Vikings Working to Sign DT Sheldon Richardson

[Rhodes Closed]

https://twitter.com/CourtneyRCronin/sta ... 7756212224

Looks like it's any day now that we're bringing back Richardson. Our defense just continues to look like it's going to be a killer's row of power players:

Dalvin Richardson, Michael Pierce, Danielle Hunter, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Patrick Peterson, Brashaud Breeland, Harrison Smith, Xavier Woods, and now Sheldon Richardson again?

I don't see how our defense doesn't become a top-5 defense unless injuries just pile up again.

[VikingsVictorious]

https://twitter.com/CourtneyRCronin/sta ... 7756212224

Looks like it's any day now that we're bringing back Richardson. Our defense just continues to look like it's going to be a killer's row of power players:

Dalvin Richardson, Michael Pierce, Danielle Hunter, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Patrick Peterson, Brashaud Breeland, Harrison Smith, Xavier Woods, and now Sheldon Richardson again?

I don't see how our defense doesn't become a top-5 defense unless injuries just pile up again.

Last years defense decimated by injuries and opt outs. This year's should be very good. I think top 5 is within reach. What's with all the players returning.

[Maelstrom88]

I'd like to see Richardson and Atkins be the 3rd down pass rush from the inside. Looking like we will be able to keep guys fresh with our depth. Hopefully the young DEs can step up.

[VikingLord]

https://twitter.com/CourtneyRCronin/sta ... 7756212224

Looks like it's any day now that we're bringing back Richardson. Our defense just continues to look like it's going to be a killer's row of power players:

Dalvin Richardson, Michael Pierce, Danielle Hunter, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Patrick Peterson, Brashaud Breeland, Harrison Smith, Xavier Woods, and now Sheldon Richardson again?

I don't see how our defense doesn't become a top-5 defense unless injuries just pile up again.

Last years defense decimated by injuries and opt outs. This year's should be very good. I think top 5 is within reach. What's with all the players returning.

I agree.

I'm really going to be watching to see if the defensive line can play better and more consistently against the run, especially on early downs. If they show they can limit opposing running games early in the season and they stay healthy, we should be in for a very exciting year.

[Rhodes Closed]

https://mobile.twitter.com/GoesslingStr ... 2381341704

He signed with us mates.

[Maelstrom88]

https://mobile.twitter.com/GoesslingStr ... 2381341704

He signed with us mates.

That interior dline is beastly.

[J. Kapp 11]

What an offseason. I can’t remember a more eventful one.

Big hats off to cap guru Rob Brzezinski. In a year with a significantly lower cap, and with little cap space at the beginning of this offseason, Mr. B has managed to replenish this roster in ways I didn’t think possible.

It’s up to Zimmer & Co. to make it all work. But it’s clear that the organization is serious about providing the personnel to win. Hard to complain about the front office today.

[VikingPaul73]

OK OK I know I will get a lot of grief for raising this question....but is Zimmer running Free Agency? We are amassing an embarrassment of depth on DL on CB. And that is great and I am very happy about this and excited to watch the D this year.

But sheesh, we are razor thin at OL. We will have depth guys like Dozier and Cole at G, and who at Center? We are relying on a rookie LT and likely RG. A questionable C. A LG who most think is playing out of position and is being moved again.

I'm no expert on the FA OL pool, so maybe there were just no good options (OL equivalents of Richardson, PP, etc). But sheesh, I just wish some of this $$$ went to OL.

I swear, sometimes I think Zimmer would rather lose 10-9 than win 45-42.

anyway, I don't want to sound like a whiney fan, and I am happy about the upgrades on D. But man, I am really really nervous about this OL - it could crater everything

[Rhodes Closed]

OK OK I know I will get a lot of grief for raising this question....but is Zimmer running Free Agency? We are amassing an embarrassment of depth on DL on CB. And that is great and I am very happy about this and excited to watch the D this year.

