what he can bring us.

[100%CHEESE FREE]

Is it just me cheese or do you have something good to say about every single person no matter how pathetic they are...

You might want to actually read my post Elles. There are more than a few linemen that I don't really like on the team (look at the debacle that was our 2nd and 3rd string O-lines last week) however most of those guys are not going to make the team.

When you look at our better backup linemen (Joe Berger preferably at center Center, Schwartz at either guard position or tackle, DeGeare at Guard if he can play like he did in 2010, and Love if he can get over his injuries and actually show us what he's got) we've got a more than adequate crew of backups.

[100%CHEESE FREE]

Another look at the depth at another position on the roster. Again I'm not going to talk about guys who are the presumptive starters, since they really don't have anything to do with the quality of our depth.

CB

Robert Blanton CB/FS: 5th round pick 2012. Before camp Blanton was supposed to be competing for a starting job at safety, however he got injured and had a pretty quiet camp. I'm not sure what his status is right now or weather he can play tonight.

Zack Bowman CB: Sort of viewed as a ho-hum FA signing, Bowman developed a rapport with special teams couch Mike Priefer and could make a contribution there. Another thing I will say is that Bowman did better than I expected him to do when he was put in to play vs the 49ers. He had a 6 INT season but he also got benched in Chicago.

Brandon Burton CB: 5th round pick in 2011. Another still-promising young guy, I'd like to hope we can keep Burton around as a backup because I think he can still improve. He's going to get a lot of heat from other guys we have on the roster though (Felder and Jones).

Chris Carr CB: a virtual lock to make the roster, he's going to be sharing time with Winfield both outside and in nickel.

Bobby Felder CB: UDFA Bobby is a big guy almost in the same mold as Chris Cook. He's also had his moments in camp. At the very least this guy is a leading practice squad candidate.

Corey Gatewood CB: UDFA We picked him up late and I can't say I recall hearing about him do anything outstanding.

Reggie Jones CB: Another guy who flashed in training camp with a Pick 6, Jones might still have trouble finding a roster spot on the team since we have strengthened the CB position so much. I think Jones has 1 more year of practice squad eligibility left but I wouldn't expect him to make it through waivers.

Josh Robinson CB: 3rd round draft pick 2012. Robinson is a bit behind since he missed most of camp with a hamstring injury. He's still a lock for the roster though and will likely be one of our top 2nd string guys (in other words expect him to get play time even if he doesn't start).

Marcus Sherels CB: UDFA in 2010. He's fighting for a roster spot right now, but he's probably going to at least make the team as our punt returner and he did flash last week against the 9ers with some good tackles and I believe a pass breakup. I'm really hoping that he improves his tackling and develops into the heir apparent to Antoine Winfield (although that is probably going to be Robinson's job)

Chris Stroud CB: another UDFA we acquired late. Basically a camp guy.

While we're not looking at a lot of All-Pros here, you can probably tell that I like a lot of the guys on this list and there can be arguments made the most of them should make the team. Really what this boils down to though is that we're going to be cutting a fair bit of CB talent this year, which seems hard to comprehend after what we've gone through in the last two years.

With guys like Robinson and Carr behind Winfield and Cook we should have better depth at CB than we have in years.

[100%CHEESE FREE]

More about our depth, once again I'm ignoring the starters and only looking at our backups

QB

Joe Webb QB : 6th round pick 2010. I still believe in Joe Webb at QB. The guy is explosive, and makes a difference when he has to come in to play as a backup. He has a great arm and throws a nice deep ball. His intermediate stuff is so so though and he does like to pull the ball down and run quite a bit and could stand to work on his accuracy. That said I would rather keep Webb as our backup QB vs put Sage or anybody else currently in free agency.

Sage Rosenfels QB: Lots of people are going on about how Sage Rosenfels is so old or that he sucks now. Well I don't think he's looked too bad this year considering the 3rd string guys he is playing with and I do think he will be valuable as a mentor for Ponder (and everyone else on the roster for that matter) for one more year. He can still sling it (48 yard pass to Arceneaux) and he could be very useful in a pinch.

McLeod Bethel-Thompson QB: Great arm and still has lots of potential he still needs to learn how to read defenses and learn the ins and outs of being a QB in the NFL. Another practice squad candidate.

RB
I'm not listing AP or Toby here because going in to the season they may as well be #1 and #1A. Jerome Felton is also all but sure to be our starting FB this year.

Matt Asiata FB/RB: I really liked what I saw from him last night when he actually ran the ball. He was a battering ram, but he put some really nice cuts into the runs that he broke, which is rare for a power guy. I'd probably rather see him on the roster than Lex Hilliard at this point.

Derrick Coleman RB: Another power running guy, I saw him get a good play or two but I doubt he's earned a roster spot. Another guy I'm hoping we see on the PS because I do like his game (he's been pretty determined on some of his carries).

Ryan D'Imperio FB: It appears that we've moved on from D'Imperio which I don't necessarily agree with. He's underrated at Fullback and does contribute on special teams (ex-Linebacker at Rutgers). Still what its goint to come down to is do we need him as a backup at FB when we already (presumptively) have a guy like Rhett Ellison making the roster and do we really need his help at special teams?

Lex Hilliard RB/FB: Hilliard is another power back who is at his best when he's ramming through the pile for 3 yards. What I don't like about Hilliard is that he sort of seems too similar to Gearhart so he won't really provide a good change of pace. Also I believe that Matt Asiata has been more explosive.

Jordan Todman RB: He missed all of camp with an ankle injury. I really wish we saw this guy play and I had more to go off of. He's reportedly very fast and would be a great fast little guy (who can also receive) to spell AP and Toby. If he doesn't get better he may end up cut.

All in all I like our depth at both positions but these are some of the strongest on our rosters. I'll look at some of our weakest spots later. On another note cut down day is coming soon, rosters will go down to 75 spots so more than a few guys are going to get cut.

[100%CHEESE FREE]

Devin Aromashodu - WR - Vikings

Devin Aromashodu remains without a preseason reception despite nine passes thrown in his direction.
It's worth noting because Aromashodu's 33.3 percent catch rate last season was the lowest of any NFL receiver to play at least a third of his team's offensive snaps. Simply put, NFL receivers don't get any less effective. Stephen Burton and Michael Jenkins remain the clubhouse leaders to fill in for Jerome Simpson during his three-game suspension.

rotoworld

I'm going to stick up for Aromashodu here. Think what you want of him, he got mugged in the endzone where he should have easily been able to catch a perfectly placed Joe Webb TD pass.

Aromashodu has his issues, (and some like his numbers even less) but he is not stone handed like a certian Troy Williamson was. A few of his attempts he had last night he came down out of bounds. Still things don't look good for him at all as we get near cut down day.

[KeepinItTwizted]

When is the cut day? I just have a feeling Devin will be moving on and the rams or dolphins will jump on him.