Archive for March, 2009

A new highly ambitious three-round mock draft on Yahoo! Sports has the Vikings landing OT Eben Britton in the first round.  It seems to me, just based on what I’ve read, that taking Britton #22 overall would be a small stretch, but if that’s the guy the Vikes want and they don’t want to mess with trading down, then I have no problem with them taking him there.  Right tackle is by far the most glaring hole on this team and if you can get yourself a well-thought-of young guy who might be starting there for the next 7 years, [...]

A few weeks after letting him become a free agent, the Vikings have brought back DE Otis Grigsby.  Earlier this off-season, the Vikings also gave DE Jayme Mitchell a two-year contract, plus they may have Kenechi Udeze back this year after his bout with leukemia.  So they’re pretty set for defensive end depth.  The uncertainty is in the middle, where Pat and Kevin Williams still face possible suspension for taking pee-pills they claim they didn’t know were against the rules.  Fred Evans and Jimmy Kennedy have both been retained as insurance against a temporary dismantling of the Williams Wall.

The Vikings‘ four opponents for the 2009 exhibition season have been announced.  And – drum roll please – here they are! @ Indianapolis (Aug 13-17) vs. Kansas City (Aug 20-24) @ Houston (Aug 31 on ESPN) vs. Dallas (Sept. 3-4) Mark your calendars.  Clear your schedules.  Make space on your DVRs.

With the Vikings having apparently gone into a little mini-hibernation, I thought now might be a good time to address some other stuff going on in the NFL, namely the rule changes and other adjustments the powers-that-be have put into effect or are planning in the near future.  The big talker among these changes is the proposal to add a 17th and perhaps 18th game to the schedule.  The 18-game plan would evidently mean pushing the Super Bowl back to the middle of February, and – the good news – doing away with a couple of preseason games.  Personally, I [...]

Percy Harvin has told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Access Vikings) that the Vikings are among the teams he is scheduled to conduct a private workout session for.  The Vikes are believed by many to be leaning receiver with their first round pick, and Harvin is in there with Darrius Heyward-Bey and Hakeem Nicks as a potential target.  Harvin is thought of as a versatile player who could see time as a scatback in the NFL.  Like the aforementioned Mr. Nicks, Harvin scored poorly on the Wonderlic.  Unlike Nicks, Harvin has not allegedly ballooned into a giant tudball since the [...]

Jeff George is 41 years old, and hasn’t thrown a pass in the NFL since 2001, when he played all of two games for the Redskins.  By all reasonable measures the dude is finished, kaput, over.  Nevertheless, Jeff won’t give up his dream of getting one last chance to prove himself.  And he won’t let the Vikings and Brad Childress forget about what he thinks they could’ve had if they’d only given him that shot.  George told Yahoo! Sports: If I was in Minnesota, I guarantee I’d be wearing a ring right now. I just can’t get over why somebody [...]

Well I got so caught up in the Jay Cutler crap that I completely forgot to link to my appearance last week on MVN Outsider’s blogger roundtable.  Shame on me.

The Vikings say they will match the $1.4  million/1-year offer sheet signed by restricted free agent Naufahu Tahi with the Bengals last week.  The Vikes may originally have hoped to sign Leonard Weaver to replace Tahi at fullback, but Weaver ended up signing with the Eagles, leaving the Vikings with no option but to bring Tahi back.  So, the Vikings fail to upgrade at fullback, the same way they’ve failed to upgrade at receiver, right tackle, center and cornerback this off-season.  They must think they have a pretty solid roster.

Ever wonder what former Vikings wide receiver Matthew Hatchette has been up to?  Yeah, me either.  But that’s the great thing about the internet – sometimes you find out stuff you didn’t even know you wanted to know.  Turns out Matthew, who played four years for the Purple, has been producing and acting in movies.  And he’s been doing well enough at it to land himself a spot on the Bravo reality show Millionaire Matchmaker, which, from what I can gather, is exactly what the title suggests.  But it’s Bravo so it’s not nearly as tasteless as, say, Rock of [...]

Scout.com (via Access Vikings) is reporting that the Vikes have scheduled pre-draft visits with wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey and offensive tackle Eben Britton.  As things stand now, Heyward-Bey is projected to be drafted before the Vikes pick at #22, while Britton is thought of as a late first/early-second type guy, meaning to take him at 22 might be a tiny bit of a stretch.  In short, for the Vikings to take either of these guys would likely mean doing a trade, either up or down.  The two players will both be at Winter Park on April 8-9.  Let’s hope Tarvaris [...]