But sheesh, we are razor thin at OL. We will have depth guys like Dozier and Cole at G, and who at Center? We are relying on a rookie LT and likely RG. A questionable C. A LG who most think is playing out of position and is being moved again.

I'm no expert on the FA OL pool, so maybe there were just no good options (OL equivalents of Richardson, PP, etc). But sheesh, I just wish some of this $$$ went to OL.

I swear, sometimes I think Zimmer would rather lose 10-9 than win 45-42.

anyway, I don't want to sound like a whiney fan, and I am happy about the upgrades on D. But man, I am really really nervous about this OL - it could crater everything

Considering who is a offensive lineman and a free agent, not exactly a killer's row like defense:

- Russell Okung, now 33 years old, he did have a 70 PFF grade, but who do you start him over, and what do you pay him?
- Trai Turner, 29 years old and had a 34.8 PFF grade, if you put stock in that stuff.
- Mike Pouncey, 32 years old
- Nick Easton, 29 years old now, could bring him back.
- Ricky Wagner, old
- JR Sweezy, also old
- Mike Iupati, a whopping 34 years old
- Kelechi Osemele, wrong side of 30

Nearly every free agent is on the wrong side of 30 and probably too expensive. Nick Easton is about the only "decent" offensive lineman still on the market, unless you really want to take a chance on Russell Okung not injuring himself out there at 33.

[S197]

I haven't kept up with Richardson since he left but as I recall he didn't live up to the hype the first time we signed him. Looking at the stats it looks like he did rather well in Cleveland though. I'm curious to see the contract details. Like I mentioned in the Hunter thread, we have a ton of guys on 1-year deals and this feels like another "all-in" move by Rick and Zimmer. Maybe they feel their jobs are in jeopardy and rightly so. If the OL can play at a decent level then the team has the tools to go far this year. Next year and beyond, it's a little more concerning.

[Rhodes Closed]

I haven't kept up with Richardson since he left but as I recall he didn't live up to the hype the first time we signed him. Looking at the stats it looks like he did rather well in Cleveland though. I'm curious to see the contract details. Like I mentioned in the Hunter thread, we have a ton of guys on 1-year deals and this feels like another "all-in" move by Rick and Zimmer. Maybe they feel their jobs are in jeopardy and rightly so. If the OL can play at a decent level then the team has the tools to go far this year. Next year and beyond, it's a little more concerning.

1-Year, $3.6M with incentives that total it up to $4.35M. Feels very much like a feeler deal to see if he's comfortable staying here after one year again.

[VikingsVictorious]

I haven't kept up with Richardson since he left but as I recall he didn't live up to the hype the first time we signed him. Looking at the stats it looks like he did rather well in Cleveland though. I'm curious to see the contract details. Like I mentioned in the Hunter thread, we have a ton of guys on 1-year deals and this feels like another "all-in" move by Rick and Zimmer. Maybe they feel their jobs are in jeopardy and rightly so. If the OL can play at a decent level then the team has the tools to go far this year. Next year and beyond, it's a little more concerning.

1-Year, $3.6M with incentives that total it up to $4.35M. Feels very much like a feeler deal to see if he's comfortable staying here after one year again.

Seems like a good value based on his quality of play last year.

[VikingLord]

anyway, I don't want to sound like a whiney fan, and I am happy about the upgrades on D. But man, I am really really nervous about this OL - it could crater everything

It could, but I look at it compared to what the Vikings ended with last year and whether it's reasonable to believe the changes made to the OL along with expected evolution of the retained veterans should improve it, hold, or decline.

O'Neill is entering the prime of his career. He's been a steady presence at RT and will remain there. While he's not a dominant player, he's been competent and consistent and should be playing his best football heading into the upcoming season.

Cleveland was at RG last season. He might not play there this season, but he should earn a starting guard spot. I felt like Cleveland did well for the situation he was thrust into last season. He got overwhelmed at times, but for the most part I think he showed he can play the position. It's reasonable to expect he will have added some quality weight and strength over the offseason and he should also be improved.

