2016 Season General Comments (pressers, practice notes, etc)

[dead_poet]

Zimmer full story/comments:

http://www.twincities.com/2016/03/23/vi ... mmer-says/

[Mothman]

Zimmer full story/comments:

http://www.twincities.com/2016/03/23/vi ... mmer-says/

Thanks. I thought the CEO comment came off a bit better in context. I really like his sense of humor. For example, in his last comment about Bridgewater:

“He thinks he can be legendary. I don’t want to sell him short. The guy’s a worker. He’s smart. He’s a quick thinker. I think he’s got a chance to be pretty good. If he’s legendary, I’ll like that. Teddy wants to win. He’s not really concerned about the stats. He wants to have stats, and he wants to have people think he’s good, but it’s more so about winning. He won six (games) in his rookie year, 11 this year. His record’s better than mine as a starting quarterback.”

That's good stuff. I also liked the way he assessed his defense:

On whether his defense can be a top-5 unit:

“I don’t know. I don’t think we’re very good, to be honest. I think we played good in spurts. I’ve been complaining about offense but they don’t have 3-and-outs. We don’t turn the ball over offensively. For the most part they control time of possession, which helped us defensively. I’ll say we were good in situations — third downs we were pretty good, good in the red zone, so that kept some of the scores down. But we can be a lot better. So, probably not. No.

That was very Parcells-like. Did you hear that, guys? Your coach doesn't believe you can be a top 5 defense? what do you think of that?

The defense will know he's manipulating them and work hard to prove him wrong anyway.

My feelings about this (in reference to Wallace) are mixed:

“We had a receiver here that was making a lot of money that didn’t do what we needed to do. So I don’t know that it’s a necessity to go out and sign another wide receiver.

“We’ve got to get better with the guys we’ve got, and we’ve got to fix other areas that can allow these receivers to be more effective in the games.”

Fair enough but if the guys they have are capable of helping them get better and if Wallace didn't do what they needed to do... why wasn't he benched for one of those players last year?

[jackal]

Fair enough but if the guys they have are capable of helping them get better and if Wallace didn't do what they needed to do... why wasn't he benched for one of those players last year?Fair enough but if the guys they have are capable of helping them get better and if Wallace didn't do what they needed to do... why wasn't he benched for one of those players last year?

I think there is a two part answer to that. Charles Johnson was labeled as Wallace's back up and he had some
nagging injuries. The second part is I think Zimmer allows some of the coaches to run their sections and then
holds them responsible. The third factor is our OL was so bad I don't Teddy and Wallace were held accountable
due to this fact.

[fiestavike]

Fair enough but if the guys they have are capable of helping them get better and if Wallace didn't do what they needed to do... why wasn't he benched for one of those players last year?

That's the question I would most like an honest answer to if I could interview Zimmer.

[mondry]

That's the question I would most like an honest answer to if I could interview Zimmer.

I don't know if it matters or not but I think he's talking from a production stand point and not like a "he didn't do what we asked of him but we played him anyway" kind of thing.

[S197]

Pistol?

[Mothman]

I don't know if it matters or not but I think he's talking from a production stand point and not like a "he didn't do what we asked of him but we played him anyway" kind of thing.

That's how I interpreted it too.

[mansquatch]

I read that and interpreted it as a reference to either the OL play or QB play as the limiting factor. No one really knows for sure, but my guess is OL was the problem.

We can debate that of course, but look at their actions so far:

They cut Wallace: -1 WR

On OL

They signed Loadholt to a 1yr "Prove It" deal
They added the T from CIN on a 1yr "Prove It" deal
They added Alex Boone
They are getting Sullivan back from injury
They've hinted at moving Fusco back to RG

So 4/5 positions on the OL are changing from 2015 and it looks like they are bringing in additional competition at RT. They also hired a new OL coach. That is a massive overhaul of the OL vs. the 2015 group. On the WR front they cut a guy who was overpaid vs. his production.

If you just take what they've done so far at face value it indicates that the Coaches / Front Office felt the OL was the biggest issue with the passing game last season. We can certainly debate it, but the actions being taken by the professionals so far in the offseason seem to indicate that this is their view on the matter.

We spent a lot of time debating this topic while talking about Teddy last season. Perhaps the team is giving us their view on the matter by what they are doing?

[Mothman]

I read that and interpreted it as a reference to either the OL play or QB play as the limiting factor. No one really knows for sure, but my guess is OL was the problem.

We can debate that of course, but look at their actions so far:

They cut Wallace: -1 WR

On OL

They signed Loadholt to a 1yr "Prove It" deal
They added the T from CIN on a 1yr "Prove It" deal
They added Alex Boone
They are getting Sullivan back from injury
They've hinted at moving Fusco back to RG

So 4/5 positions on the OL are changing from 2015 and it looks like they are bringing in additional competition at RT. They also hired a new OL coach. That is a massive overhaul of the OL vs. the 2015 group. On the WR front they cut a guy who was overpaid vs. his production.

If you just take what they've done so far at face value it indicates that the Coaches / Front Office felt the OL was the biggest issue with the passing game last season. We can certainly debate it, but the actions being taken by the professionals so far in the offseason seem to indicate that this is their view on the matter.

i think the phrase "so far" might be key there. Their apparent disinterest in adding a WR could easily be a pre-draft smokescreen. However, so far, it's obvious they considered the OL a major issue and rightly so.

[mansquatch]

Jim, my main point in articulating that was to ONLY shed light on what the organization has done to date. You are absolutely correct that things can still develop between now and training camp.

However, it can't be denied that the lion's share of changed have been to the OL. If you think about it, the only things that haven't changed are the LT and the Offensive Coordinator. That is big time change. Whether they add WR or not, there can be no doubt that they went after OL solutions this offseason.

Zimmer also with regards to the WR said something to the effect of "we need the to get better with the guys we have". In a way that is further support for the conclusion that the coaches viewed the OL as the biggest problem. They could also be playing draft games to throw off other GMs on who they want to pick. Anything is possible.

[S197]

There's no two ways about it, there's a quote somewhere around here where Zimmer basically said OL was priority #1.

[Texas Vike]

Zimmer also with regards to the WR said something to the effect of "we need the to get better with the guys we have". In a way that is further support for the conclusion that the coaches viewed the OL as the biggest problem. They could also be playing draft games to throw off other GMs on who they want to pick. Anything is possible.

Tis' the season (of subterfuge). Even for a straight shooter like Zim.

[mosscarter]

how can any rational vikings fan not love zimmer, "no more excuses." i'm still a firm believer our offense is a joke, but i'm also a firm believer zimmer will lead the vikings to their first super bowl title (eventually). there is no coach i'd rather have. we had a top 5 defense last year and he basically said they were slightly better than average. i love how he said he texted both teddy and adrian and said there are no more excuses. teddy better step up, or he'll be out.

[HardcoreVikesFan]

There's no two ways about it, there's a quote somewhere around here where Zimmer basically said OL was priority #1.

And if it is the number one priority, they better not be done addressing the position. I am not talking some slap-dick 7th round player again - I am talking a player between rounds 1 - 5.

[S197]

And if it is the number one priority, they better not be done addressing the position. I am not talking some slap-dick 7th round player again - I am talking a player between rounds 1 - 5.

I think they'll take a player in one of those rounds but right now they have the most expensive line in the entire NFL so I don't think they're going to go nuts in the draft.