2014 Vikings Training Camp notes/interviews

[Webbfann]

They kept dropping interceptions, so I'm sure that their hands kept slipping off the bathroom faucets too! (Except for Cook who would be in perfect position in front of the sink, but never turn around to actually try to grab the faucets). I kid...I kid... (I'm just glad I'm not the only one who makes typos )

On a serious note, I'm hoping this is more of the defense getting better, than Bridgewater really having some shortcomings. Some may not like to here this but: There is a reason why Ponder was given enough time to prove he's not up to the job. Simply put: Most Rookie QBs (not named Andrew Luck) are going to face a steep learning curve. If Bridgewater is having these issues half-way through the season, then maybe I'll get concerned. OTOH, as an optimist, if Zimmer has really managed to convert our "D" into a top ten defense, then it's somewhat understandable a Rookie QB (even a relatively good one) may struggle a bit. In the long run, it will make him a better QB. As a pessimist, if the defense is only marginally improved over last year, then Teddy's "easiest time" will be in practice, and that leaves me a little apprehensive if he will be able to be "our guy" at QB. Again - this is too early to tell. But, by around mid-season, we'll know more of what we have in our defense, and with Bridgewater.

How will we know more about Bridgewater if he isn't starting? Realistically, he has 4 more days to win the starting job, assuming Cassel stays healthy, and his prospects for that seem dim. I don't foresee them replacing Cassel by the halfway point unless he's injured or can't complete 1 out of 2 passes. But I think this is all good. I think he/we/the Vikings will be better off for him sitting most or all of the season.

[dead_poet]

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Pro Football Focus recently released its ranking of the NFL’s offenses, and the Vikings came in 11th, surprisingly ahead of teams such as the Bears, Falcons and Cowboys. PFF ranked the team’s offensive line as the NFL’s second best — due in large part to their run blocking — and they said their running backs were the third-best bunch in the league. The receivers, which included tight ends, came in at 12th. But you can probably figure out what the missing piece is in their eyes; they ranked the team’s quarterback group 27th in the NFL. But it brings up an intriguing thought: How good will this offense be if the Vikings figured out their quarterback situation?

http://blog.startribune.com/sports/acce ... s-and-more

[dead_poet]

Peter King: 5 things I think about the Vikings http://strib.mn/1uO9lJt

[Mothman]

http://blog.startribune.com/sports/acce ... s-and-more

The other day, I was listening to a local radio personality get understandably frustrated by those PFF rankings. The Bears, who scored more points as a team last year than anyone but denver and finished 8th overall on offense, weren't even ranked in the top 12 and were ranked below the Vikings by PFF. I never heard where PFF finally ranked them or what their justification for the ranking was but that does seem ridiculous to me.

[Cliff]

The other day, I was listening to a local radio personality get understandably frustrated by those PFF rankings. The Bears, who scored more points as a team last year than anyone but denver and finished 8th overall on offense, weren't even ranked in the top 12 and were ranked below the Vikings by PFF. I never heard where PFF finally ranked them or what their justification for the ranking was but that does seem ridiculous to me.

I don't know what the justification was ... but I can see a situation where a team that scores more points isn't necessarily the better offense. For example of their defense kept putting them in good situations and they didn't have to drive the field very far to score? It is interesting they're not in the top 10 with that kind of scoring though.

[Mothman]

don't know what the justification was ... but I can see a situation where a team that scores more points isn't necessarily the better offense. For example of their defense kept putting them in good situations and they didn't have to drive the field very far to score? It is interesting they're not in the top 10 with that kind of scoring though.

...especially when they ranked #8 overall on offense and that's based on yards.

I have a pretty hard time looking at the Bears offense, with the weapons they have, the production they had last season and with Trestman running the show, and not considering it a likely top 10 unit. I'd be interested in learning where PFF finally ranked them and why.

Edit: I just found the info.

http://imgur.com/a/cvfHT

They rank the Vikings 11th, with the various aspects of the offense ranked as follows;

QB: 27
RB: 3
Receivers: 12
OL: 2

As I understand, those rankings represent the entire position group, which is probably why RB is #3. The OL ranking seems greatly inflated to me.

The Bears were ranked 13th (Atlanta is 12th). They say Chicago is stacked at the skill positions but brought down by their line. Rankings as follows:

QB: 12
RB: 12
Receivers: 3
OL: 25

[mondry]

Yeah, in practice it really is a Catch-22 as Turner mentioned recently. Obviously you don't like watching your first-round QB throwing multiple interceptions, but on the other hand with a defense that struggled in just about every faucet (interceptions in particular), you kind of like seeing they're able to get their hands on a few. If we weren't reading about any interceptions people would be questioning the defense. Hopefully Bridgewater is learning a lot. He's a smart guy and hates making the same mistake twice. Maybe he's getting all his different mistakes taken care of so there aren't any left to make during the regular season.

No reason to panic at this point.

FWIW I also like seeing Audie Cole's name popping up.

Yeah, Zimmer's defense is going to be much more aggressive and playing the pass to A. Break it up or B. pick it off, it's MUCH MUCH different than Frazier's approach of sitting back in zones and tackling well after they catch it. Let's face it, even Ponder looked incredible in practice against Frazier's defense, you could always take "what they give you" and what Frazier's defense would give you was a LOT. It's one of those dynamics where you're not going to need a great deal of skill at quarterbacking to at -least- be able to move the chains against a bend but don't break style.

