Re: Grade our off-season
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 9:40 am
In terms of what we’ve seen so far, I’d have to give them an A. My reason is the PH Trade. Given the situation, the picks they got out of Seattle were nothing short of an amazing feat of gamesmanship and organizational discipline on the part of Spielman and Co. The list of public events from Harvin over his entire history all add up to “problem child” and yet they still were able to get really top value out of him in terms of a trade. You can argue whether it was worth his “talent” but draft picks are how that is measured in the NFL in terms of trades and the Vikings did very, very well on that front. For those that think it wasn’t a fair trade, I’d remind that PH was going to leave no matter what. The Vikes got value regardless.
Of course there is an ugly underbelly. We’ve yet to replace the loss of Winfield which means our Secondary is really paper thing behind the two starters. AJ Jefferson is signed to a restricted tender so while probably on the roster for next season, that could change. Past him we have nothing proven. I’d rate that as precarious given our division. I hope to see a veteran CB added before FA is done. Nothing has been done to improve our OG situation plus Schwartz left. I think they’ll address this with a 2nd day pick, but that does not inspire confidence at this point. We can only hope that Fusco turns the corner, I do like the continuity they are striving for though.
WR IMO is looking better, but there are still some challenges. Jennings is versatile as a WR but can he overcome his injury plagued past two seasons to put up 16 games? Re-signing JS was IMO a good move, but will he be healthy for the whole season? Also, how much more production does his being healthy equal vs. last year? I suspect we’ll see a draft pick here.
LB is currently lacking a clear cut starter at arguable the most important position in our Defensive scheme.
KW is not getting any younger and his cap # is very high vs. his production. We also have never really adequately replaced Pat Williams at NT.
So areas of high need:
True Outside WR
DT Heir Apparent
NT
MLB
CB
We have 6 picks on day one, can we hit on all those positions? I don’t think it is likely the chips will fall that way.
Of course there is an ugly underbelly. We’ve yet to replace the loss of Winfield which means our Secondary is really paper thing behind the two starters. AJ Jefferson is signed to a restricted tender so while probably on the roster for next season, that could change. Past him we have nothing proven. I’d rate that as precarious given our division. I hope to see a veteran CB added before FA is done. Nothing has been done to improve our OG situation plus Schwartz left. I think they’ll address this with a 2nd day pick, but that does not inspire confidence at this point. We can only hope that Fusco turns the corner, I do like the continuity they are striving for though.
WR IMO is looking better, but there are still some challenges. Jennings is versatile as a WR but can he overcome his injury plagued past two seasons to put up 16 games? Re-signing JS was IMO a good move, but will he be healthy for the whole season? Also, how much more production does his being healthy equal vs. last year? I suspect we’ll see a draft pick here.
LB is currently lacking a clear cut starter at arguable the most important position in our Defensive scheme.
KW is not getting any younger and his cap # is very high vs. his production. We also have never really adequately replaced Pat Williams at NT.
So areas of high need:
True Outside WR
DT Heir Apparent
NT
MLB
CB
We have 6 picks on day one, can we hit on all those positions? I don’t think it is likely the chips will fall that way.