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SO........being a cynic in a world that seems to love to encourage that tendency.....being an eternal Viking fan, and Cubbies fan (wooo hooo excellence IS possible after decades of failure!).....I need a string of comments pointing out exciting, optimistic factors that are in place for the 2017 Vikings season...

Come on folks.....tell me what am I missing. Brighten up my Spring! And the new stadiou doesnt count, I want real football facts/talent, etc.

The defense was ranked #3 overall last year. Points allowed was one of the best in franchise history, a feat not accomplished since 1975 when the rules were vastly different. The Vikings front four were league leaders in sacks.

The team did pretty well against playoff teams, beating the Packers, Giants, and Texans. The last two in rather dominant fashion. They were a two point conversion away from tying Dallas and they should have beat Detroit had Walsh not screwed up. Twice.

Sam Bradford had one of the highest completion %'s in NFL history. Shurmur at OC provides stability that Bradford has never had in his career.

We also saw some pretty big strides from some late round/UDFA picks. The emergence of Adam Thielen vaulted "Mr. Mankato" to a near 1,000 yard season. Shamar Stephen did a very good job stepping in for Floyd, particularly against the run. Andrew Sendejo was noticeably improved this year.

The Vikings have 5 draft picks in the first 4 rounds despite losing their 1st.

Now this is my kind of thread!

S197 wrote:The defense was ranked #3 overall last year. Points allowed was one of the best in franchise history, a feat not accomplished since 1975 when the rules were vastly different. The Vikings front four were league leaders in sacks.

The team did pretty well against playoff teams, beating the Packers, Giants, and Texans. The last two in rather dominant fashion. They were a two point conversion away from tying Dallas and they should have beat Detroit had Walsh not screwed up. Twice.

Sam Bradford had one of the highest completion %'s in NFL history. Shurmur at OC provides stability that Bradford has never had in his career.

We also saw some pretty big strides from some late round/UDFA picks. The emergence of Adam Thielen vaulted "Mr. Mankato" to a near 1,000 yard season. Shamar Stephen did a very good job stepping in for Floyd, particularly against the run. Andrew Sendejo was noticeably improved this year.

The Vikings have 5 draft picks in the first 4 rounds despite losing their 1st.

Nice post.
To add to that, we signed a couple of offensive lineman that are definitely an upgrade. Draft is two weeks away and one more day for the Vikings since there is no 1st round pick. But the bright side to that is very unlikely that Spielman will move up to draft a WR.
Signed a RB as well, that just might be a good fit.

CbusVikesFan wrote: Nice post.
To add to that, we signed a couple of offensive lineman that are definitely an upgrade. Draft is two weeks away and one more day for the Vikings since there is no 1st round pick. But the bright side to that is very unlikely that Spielman will move up to draft a WR.
Signed a RB as well, that just might be a good fit.

Agreed. I see the defense continuing to be solid and looks like we're on our way to improving this offense. Can't wait for the draft. My favorite time of year

S197 wrote:The defense was ranked #3 overall last year. Points allowed was one of the best in franchise history, a feat not accomplished since 1975 when the rules were vastly different. The Vikings front four were league leaders in sacks.

The team did pretty well against playoff teams, beating the Packers, Giants, and Texans. The last two in rather dominant fashion. They were a two point conversion away from tying Dallas and they should have beat Detroit had Walsh not screwed up. Twice.

Sam Bradford had one of the highest completion %'s in NFL history. Shurmur at OC provides stability that Bradford has never had in his career.

We also saw some pretty big strides from some late round/UDFA picks. The emergence of Adam Thielen vaulted "Mr. Mankato" to a near 1,000 yard season. Shamar Stephen did a very good job stepping in for Floyd, particularly against the run. Andrew Sendejo was noticeably improved this year.

The Vikings have 5 draft picks in the first 4 rounds despite losing their 1st.

Very nice post: convincing and objective. I kind of feel like I need a shot in the arm too, which is odd since the draft is nearly here.

S197 wrote:The defense was ranked #3 overall last year. Points allowed was one of the best in franchise history, a feat not accomplished since 1975 when the rules were vastly different.

I'm not sure what you're referring to above. Their points allowed per game was one of the better marks in team history so that IS a positive but they've done better in that department at least 6 or 7 times since 1975.