Bradbury hasn't been consistent, but like O'Neill it's reasonable to expect him to be entering the prime of his career with two seasons under his belt. Some of Bradbury's struggles over his first two seasons might have been due to the lack of talent on either side of him. With Cleveland on one side and presumably Davis on the other, that has a chance of lessening the load on Bradbury. Bradbury has talent and is capable of playing better than he has so far, and hopefully he will show us why the Vikings took him in the 1st round.

Of those three, only Cleveland is still relatively inexperienced and more of an unknown in terms of what can be expected of him. All three are young players who have upside and are capable of surprising more to the upside. So I'm optimistic that the RT, one of the guard positions, and Center is taken care of.

That leaves the other guard position and the LT position as the wildcards. What can we expect there?

Well, I hope we can expect Wyatt Davis to win the other guard position outright. Davis was mocked in the 1st or early 2nd round throughout the lead up to the draft. He is a classic guard - big, stout at the point of attack and strong. His pass protection was what held him back in evals, and he has struggled in that role. Whether he can improve there is a question mark. But, if he can, then the Vikings have a starting guard who can actually move people in the run game. They struggled with that last year, especially in short yardage situations. If Davis doesn't win the spot then we're probably looking at another year of Dozier. Dozier also struggled with pass protection, but on the bright side, we know how the offense is likely to perform with Dozier in at one of the guard spots. In other words, Davis can only make things better if he wins the job. If Dozier wins it, they will remain at worst the same.

And last but not least we have the LT position that, barring some really bad luck, should be manned by Darrisaw. Darrisaw is a mountain of a man. Riley Reiff was a solid LT, and the Vikings will miss his leadership and experience, but Darrisaw brings a physical component to the LT position that Reiff simply could not match. Darrisaw is long. He's tall. He's strong. He's just a chore to get around. Darrisaw is a good run blocker too. He's a technician. He's not going to go out there and try to bury defenders, but he's going to execute and he's going to be effective. I'm not ready to say he's going to be a net improvement over Reiff in his first year, but I will say that if the Vikings need 2 yards and want to run, having Darrisaw in there makes it far more likely they'll get those 2 yards off LT.

In sum, I'd say the OL overall can't be worse than it was last year. As a run blocking unit I think it will be better, but as a pass blocking unit it might not be. However, if I had to pick which aspect of blocking was more important for an offense like the Vikings, I'd say run blocking is more critical. Dalvin Cook is a real threat, and if they can unleash him more effectively, that seriously reduces the effectiveness of defenses being able to go after Cousins. In essence, by being a better run blocking unit coupled with a home run threat RB, they become a better pass blocking unit as well even if they technically aren't any better at pass blocking.

There is more reason to be optimistic about the OL heading into this season than pessimistic even if the improvement is not even and even if they struggle a bit in the early part of the season.

[VikingPaul73]

Great post, VL!!!

I am not sure if it was your intent but you made me feel a bit better about the OL

[fiestavike]

I haven't kept up with Richardson since he left but as I recall he didn't live up to the hype the first time we signed him. Looking at the stats it looks like he did rather well in Cleveland though. I'm curious to see the contract details. Like I mentioned in the Hunter thread, we have a ton of guys on 1-year deals and this feels like another "all-in" move by Rick and Zimmer. Maybe they feel their jobs are in jeopardy and rightly so. If the OL can play at a decent level then the team has the tools to go far this year. Next year and beyond, it's a little more concerning.

It certainly feels like this team is primed to go in another direction after this season. They'll have a 2nd year QB to build around and a lot of aging veterans who can be sloughed off. If they don't do very well this year, they may start nearly from scratch and let Cousins captain a sinking ship for a year (or beg out and be willing to free up more cap space) before going to the 2nd year QB. Whether that means Spielman and Zimmer are on the hot seat, or getting out ahead of the hot seat by establishing this plan, is hard to say for sure.