The Vikings drafted Tyler Thigpen out of Coastal Carolina in the 7th round in 2007. Everyone liked what they saw of him in camp, but the Vikes had the three QBs they wanted to go into the season with, so the brain-trust decided to try to sneak Thigpen onto the practice squad.

Unfortunately the ploy didn’t work - the Kansas City Chiefs snapped Thigpen up on waivers. This didn’t seem like that big a deal, since everyone thought then that Brodie Croyle was the QB of the future in KC. A year later, however, people aren’t so high on Croyle, and now comes word that Thigpen is considered a serious contender for a starting spot in KC in 2008.

Adam Schefter writes on NFL.com:

The 6-foot-1, 224-pound Thigpen impressed the Chiefs throughout last year, but especially in Week 13 when he drove the Chiefs down field on one drive against San Diego before throwing an interception in the endzone.

With a good arm and a strong presence, Thigpen has impressed them enough to make them think he could unseat Brodie Croyle as the starter in Kansas City.

First of all, what does it say about Croyle that he could get usurped by a project QB in his second year? And second of all…how dopey are the purple going to look if Thigpen turns into a legit NFL quarterback after they let him go?

Of course, you can argue that the Vikings really had no choice but to try to slip Thigpen onto the practice squad. He wasn’t ready at the start of last year, and as things turned out, the Vikings needed both Kelly Holcomb and Brooks Bollinger, since Tarvaris Jackson and Holcomb ended up both getting injured early in the season.

Still, history will judge the Vikings harshly if it turns out they gave away a good young, strong-armed QB for nothing.

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Apparently Brad Childress does have a sense of humor about himself…at least going by this little snippet from an interview he did on Chris Myers’ radio show:

CHRIS MYERS: “Mike Holmgren - you’re part of that coaching tree. He’s one of those guys that you learned under. I know Andy Reid, of course, and this is Mike’s last year in coaching.”

BRAD CHILDRESS: “Well, I’m part of the Mike Holmgren mustache tree as well.”

CHRIS MYERS: “OK, you don’t see a lot of that anymore.”

BRAD CHILDRESS: “No, you don’t, but that rubbed off on me I guess.”

CHRIS MYERS: “Well he [Mike Holmgren] always jokes that he gets mistaken for Craig Stadler and it bugs him. So, I don’t
blame him. Who do you get mistaken for?”

BRAD CHILDRESS: “I get mistaken for Major Dad. For those that can remember for Colonel Klink on Hogan’s Heroes, among others, and I’m sure some I can’t name.”

A few other things Childress occasionally gets mistaken for:

• A lamp post.
• A hat-rack.
• A tree.
• A sleeping person.

Some people he never gets mistaken for:

• Bill Walsh
• Vince Lombardi
• Bud Grant
• Tom Landry
• Joe Gibbs

Okay, maybe he does occasionally get mistaken for Joe Gibbs…but only the latter-day, senile, two-time-outs-in-a-row-calling Gibbs.

I know…kind of harsh. But whatever.

ProFootballTalk is hearing rumors that the Vikings are preparing to begin the season without left tackle Bryant McKinnie, who may be suspended over an off-season incident in which he attacked a bouncer outside a Miami club.

There is nothing concrete along with these “rumors,” since the NFL won’t comment on McKinnie’s situation, nor will the Vikings, nor will McKinnie. But you don’t really need anything concrete in this situation…McKinnie is clearly looking at some kind of discipline from the league.  Possibly a two-game suspension like Jared Allen got at the start of last season.

Should McKinnie be suspended, it’s likely that Artis Hicks would play left tackle, unless the Vikes wanted to take a look at Chase Johnson, a guy who could be a candidate to permanently replace McKinnie down the road.  Either way, the loss of McKinnie would mean a diminished run game, and possibly an improved pass game due to a reduction in the number of right ends screaming around to level the quarterback.

Darrion Scott did his future prospects as an NFL player no good by getting arrested Wednesday in Eden Prairie for assault.  From the Star-Tribune:

Scott, who was arrested around 3:30 p.m., was booked into Hennepin County jail on one count of assault, one count of assault/domestic and one count of malicious punishment of a child. A news release from the Eden Prairie police said the “case is currently under investigation” and a spokeswoman for the department said no further information would be made available Wednesday.

Scott was not coming back to the Vikings.  He was hoping to catch on with the Patriots and Redskins, but if the words “one count of malicious punishment of a child” don’t scare them away…well, then there’s something wrong with those organizations.

The Vikings had two picks in the sixth round, and used them on center John Sullivan from Notre Dame, and wide receiver Jaymar Johnson from Jackson State.

