Archive for July, 2010

Camp is underway, and Pat Williams is feeling frisky. Just ask rookie Toby Gerhart, who during an early practice session on Saturday, found himself on the wrong end of a salty Williams tackle. This wasn’t just any old run-of-the-mill second-day-of-camp blindside shot either.  This one had a specific intent. Namely, to show Toby Gerhart who is the rookie and who is the 14-year vet. “I don’t care who it is, man,” Pat declared to reporters after the shot, which drew applause from the assembled fans. “This ain’t college no more. They’re grown mans [sic] out there. [Bleep] Paying these college [...]

No, Brett Favre did not pull off the shocker move of the summer and report for training camp. If you have the get out of camp free card, you use it. No one else on the Vikings has the card.  Not even Adrian Peterson, who showed up on the first day, and spent a lot of time answering questions about fumbling. “It’s all mental,” the running back told the assembled media.  “Basically, it’s that simple. Just mentally being aware of my surroundings at all times. Knowing guys are definitely throwing those extra punches to knock it out at all times. [...]

No area of the Vikings‘ roster is more rife with potential trouble than the secondary.  There are several situations to keep an eye on as camp and the preseason unfold: The Antoine Winfield Situation.  There’s a possibility that Winfield is no longer capable of being an effective outside corner in the NFL.  Flat-out downfield speed isn’t necessarily as important for corners in the Vikings’ system, but still, you like your outside guys to at least be able to hang with receivers and not get utterly torched.  His future could be inside, where he played last season after his foot injury [...]

It has been, to say the least, an interesting off-season for the Vikings‘ four starting defensive linemen. Among the four, Ray Edwards has had perhaps the most tumultuous few months.  When the old CBA expired, Edwards found himself being demoted from unrestricted free agent to restricted free agent, meaning he could not negotiate freely with other teams.  This plus the Vikings’ unwillingness to talk long-term deal put Ray in a foul mood. Edwards responded to his circumstances by sitting out of OTAs and minicamp.  He was finally forced to sign the one-year tender the Vikings offered, and has made no [...]

The five starting offensive line positions would appear to be set. Bryant McKinnie will line up at left tackle, even though there are plenty of people rooting for Phil Loadholt to shift over there.  Steve Hutchinson will be at left guard, John Sullivan at center and Anthony Herrera at right guard.  The aforementioned Mr. Loadholt will begin his second season as the starting right tackle. Things to watch for in camp: The health of Hutch.  He battled back problems all last season, and was not his old dominating self.  If Hutch could return to close to 100% health, it would [...]

One question above all others has consumed Vikings fans’ minds this off-season: Is Joe Webb for real? Yeah, okay, and there’s the Favre thing.  But let’s talk about Joe Webb first. He was drafted in the 6th round out of UAB (no periods, UAB guy who emailed me).  Some scratched their heads.  Others outright called Brad Childress and Rick Spielman idiots (to be fair, most of these people were just mad that the Vikes didn’t take Jimmy Clausen or Colt McCoy). Then we learned what the plan was:  to move Joe Webb to receiver, making use of his great athletic [...]

The Vikings receiver corps may have a new addition soon, if the rumors are to be believed.  According to Judd Zulgad of Access Vikings, the pass-catcher thought to be on on the Purple’s radar is Kelley Washington, who caught 34 balls for 431 yards last year with Baltimore. Washington, if the Vikes do sign him, would immediately shoot to #4 on the depth chart behind Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin and Bernard Berrian. Let’s briefly address those top 3 guys and where they stand going into camp. Sidney Rice:  Has battled a hip injury all off-season, but thinks he will be [...]

FanSided’s divisional smackdown began with eight teams.  Now it is down to two. And one of those two is the NFC North. You know what you have to do, Viking fans. Get over there and vote for our division, so we can emerge triumphant. Before I forget, big ups to Patrick Allen and everyone involved with putting together this tournament. Now go vote for the NFC North. Sign up now and get 50% off CBSSports.com’s award-winning Fantasy Football Commissioner Follow FanSided on Facebook. Follow The Viking Age on Twitter.

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There’s only one question that really matters when considering the Vikings‘ linebackers going into camp:  Is E.J. Henderson back from his broken femur, and can he regain the near-Pro Bowl form he demonstrated in 2007? Reports are that E.J. is healthy enough right now to fully participate once camp opens.  But we’ll have to see how the Vikings decide to play that.  They could elect to place Henderson on the PUP list, and bring him along slowly. As I indicated before, when healthy, Henderson has shown elite skills, especially as a run-stopper and up-the-middle pass rusher.  But, the last two [...]