The Viking Age » jim kleinsasser

Vikings Sign 4th-Round Pick Rhett Ellison

Dan Zinski — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:22:50 +0000

November 26, 2011; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans tight end Rhett Ellison (40) against the UCLA Bruins during the second half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

Not long ago Rhett Ellison was content to float down rivers dreaming of anything but being a professional football player. But that all changed when the Vikings unexpectedly selected him in the fourth round of the draft. Now the former USC tight end is in the NFL. Wednesday the Vikings announced the signing of Ellison, whose deal according to Jeremy Fowler is for four years at $2.4 million with a $300,000 signing bonus.

Not bad for a guy who never thought he’d be drafted. Here’s some insight on Ellison via Sideline Scouting:

Good frame, has the body to add another 10-15 pounds without losing any of his elite athleticism… Shows good tight quarter quickness, can shake defenders with a few steps… Is tough to stop when he gets a full head of steam, uses the speed to attack the field vertically and is extremely hard to stop in those situations… Gets off the line of scrimmage with authority when going out for a pass… Is nearly impossible to jam off the line due to a great up-and-over arm move… Takes sharp breaks when breaking off a route, tough to track step for step as a defender… Shows no fear when going across the middle, willing to take big hits if it means catching the football and moving the chains… Gets straight into defenders when run blocking without taking extra steps or wasting motion… Very smart player, understands how to block and uses angles to hold his blocks and not let defenders make plays… Shows good effort at all times and puts in the work to get better each day… Shows the ability to play on special teams and could make an immediate impact there.

It’s pretty easy to see why the Vikings took Ellison: they expect him to be the next Jim Kleinsasser. He’ll have to strengthen up and improve his blocking if he wants to fill those big shoes though.

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March of Futility: Vikings End Season Vs. Bears

Dan Zinski — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:23:18 +0000

A season that began with a lot of promise ends today with nothing but misery and resignation. Okay let’s be real here. The season didn’t actually begin with a lot of promise. For some of us it began with optimism but this proved unwarranted. Sure, the Vikings had a chance to win some games early, but they proved pretty quickly that they didn’t have the stuff to close out wins and get on a roll. They just never looked like a winning team. Winning teams don’t blow multiple halftime leads. They don’t become so offensively inert that even producing a first down seems a hopeless task. They don’t break down defensively to the point where even mediocre offenses are able to go up and down the field on them at will. You can hang your hat on the “at least they didn’t get blown out much” argument but to me that doesn’t fly. Take everything that happened this year and add it up and you get exactly what the Vikings are, a bottom-feeding team.

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Happy New Year From The Viking Age

Dan Zinski — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:02:41 +0000

Have a fun and reasonably safe New Year’s celebration everyone. Try not to punch any Packer fans. And try not to get carried away with the alcohol. You wouldn’t want to pass out for two days and miss the season finale on Sunday, would you? That’s a joke. Don’t let Jim Kleinsasser’s farewell game stop you from getting blind drunk. It’s your right as an American to annihilate yourself in celebration of a calendar date that has no actual meaning. Did you hear me people? It has no meaning! If you want to drink yourself into a stupor, drink yourself into a stupor. Why do you need an excuse? (more…)