Vikings Message Board.Com

losperros wrote:And I disagree with you, given the history of the WRs in question. Please consider the following...

Jennings is already known as running well after the catch. He probably has no more than above average speed but he's capable of gaining extra yardage with moves and smarts after he catches the ball. It's not like this hasn't been talked about before regarding Jennings. It's part of his arsenal. He's not just a short yardage possession guy. On that note, in 2011 Jennings was ranked #5 in the NFL among WRs getting YAC. FWIW, Harvin was #2.

Simpson's speed is grossly underrated. You know why? Because he ran a 4.47/40 for the combine, as if that's slow. Yeah, right. Never mind the 4.41/40 that he ran at his pro day, which is constantly conveniently overlooked. Simpson runs very well after a catch, particularly on slants and quick hits. My concern regarding Simpson is technique, as in running disciplined routes, and his occasional lapses in concentration. He definitely needs to play more focused football.

Jarius Wright was excellent at gaining YAC for the Razorbacks. What, he's now suddenly forgotten how to kick in the 4.3/40 speed after a catch? I don't buy it.

You already know that Patterson is a demon with the ball in his hands.

Just my two cents here, Eli, but I stand by my original point. The Vikings have purposely populated their WR corps with YAC guys. I believe that tells us something about the passing attack that we will be seeing from the team this upcoming season.

losperros wrote:Just my two cents here, Eli, but I stand by my original point. The Vikings have purposely populated their WR corps with YAC guys. I believe that tells us something about the passing attack that we will be seeing from the team this upcoming season.

Eli wrote: Over the last couple of years the Vikings have been signing _fast_ receivers while searching for a legitimate downfield threat. THAT is what they've been looking for.

They hoped Simpson could be that guy, so they signed him as a FA. They saw Wright's 40 times, so they took a 4th round flyer on him. It didn't quite pan out for them in 2012, so they bet the bank on Jennings for 2013. Patterson, as I've said before, is a desperation move to find another Harvin-type playmaker.

Purple bruise wrote: Did not pan out for them? I am fairly certain that most fans, coaches, fellow players, realize that Simpson was injured for most of last year and still managed to show enough potential that he was retained. I, for one, feel that a healthy Simpson will pay dividends.

As far as Wright goes, in his limited time on the field, appeared to be quite impressive and seems to have as great deal of potential.

Eli wrote: I do to, but he can't be counted on to do so. I like Simpson, but despite his speed and athletic ability, he's never been a big downfield threat.
It was only his rookie year, and the Vikings didn't use him much until Harvin was injured, but yes, he has potential. I just don't think it's as much as what people are hoping. He'll make a decent #3 or #4 receiver some day.

Eli wrote: Over the last couple of years the Vikings have been signing _fast_ receivers while searching for a legitimate downfield threat. THAT is what they've been looking for.

They hoped Simpson could be that guy, so they signed him as a FA. They saw Wright's 40 times, so they took a 4th round flyer on him. It didn't quite pan out for them in 2012, so they bet the bank on Jennings for 2013. Patterson, as I've said before, is a desperation move to find another Harvin-type playmaker.

Jennings' YAC have come primarily on big home run bombs, mostly simple go routes.

Eli wrote:Over the last couple of years the Vikings have been signing _fast_ receivers while searching for a legitimate downfield threat. THAT is what they've been looking for.

Eli wrote:They hoped Simpson could be that guy, so they signed him as a FA. They saw Wright's 40 times, so they took a 4th round flyer on him. It didn't quite pan out for them in 2012, so they bet the bank on Jennings for 2013. Patterson, as I've said before, is a desperation move to find another Harvin-type playmaker.

Jennings' YAC have come primarily on big home run bombs, mostly simple go routes. He was that guy in the 2011 Packers offense. He's not a guy the Vikings will be throwing many bubble screens, despite Ponder's remarkable talent for this pass.

