http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/Peli ... main081812
This was interesting and a bit amusing:
There's more after that but I find it interesting that Pelissero is using a 35 yard completion as an illustration that Michael Jenkins isn't a vertical matchup threat. Tell that to the defenders he beat for 35 yards! I get Pelissero's point: Jenkins doesn't have deep separation speed. He doesn't give the Vikes the dimension Simpson should once he returns from suspension. However, it was a completion and it showed what Jenkins can do for the team: use his size and skills to haul down catches even against tight coverage. There's value in that and if they can't find a WR who can take on the exact role they want Simpson to fill, maybe they can at least get Jenkins or one of the other receivers to fill a different role and still help keep the offense moving.They have to figure out how to replace split end Jerome Simpson, whose hurdle over Bills safety Jairus Byrd on a 33-yard reception may be his last until he returns from a drug suspension in Week 4.
Michael Jenkins' 35-yard reception belied the lack of separation he gained on the play, proving again he's not a vertical matchup threat.
This is interesting too:
Something tells me LB could be a high priority for the Vikings in next year's draft.Most pressing, they have to figure out if middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley will make the progress coaches hope after missing all of last season following hip surgery.
Frazier said Brinkley played the entire first half because he needed more reps. But he continues to look stiff and tentative at times, and Marvin Mitchell's turns in Erin Henderson's place on the weak side suggest the Vikings at least are giving thought to a backup plan.
Then again, maybe Henderson's starting job isn't completely safe either.
"They're quasi-starters," Frazier said of Henderson and Brinkley, "but we don't want them to feel like, 'I've got the job.' That's not where we are as a defense."
I like the attitude Frazier expresses below:
I wonder if that last bit is right. It sounds odd and Tom Powers quoted it this way:The Vikings' coaches and personnel men will meet on Saturday to discuss the roster, as they do every week. They'll be looking for answers wherever they can find them, even if Arceneaux's catch or Cole's pick-sixes come with qualifiers about the level of competition.
"What it does is it makes you think about putting them in other situations where they can compete as well," Frazier said. "You want to see guys make plays. That's what our business is all about. You can draw up X's and O's all day long, but if you don't have playmakers, you're listening in the wind."
"Whistling in the dark" is an actual expression (and a great They Might Be Giants song) but I've never heard anybody use the phrase "listening in the wind". Have any of you?"You can draw X's and O's all day," Frazier said. "If you don't have playmakers, you're whistling in the dark."