Here’s what ESPN’s Draft Tracker had to say about Sullivan:

Sullivan didn’t play in his first year at Notre Dame (2003). He became a starter in 2004 and didn’t miss a game until the end of his senior year. He finished his career having played in 43 of a possible 45 games (41 starts), missing only the final two games of last season because of a knee injury. Sullivan doesn’t have prototypical athletic ability for an NFL center and he gets caught lunging/diving at defenders too frequently in space. However, he does have the initial burst, power and tenacity to make up for that flaw. Despite a disappointing senior season at Notre Dame we still consider Sullivan as one of the top three center prospects in the 2008 class. He projects to be a mid-round pick.

He doesn’t sound like an obvious heir-apparent to Matt Birk. I still think Ryan Cook makes the most sense as a future center, with the team picking up a new right tackle at some point. But Sullivan gives you some options along the line. Obviously, there’s nothing out there at offensive tackle that interests the purple.

The Jaymar Johnson situation is a little more intriguing. He’s a 6-1 wide-out from Jackson State who didn’t put up big numbers his senior season (only 36 catches for 613 yards), but is veeeeery fast. If he has any kind of hands at all, he could provide another deep threat. Or, he could be another Troy Williamson…the difference being that, with Johnson, you didn’t throw away a top 10 pick if he doesn’t work out.

Here are some Johnson highlights:

The Vikings lost Spencer Johnson this off-season, leaving them somewhat thin at defensive tackle.  They were expected to address this situation in the draft, and indeed they have, selecting Florida State’s Letroy Guion in the 5th round.

Since I’ve never heard of this guy and know nothing about him, I shall defer to the ESPN Draft Tracker report on him:

Guion started in one of the ten games he appeared in during his true freshman season in 2005. In 2006, Guion started five of the 12 games he appeared in recording 25 tackles including four tackles-for-loss. Guion started in eight of the 12 games he appeared in during the 2007 season recording 31 total tackles including 17 unassisted tackles and 6.5 tackles-for-loss. He also recorded one sack and recovered two fumbles last year. Guion is raw and inconsistent but he flashes enormous potential and he’s quick, strong, determined and athletic enough to develop into a valuable NFL starter if he continues to refine his technique and improve his instincts. He projects as a late first-day pick.

He projected as a late first-day pick but dropped all the way to the 5th round.  Guess this means the Vikes got a little bit of a steal.  Unless there was a really good reason he fell that far, in which case it may have been a dumb pick.

Brad Childress did the video conferencing deal with Trey Wingo after the John David Booty pick. He talked about picking Booty and the general need for quarterback depth, then briefly discussed Jared Allen.

Relax Chilly…you’re so damn excitable.

We can now all look forward to years of lame booty jokes…because the Vikings have drafted USC QB John David Booty.

Mr. Booty does not possess the world’s strongest throwing arm, but he is considered a smart quarterback with good leadership skills who could fit in well in the West Coast offense. Plus, he kissed the Vikings’ asses a couple weeks ago by telling ESPN he wanted to be drafted by us.

Never underestimate the value of on-air brown-nosing.

Booty will be the third QB on the depth-chart come training camp, behind Tarvaris Jackson and Gus Frerotte. Hopefully, we won’t have to see much of Mr. Booty at all the first season. Actually, if things work out right with Jackson, we’ll never see much of Booty. But at least we have a little insurance.

Here’s some Booty-rocking video (See? I’m already doing it.):

The Vikes traded up with the Packers to take Booty. I guess that means they really wanted him.

A bunch of the Vikings hung out with the fans at yesterday’s draft party at Winter Park…including Jared Allen, who’s all about winning over the home-town faithful.  Ray Edwards, Pat Williams, Kevin Williams and Allen posed for a picture.

I think Edwards could be in line for a big year.  Just think about Al Noga…the guy who played opposite Chris Doleman back when the Vikings had the best defensive line in football.  In ‘89, Doleman had 21 sacks, Keith Millard had 18 at tackle and Noga had 11 at end (Henry Thomas also had 9 at the other tackle spot).  I’m not saying this line will put up numbers that sick, because it’s not the same style of defense, plus Pat and Kevin are not big sack guys like Millard and Thomas (and later John Randle).  I am saying that, with teams having to account for Allen and K-Will (who should get more sacks), not to mention having E.J. Henderson still occasionally blitzing up the middle, Edwards is going to have his chances.  He just has to get there.

(picture: Star-Tribune.com)

It was bound to be a quiet day for the Vikings after they traded their first-round pick to the Chiefs as part of the Jared Allen deal. They did end up making a tiny bit of noise though, by making a deal with the Eagles to trade up a few slots in the second round. For a second, it seemed they might be entertaining taking either Chad Henne or Brian Brohm. But instead they went with Arkansas State safety Tyrell Johnson.

Here are the vitals on Johnson:

Height: 6-0

Weight: 207

40 time: 4.41

Was named Defensive Player of the Year in the Sunbelt conference. Tied for 12th in the country with 6 interceptions.

Was rated the best overall safety by Mel Kiper.

Here’s his highlight reel:

We definitely needed depth at safety. This guy’s big and fast and a good tackler and will make a solid replacement for Darren Sharper when he gets ready to move on (which will be soon).