Archive for August, 2011

A quick look at how the Vikings‘ 2011 draft picks are faring so far in camp: Christian Ponder The entire offense is struggling and Ponder is no exception. Right now he’s listed 3rd on the depth chart behind Joe Webb.  With Donovan McNabb in the picture there’s really no pressure on Ponder to develop quickly, so all we’re looking for from him is steady progress. He doesn’t have to be ready to go until opening day 2012. Kyle Rudolph Things are not going well at all for Kyle Rudolph. Here’s a report from the Pioneer-Press on the tight end’s rough [...]

The Vikings are going to take a look at cornerback Tony Carter, who was recently cut by the New England Patriots. Josina Anderson of Denver’s Fox 31 says Carter has a workout scheduled in Minnesota but adds that “confirmed travel plans are still pending at this time” which I guess means we don’t know when exactly that workout will take place. Carter was a practice squad player for the Patriots in 2010 until late in the year when he was placed on the active roster to protect him from being claimed by another team. The undersized DB is a practice [...]

It’s a one year deal for Ben Leber with the St. Louis Rams at $1.25 million. Leber will join former Packer Brady Poppinga in a rebuilt Rams linebacker corps that also this offseason added former Houston Texans LB Zac Diles. Leber spent five years with the Vikings after being signed away from the San Diego Chargers in 2006 as a UFA. His best statistical season with the Vikings was in 2007 when he racked up 67 tackles, 4 bat-downs, 1 interception and 2 forced fumbles. In Minnesota, the heady but not overly athletic Leber teamed with Chad Greenway and E.J. Henderson [...]

It is not outside the realm of possibility that Joe Webb could wind up #2 on the Vikings‘ QB depth chart once the season rolls around. Christian Ponder was more-or-less handed the back-up spot by everyone outside the Vikings organization after Donovan McNabb‘s arrival, but Leslie Frazier has kept an open mind about things, and now it appears Webb and Ponder are at least running neck-and-neck in camp. There are actually some fairly good logical reasons to install Webb as the back-up at least initially. Unlike Ponder, Webb actually has NFL experience, having started a couple games in 2010, most [...]

Former Viking Ray Edwards has a simple explanation for why the 2010 edition of the Purple failed to follow up on the success of the 2009 team. It was because of all the big heads. Ray doesn’t point to anyone in particular in his statements, including himself. He just makes a general observation about what happened to the team’s mind-set coming off their runner-up performance in the NFC. “I mean, I thought we were going to have the same success,” Ray said when talking about the team’s disappointing 6-10 effort in 2010. “We had everybody back, we didn’t really lose [...]

Why are the ESPN preseason power rankings any more credible than anyone else’s preseason power rankings? Actually they’re not. At this point everyone is guessing. Some guys are making more educated guesses than others but in the end it’s all just conjecture based on roster changes and early injuries and stuff. Nobody’s played anybody yet obviously, so nobody really knows who’s any good. I say all this in preface to the revelation that ESPN has placed our Minnesota Vikings 25th in their preseason power rankings, two spots lower than they finished at the end of 2010. Clearly the ESPN football [...]

Ben Leber is looking for a new home. On Monday he reportedly visited the Seattle Seahawks, who are currently in the process of building the world’s biggest collection of former Vikings. They’ve already gotten themselves a slightly frayed Sidney Rice and a somewhat stained Tarvaris Jackson. Leber himself is hardly in mint condition, but the Seahawks may still like him better than incumbent weak-side linebacker Leroy Hill, a man many thought would be released by Seattle after struggling in 2010. Losing Leber won’t be a huge blow for the Vikings who always pulled him in nickel situations anyway, limiting his [...]

Disgraced former Vikings left tackle and all-around eating machine Bryant McKinnie has begun his campaign to get back into the NFL. Today McKinnie’s agent Drew Rosenhaus reportedly sent an email to all 32 NFL teams declaring McKinnie’s availability. “Free agent Bryant McKinnie would be willing to sign a one year contract for $2,500,000 plus reasonable incentives,” reads Rosenhaus’ electronic announcement. “Please let me know if you have an interest.” The “reasonable incentives” part is what made me laugh. Hmm…how about a bonus if he gets his weight under 400? And a weekly bonus if he gets to each Sunday without [...]

There’s more bad news for those poor cursed Detroit Lions. This morning their rookie running back Mikel Leshoure was carted from the practice field after tearing his achilles tendon, an injury that will end his season. This comes just a week after another highly-touted Lions rookie, Nick Fairley, suffered a foot injury that required surgery. Offensive linemen Jeff Backus and Gosder Cherilus have also missed time in camp due to physical issues. Compared to the Lions’ laundry list of problems, the Vikings have little to complain about. Monday morning’s practice did see its share of dinged-up players but none of [...]

Selling Tarvaris Jackson as the starter won’t be easy for coach Pete Carroll and the rest of the Seahawks organization. Fans know Jackson was mediocre at best with the Vikings, and at times flat-out terrible. They know he was dismal in his only playoff appearance and that he never would’ve been in that one playoff game in the first place had Gus Frerotte not suffered an injury down the stretch, forcing the Vikings to go back to Jackson whom they’d benched earlier that year. They also know the Vikings’ lack of faith in Jackson was what prompted the team to [...]