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

[jojo30]

Peterson says he'd be "very surprised" if he doesn't play in first game. Says he's been smart about the process, though.
Tom Pelissero ‏ @TomPelissero

Great news.

video of AP rehabbing.

http://www.vikings.com/media-vault/v...9-0dfc7e177195

healthy AP could lead to a 2-0 start and then you never know

I know im probably the minority here, but if he is anything but 100% when week 1 rolls around i hope we keep him on the sidelines until he is 100%. Gerhart is a suitable fill-in until AD comes back. A lot of people consider this a rebuilding year anyways so why risk further injury to your star player by rushing him back onto the field. As much as i want to see him back on week 1 i just really hope we are smart about it.

[SalisBurySteak]

I know im probably the minority here, but if he is anything but 100% when week 1 rolls around i hope we keep him on the sidelines until he is 100%. Gerhart is a suitable fill-in until AD comes back. A lot of people consider this a rebuilding year anyways so why risk further injury to your star player by rushing him back onto the field. As much as i want to see him back on week 1 i just really hope we are smart about it.

I agree. Watching that video tells me there is still a lot of work to be done. If he isn't cutting yet he's still got a ways to go. I am fine with Gerhart starting Week 1, he is more than sufficient. Plus, maybe we'll get to see our new high-powered passing attack a little more?!?

[nasthemasta]

I don't buy the whole re-building thing...we have a team that can go out and compete! Our team will once again have a good chance to win every Sunday i really believe that...When you put a team out there with talent and they are competing, it's any given sunday baby

ask the 49ers how their rebuilding process turned out last year

[El Jorge 69]

I don't buy the whole re-building thing...we have a team that can go out and compete! Our team will once again have a good chance to win every Sunday i really believe that...When you put a team out there with talent and they are competing, it's any given sunday baby

ask the 49ers how their rebuilding process turned out last year

Thank you NAS. This team is looking pretty solid and there is not reason we can't be competitive and even win our division. Green Bay, Bears, and Lions are not unbeatable at all and have alot of holes themselves. Team chemistry and coaching will make the biggest impact this season.... When was the last time we had our whole offense going into training camp knowing who the QB will be? Thats going to be HUGE!!!!! Our defense also became alot better.

[jojo30]

How is it not still a rebuilding year at this point?

We have a second year QB who had show promise but still has quite a ways to go before we can count on him completely.

We had some awesome free agent signings but a lot of them are big "?" at this point.

Same thing goes for the draft, we had a great draft but I think it's kind of foolish for us to expect these rookies to step in and turn us around in there first year. We have a lot of new faces on the team this year and it will probably take at least the first half of the games for us to starting "gelling".

Plus we're in one of the toughest divisions in football.

Yes, we have potential to do well (as does every team). But in my opinion this is still a rebuilding year. And I don't mean it in a bad way cause I think we have a bright future. It will just take us a year or two to get there.

Whether you view this as a rebuilding year or not, woul you agree we need to not rush AP back? Gerhart did great as his replacement last year.

[carter80]

This is defintely a rebuilding year, and this is far from a high powered offense. All we did was add some rookies and we still be in rebuilding mode next year.

[El Jorge 69]

We'll see when the season starts. No reason not to be optimistic, every other team in the NFL at some point has spent time in rebuilding (which incase no one noticed have been doing the last 3 years) Possible starters in 2012/2013 season taken from 2009 to now....
WR Percy Harvin, RT Loadholt, MLB Jasper Brinkley, CB Chris Cook, RB Toby Gerhart, DE Everson Griffin, QB Christian Ponder, TE Kyle Rudolph, DT Christian Ballard, FS Mistral Raymond, OL Love Fusco Degeare.

FA: TE Carlson, Wr Simpson, OG Schwartz, CB Carr/Bowman

Draft: LT Kalil, Smith....

Thats atleast 10-15 starters in the last 3 years through draft and FA+ Veterans RB Peterson, C John Sullivan, CB Antwoine Winfeild, DE Jared Allen, DT Kevin Williams.

I mean if we found nearly 20 new starters since 2009 I think the rebuild is damn near complete and time to start fine tuning. If Robinson, Wright, or Childs turn out to be effective and any of last years Draft picks improve from last year we will be competitive. This is only my opinion and I am very optimistic. I don't know about you guys but this team is better balanced than the Vikings team that made it to the NFC championship game as you may have noticed alot of thats team is gone and many of the guys have been CUT/Released/ let walk in FA/ or retired and of those of left have done NOTHING. Again to each his own Opinion but I for one am very excited about this team and Can't wait for the offseason battles. This team is going to suprise alot of teams next year especially the Bears, Packers, and Lions who I doubt are circling the Vikings on their Schedules. SKOL VIKINGS!