Sorry, I don't mean to distract from the thread. I just don't understand the reference.

Mothman wrote: I'm not sure what you're referring to above. Their points allowed per game was one of the better marks in team history so that IS a positive but they've done better in that department at least 6 or 7 times since 1975.

Sorry, I don't mean to distract from the thread. I just don't understand the reference.

Sorry I was just rattling stuff off the top of my head. I was referring to this:

According to a metric created by Pro Football Reference, the 2016 Vikings are seventh best in franchise history in points allowed below league average. All six of the team’s best defenses in this stat, which makes it easier to factor in era, came between 1969 and 1975. The Vikings are allowing 5.3 points per game less than the NFL average, up from 4.7 last season, which ranks eighth in the team’s history.

http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2016/ ... e-history/

I thought it was just points allowed but it looks like it was a PFF metric. Also the article was from early December, a few games before the end of the season so it may have moved some.

CbusVikesFan wrote: Nice post.
To add to that, we signed a couple of offensive lineman that are definitely an upgrade. Draft is two weeks away and one more day for the Vikings since there is no 1st round pick. But the bright side to that is very unlikely that Spielman will move up to draft a WR.
Signed a RB as well, that just might be a good fit.

Definitely good additions. I was talking to a co-worker and he mentioned that the Raiders were employing a really strict RB committee. Basically the snaps were split evenly amongst the 3 RBs. I didn't watch many Raider games but if this were true, I would think it would be hard for any RB to get in a rhythm with a reverse "Randy ratio." Even greats like AD take time to spool up. That makes me a little more bullish on Murray if he was able to produce under that scenario. The fact that he can pass block and catch out of the backfield are also big pluses. Seems like the only big knock is he doesn't play up to his size but maybe that's the ratio thing. Hopefully? lol.

S197 wrote: Sorry I was just rattling stuff off the top of my head. I was referring to this:
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2016/ ... e-history/

I thought it was just points allowed but it looks like it was a PFF metric. Also the article was from early December, a few games before the end of the season so it may have moved some.

Thanks for the clarification. I was confused because they had some defenses in the late '80s and early '90s that did quite a bit better in terms of points allowed per game.

Now back to our regularly scheduled thread.

I was depressed yesterday when I read some article stating the Vikings were not only picked 4th in the North but 15th out of all 16 teams (SF) in the NFC which to me is insane.

I want badly to see Treadwell emerge which will give this offense a dynamic look, and I do believe they come out of this draft with a burner at wr and a TE who is a serious weapon.

I have faith in Zimmer to get the D back where they need to be from game 1 through 16+ and I believe Murray is going to have a very big year.

Some here (most perhaps) won;t like this but I "think" Mixon is coming to a back field near you too. Kids a stud on the field, that's all I'll say.

And Bradford is going to have a HUGE year...there are those who point to never having a winning record but the true football folks understand the hands he's been dealt. He. Is. Ready.

BRING ON THE DRAFT!

The defense is good enough to be the foundation of the team. There are only 5-6 critical positions on the team without an identified legitimate starter. At the start of Zimmer's tenure there were 16 by my count. The team is becoming more talented. There are also a number of players who are quite young and still developing.

This is my main argument for optimism.

RFIP wrote:I was depressed yesterday when I read some article stating the Vikings were not only picked 4th in the North but 15th out of all 16 teams (SF) in the NFC which to me is insane.

I want badly to see Treadwell emerge which will give this offense a dynamic look, and I do believe they come out of this draft with a burner at wr and a TE who is a serious weapon.

I have faith in Zimmer to get the D back where they need to be from game 1 through 16+ and I believe Murray is going to have a very big year.

Some here (most perhaps) won;t like this but I "think" Mixon is coming to a back field near you too. Kids a stud on the field, that's all I'll say.

And Bradford is going to have a HUGE year...there are those who point to never having a winning record but the true football folks understand the hands he's been dealt. He. Is. Ready.

BRING ON THE DRAFT!

Lol what article was that?

Pondering Her Percy wrote: Lol what article was that?

I'm guessing he's talking about a recent ESPN Insider article about Football Outsiders annual preliminary analysis of the upcoming season or one of the articles about it, like this one. There are all sorts of caveats involved since it's before the draft and well before the preseason and regular season.

If Zim doesn't get him a worthy Oline that's about it.