Eli wrote: Over the last couple of years the Vikings have been signing _fast_ receivers while searching for a legitimate downfield threat. THAT is what they've been looking for.

They hoped Simpson could be that guy, so they signed him as a FA. They saw Wright's 40 times, so they took a 4th round flyer on him. It didn't quite pan out for them in 2012, so they bet the bank on Jennings for 2013. Patterson, as I've said before, is a desperation move to find another Harvin-type playmaker.

Jennings' YAC have come primarily on big home run bombs, mostly simple go routes. He was that guy in the 2011 Packers offense. He's not a guy the Vikings will be throwing many bubble screens, despite Ponder's remarkable talent for this pass.

Rank Team Yards after Catch 
1 New England Patriots         2352 
2 New Orleans Saints           2280 
3 Detroit Lions                2217 
4 Green Bay Packers            2177 
5 Oakland Raiders              2169 
6 Atlanta Falcons              2168 
7 Dallas Cowboys               2064 

JEC334 wrote:I also looked at some Greg Jennings highlights. His most memorable highlights seem to be the big accurate bombs by Aaron Rodgers but a lot of receptions I seen from Jennings were the screens and short passes. He doesn't have that burst like Harvin does but he can still get some Yac and has good hands. Not all of Rodgers throws were good. Most of his throws are back-shoulder passes but I guess the coaches taught the WRs out to catch those perfectly. Because those throws are hard to make unless the QB is on point with the throw and the WR is in position to catch it while the defender isn't looking at the ball.

Jennings will be alright. The Packers have guys who can catch. That is why Rodgers look so good.

Eli wrote:Ok, I'm convinced that you're convinced the Vikings' grand offensive plan is to continue with their dink and dunk offense, relying on all of their receivers to gain their yardage after they've caught their five yard passes.

With Ponder at QB, that may actually make a lot of sense. With any other QB you might strive for more balance in the passing game.

PurpleKoolaid wrote: LOL Rogers looks so good because he IS so good. Packer or not. Hes one of, if not the best, QB in the NFL right now. In short throws, YaC or bombs. I thinks he makes reads faster then Brady and Manning put together. But then I watch the packer games more (not by choice, its what they show in MN when the Vikes aernt on).

losperros wrote:As you well know, I haven't suggested that the Vikings should implement only a dink and dunk passing game. I'm saying they have WRs that can get YAC. And there simply is no denying that having WRs that can catch and then run well with the ball is a plus.

Actually, we might be saying the same thing. I'm hoping the Vikings want balance and throw a variety of passes, including deep throws. I didn't mind what they were doing with Harvin because it worked. But that's Percy Harvin. I don't want the Vikings to attempt that across the board.

That said, I don't believe for a second that the Vikings will restrict themselves to having Ponder attempt to to sling 60-70 yard bombs. But yes, I do want them to attempt throwing downfield when they can. I sure hope they will, anyway.

Mothman wrote:I have no doubt they will because they did it last year and hopefully, they'll have better, healthier options to fling it downfield to this year.

This isn't directed at you, Craig, but I think a lot of people may have paid more attention to the passes that were completed last year than the passes that were attempted or the routes that were run. That's perfectly understandable but the Vikings ran a pretty wide variety of routes in 2012 and sent players deep more than some fans think. The problem on a lot of those plays was that those downfield routes never came open or protection broke down before they could fully develop. Then there were the downfield routes where Ponder just misfired, the pass was dropped or the receiver ran a bad route. The Vikes definitely favored shorter, high percentage passes and there were probably several reasons for that but they attempted to utilize the whole field. I think with the receivers they've assembled, we'll see an aggressive passing attack that will do it's share of dinking and dunking but will also take shots downfield and attack the middle. The real question to me isn't whether they will try to do all of the above but whether they will be able to do it effectively.

Anyway, I definitely don't think it's a coincidence that the team has made a point of adding receivers with good RAC ability.