Hopefully a year+ whole offseason with the new coaching staff + a NEW STADIUM will motivate this team.

[El Jorge 69]

I was excited to see what Ponder had to say about Simpson and his speed, I can't wait till they start up again tomorrow and look forward to his critiques of Childs and Wright.

[Mangs002]

I was excited to see what Ponder had to say about Simpson and his speed, I can't wait till they start up again tomorrow and look forward to his critiques of Childs and Wright.

“I've already thrown with him last week. The guy's unbelievable. I was throwing post routes and trying to overthrow him and I couldn't. The guy is so fast.”

Hopefully this is not because Ponder has a weak arm!

It will be interesting to see how Simpson competes with Childs once the suspension is over and how Wright fits into the mix. Ponder has to be pumped with a new LT and a stable of young athletic weapons, although unproven.

[jojo30]

“I've already thrown with him last week. The guy's unbelievable. I was throwing post routes and trying to overthrow him and I couldn't. The guy is so fast.”

Hopefully this is not because Ponder has a weak arm!

It will be interesting to see how Simpson competes with Childs once the suspension is over and how Wright fits into the mix. Ponder has to be pumped with a new LT and a stable of young athletic weapons, although unproven.

Unfortunately that might be something to do with it, i dont think his arm is "weak" per say but i think he needs to work on throwing his deep ball, seems like he puts WAYYYYYYYYY to much loft on it when he goes deep.

[SalisBurySteak]

I honestly think we will see a marked improvement from Ponder, the kid is smart, accurate, and athletic. He was the NFL's best red-zone QB, as a rookie, and his red-zone completion percentage was FOURTEEN POINTS higher than the guy in 2nd place. We all know who he was throwing to last year, this offseason we added 2 legit red-zone targets, 2 or 3 legit downfield targets, and the best available LT. I am expecting great things...

[JA22]

I honestly think we will see a marked improvement from Ponder, the kid is smart, accurate, and athletic. He was the NFL's best red-zone QB, as a rookie, and his red-zone completion percentage was FOURTEEN POINTS higher than the guy in 2nd place. We all know who he was throwing to last year, this offseason we added 2 legit red-zone targets, 2 or 3 legit downfield targets, and the best available LT. I am expecting great things...

Good point.

Spielman said, "He was No. 1 in the league in red-zone efficiency. I think he was [also] 14th or 15th in third-down efficiency, in quarterback rating. Those are the things that you see in this kid; he does perform in pressure situations. The rest of the game will eventually come to him the more reps and the more development he gets."

Spielman said that he is very excited about where Ponder is, "as far as his development and where he's going to be as we go forward and how he ranks with some of the great quarterbacks in their early years."

"I think when you sit there and you analyze these rookie quarterbacks and you look at all the rookie quarterbacks that are great now -- all the way back when you look at Drew Brees and his rookie year, to Matthew Stafford and even where he was at his rookie year, (Josh Freeman too) and you see where Christian Ponder is, those guys are all going to have mistakes and they're going to take time to develop.

He added, "But as they develop and they continue to develop and progress in Year 2 and Year 3 and Year 4, Christian shows a lot of those same traits that some of those great quarterbacks showed when they were rookies."

I'de also like to point out that Ponder had more passes under pressure than almost any NFL quarterback at 35.1% (He’s ranked third amongst QBs with over 300 passing snaps). Even quarterbacks who wait SEVEN SECONDS before throwing (Roethlisberger) don’t have as many passes under pressure (Roethlisberger had a relatively high mark of 32.6%).

Ponder was worse under pressure than most NFL quarterbacks, sure. But so are most rookies. I think Kalil, Schwartz and the rest of the offensive line changes could help him out a lot in this regard. I know Ponder’s development is tied more closely to his ability alone and not who's surrounding him but I have faith he'll take that step forward this season.

[100%CHEESE FREE]

I honestly think we will see a marked improvement from Ponder, the kid is smart, accurate, and athletic. He was the NFL's best red-zone QB, as a rookie, and his red-zone completion percentage was FOURTEEN POINTS higher than the guy in 2nd place. We all know who he was throwing to last year, this offseason we added 2 legit red-zone targets, 2 or 3 legit downfield targets, and the best available LT. I am expecting great things...

I'd like to see us excel, but I sort of worry we could try to go to far too fast. Spielman isn't building this team to win now (ala 2009) he's going long term and taking this team back to what it has been for most of its existence, a perennial contender that can compete year in and year out.

On the bright side though, I am interested in us making the very most of guys like Antoine Winfield, Jared Allen and Kevin Williams while we have them around.

[Killerjug]

so they are voting at noon?

[JA22]

wrong thread?