This is actually one of those dynamics that I find so interesting. Once Bridgewater can read and figure out a Zimmer defense, he'll be capable of doing it against just about anyone. But the same goes for Turner and the offense, if the defense can get pass deflections and turnovers via INT's against a Turner offense, that bodes pretty well for us since we're going to face a lot of decent passing attacks this year.

I am totally okay with these types of reports coming out for Teddy because I think he is football smart and a quick study. If this is happening to him, sure you'd rather him just be amazing like a Russell Wilson but if not that, then this is the next best thing imo. The quicker he faces adversity and problems like this, the harder he's going to work and the sooner he'll be able to fix it.

[Cliff]

So they're just taking the ranking of the various offensive groups, adding the numbers together, and dividing by 4?

[maembe]

I don't know what the justification was ... but I can see a situation where a team that scores more points isn't necessarily the better offense. For example of their defense kept putting them in good situations and they didn't have to drive the field very far to score? It is interesting they're not in the top 10 with that kind of scoring though.

I think they ranked them strictly based on those four rankings, meaning that whoever had the lowest combined total was ranked first and so on without placing additional weight on more important positions (ie: quarterback). For example, a team with the #2 QB and #31 Receivers is going to have a better passing game than a team with the #30 QB and #2 Receivers, but in this particular article, the second team would be ranked higher.

[Mothman]

So they're just taking the ranking of the various offensive groups, adding the numbers together, and dividing by 4?

I think they're doing a little more than that because the math doesn't work out for all of the teams ranked but in general it looks like they're adding, dividing and then using that number as a guideline.

[mondry]

I think they ranked them strictly based on those four rankings, meaning that whoever had the lowest combined total was ranked first and so on without placing additional weight on more important positions (ie: quarterback).

Like most of their rankings and hidden superstars and all that it looks pretty pointless. When NO and SF have the #1 and #2 receiver rankings I pretty much can't take it seriously, even including jimmy graham and vernon davis.

[Delaqure]

Yeah, Zimmer's defense is going to be much more aggressive and playing the pass to A. Break it up or B. pick it off, it's MUCH MUCH different than Frazier's approach of sitting back in zones and tackling well after they catch it. Let's face it, even Ponder looked incredible in practice against Frazier's defense, you could always take "what they give you" and what Frazier's defense would give you was a LOT. It's one of those dynamics where you're not going to need a great deal of skill at quarterbacking to at -least- be able to move the chains against a bend but don't break style.

This is actually one of those dynamics that I find so interesting. Once Bridgewater can read and figure out a Zimmer defense, he'll be capable of doing it against just about anyone. But the same goes for Turner and the offense, if the defense can get pass deflections and turnovers via INT's against a Turner offense, that bodes pretty well for us since we're going to face a lot of decent passing attacks this year.

I am totally okay with these types of reports coming out for Teddy because I think he is football smart and a quick study. If this is happening to him, sure you'd rather him just be amazing like a Russell Wilson but if not that, then this is the next best thing imo. The quicker he faces adversity and problems like this, the harder he's going to work and the sooner he'll be able to fix it.

I agree here. I wanted Teddy because I liked what I say and read about him. I thought he would be a great choice. I never expected him to be Andrew Luck or Dan Marino, but I thought he had the tools to be an excellent NFL QB. I also did not expect him to come out and play like Luck or Marino their first years. I figured Teddy would be like a lot of rookie qbs and have a learning curve and I was hoping he wouldn't have to play at all his first year, but could ride the pine and learn. It still remains to be seen whether he can learn. Ponder never did. But Teddy just appeared to be more football savvy than Ponder did and Teddy has a better arm. But whether or not he can learn from the mistakes he's making is still unknown because we haven't seen much of him. I fully expect mistakes at this point and also during games. But I do have HIGH hopes that he will learn from them and improve. But whether or not he actually will

His first game certainly is not a barometer for judging his ability to be our long term solution. He only played a partial game for crying out loud. I hope we see more of him over the next three games. That might help getting better picture of where he is going. As we all know NFL football is not college ball and the games are even more different than the practice field. So, I am NOT worried about Teddy yet. In fact I don't really look to get concerned at all until he has played as the starter for a year or so cause that's when you start to see if he is able to fix things that need fixed.

[Cliff]

I think they're doing a little more than that because the math doesn't work out for all of the teams ranked but in general it looks like they're adding, dividing and then using that number as a guideline.

Ah, it just happened to work out to be 11 for the Vikings and 13 for Chicago when I did the math. I wonder what else they're doing to come to those rankings.

[DK Sweets]

I'm surprised that we rank so high, but I actually think PFF does a better job of evaluating talent than ESPN or Madden does. I think all the rankings seemed about right, but I do wonder why the QB isn't weighted to a higher degree.

I can totally see this offense ranked in the top half of the league. Remember, we were in the top half of the league in points scored last year, and I think we all expect the team to be better this year.

[Raptorman]

The other day, I was listening to a local radio personality get understandably frustrated by those PFF rankings. The Bears, who scored more points as a team last year than anyone but denver and finished 8th overall on offense, weren't even ranked in the top 12 and were ranked below the Vikings by PFF. I never heard where PFF finally ranked them or what their justification for the ranking was but that does seem ridiculous to me.

This does not really surprise me. Why? Because last year the Vikings scored an average of 24.4 ppg. Tied at 14 with the Colts. You have to remember, the reason the Vikings only won 5 games last year PROBABLY had more to do with the defense than the offense. The Offense scored points, they gave some up as well, but they did score enough for the team to win. It's the mistakes on offense that screwed them.