Antoine Gets His Wish

With the News coming out of Vikings headquarters that there was a contract signing. Glad to head that it was not the news of Lord Voldemort. It was the contract extension of Antoine Winfield, he has inked a 5 years extension to his existing contract. It looks that the 32 year old cornerback just got his wish. That is that he will be able to retire a Minnesota Viking.Winfield knew that it was the beginning of the end.Winfield and his agent want to get his deal done before training camp kicked off this year.
Now he has no worries next offseason, when his original contract was to expire.
Winfield was "excited" about the signing as am I. He has been one of my favorite player since he was with Ohio State.He has never been one to run his mouth or give to offense something be get pissed off about. He is one that does his job on the field and goes home. He does not get his name on the news with late night club news.

A Need For Speed

With the Vikings trying to build up their receiving corps from what it was a couple of years ago. It is fair to say that the Purple are getting some decent and reliable players. Considering that we use to have a guy Troy Williamson (I know it hurts), he was suppose to be the replacement for Randy Moss.

Last offseason, the Vikes acquired Bernard Berrian as a free agent; he was worth the money last season at least. He had one of the highest Yards per catch average last season with over 20. It seems that the Vikes actually have a number one receiver now with Berrian here. He is not afraid to catch the ball in the middle and take a hit from a linebacker and has the speed to take the ball to the house.

Bobby Wade has led the Vikings in reception the past two seasons. He has been a reliable player for the Vikes the past two seasons. In Wade, wherever he is needed he gets the job done. He is a highly underrated receiver, which many teams look past. He is a smaller version of Berrian not afraid to catch the ball wherever on the field he is.

Sidney Rice has had promise to be a good receiver, but the injury bug has bit him in his first 2 seasons. He has the making to be a good receiver, but to keep him on the field is the next step. He is working had to be in the best shape in the start of training camp. Rice’ job is in question with the move the Vikes made this past offseason. They drafted Percy Harvin, which they will use to implement “Wildcat” formations to the Viking offense. Harvin will be in the backfield as well as lining up as a receiver. It will be interesting to see how Harvin will be used coming out of gates as a rookie. In the case of Rice it is going to be do or die this years’ training camp. He will have show the coaching staff that he is worthy of have a spot on this receiving corps. Or he may be suiting up in another uniform this season.

It seems that Vikes will also keep Glenn Holt as their last receiver due to his special teams abilities. He has not been used much as a receiver when he was with the Bengals. He has been a return man most of his career. If he does make the team, I am assuming that is what the Vikes will be doing with him as well.

The battle to watch will be between Johnson and Reynaud. It will be a fierce battle to see who ends up winning the last reciever spot on the team. Both have work hard this past offseason to make themselves a better player.

With Shanks as the starting tight end, he emerged as a pass catching TE this past season.He is really making a name for himself after coming the Vikes a couple of years ago. It is going to be interesting if the Vikes do keep just two TE’s on the roster. I think that Mills will spend most of his time on the practice squad. Who really knows what Chilly will be thinking when it comes to the receivers and tight ends for the Vikes.

40 Kleinsasser, Jimmy TE 6'3" 272 11 North Dakota$

45 Mills, Garrett TE 6'1" 235 4 Tulsa

81 Shiancoe, Visanthe TE 6'4" 250 7 Morgan State$

84 Allison, Aundrae WR 6'0" 198 3 East Carolina

87 Berrian, Bernard WR 6'1" 185 6 Fresno State$

12 Harvin, Percy WR 5'11" 192 0 Florida$

16 Holt, Glenn WR 6'1" 193 4 Kentucky$

11 Johnson, Jaymar WR 6'0" 176 1 Jackson State

14 Moore, Nick WR 6'2" 186 0 Toledo

15 Perretta, Vinny WR 5'9" 186 0 Boise State

82 Reynaud, Darius WR 5'9" 201 2 West Virginia$

18 Rice, Sidney WR 6'4" 202 3 South Carolina$

19 Wade, Bobby WR 5'10" 186 7 Arizona$

13 Williams, Bobby WR 6'2" 194 0 North Alabama

$-makes the team

Bold-denotes last year starter

Favre Makes An Announcement

Now there is a deadline for Brett Favre potentially to join the Vikes. The Vikes did not set it either, Brett Favre set it himself. He knows that is running low on time. Favre told the Vikes that he will have a decision for them on July 30th, whether he will be bearing the Beloved Purple. Favre wants to be effective for the Vikes the entire season.
It seems that all this madness will be finally over maybe...but one way or another he will make a decision.

Get Way Back

With the Vikings having such an exceptional running defense being the NFl leading rush D for the past couple of seasons now. This is a reason why the Vikes usually do not have the best past defense number in the league. The Vikings as a group in the secondary did improve from 2007 to 2008. They were the last in the league in 2007 giving up 241 yards a game to giving up 215 yards per game for an 18^th rank in the NFL.

It looks like that there will be battles in the secondary this year in training camp. With the departure of Darren Sharper, the Strong Safety position will be open. Here is a list of players that are on the team for now. I believe only 9 will remain at the end.

20 Madieu Williams S 6-1 203 Maryland

21 Marcus McCauley CB 6-1 203 Fresno State

22 Benny Sapp CB 5-9 190 Northern Iowa

23 Cedric Griffin CB 6-0 203 Texas

24 Marcus Walker CB 5-11 191 Oklahoma

25 Tyrell Johnson SS 6-0 207 Arkansas State

26 Antoine Winfield CB 5-9 180 Ohio State

27 Derrick Roberson CB 5-10 182 Rutgers

30 Asher Allen CB 5-9 194 Georgia

31 Karl Paymah CB 6-0 195 Washington State

33 Jamarca Sanford S 5-10 200 Mississippi

37 Eric Frampton S 5-11 205 Washington State

39 Husain Abdullah FS 6-0 204 Washington State

41 Charles Gordon CB 5-11 180 Kansas*

Bold were starters last season

*-denotes finished the season on Injured Reserved

Out the players that I see have their positions locked down are Antonio Winfield and Madieu Williams. Antonio Winfield has been a dominant force since he has become a Viking. He is a reliable cornerback. He is able to shutdown route for some of the premier receivers in the game. Winfield also is not afraid on putting a good lick on running backs coming around the corner either. He is one of the most underrated corners in the game.

Madieu Williams came to the Vikings as a free agent signing last season. He had a neck injury in the 1^st quarter of the season. He is a decent safety, but now he will have to tutor an inexperienced player on the other side of him. He rarely gets burnt for a touchdown. He is dependable tackler deep in the secondary as a free safety.

With the Strong Safety position open. There are four players trying to win this spot: Tyrell Johnson, Jamarca Sanford, Eric Frampton and Husain Abdullah. After all is said and done it seems that Johnson will be starting on the other side of Williams come Week 1. Johnson was a rookie last year and was starting as a Free Safety when Williams was out with his neck injury. He was learning last season, he was having a rough time. The Vikings are hoping that after what he has learned will help him this season. It is going to be a battle for this position.

As long as Cedric Griffin plays the way that he did last season, it seems that Griffin will be the other starting cornerback for the Vikes this season. He did a decent job considering that he had more passes coming his way due the fact that Winfield had a Pro Bowl year last season. This means that more passes came his way.

The battle for pass backs (nickel and dime) for the Vikes will tough this season. The Viking will have many difficult decisions in this department. It looks like there will be 10 players competing for five positions. Right now I see these players making the final ax:

§ Charles Gordon (excels at punt returns and nickel coverage)

§ Karl Paymah

§ Asher Allen

§ Jamarca Sanford

§ Benny Sapp

§ Eric Frampton or Marcus McCauley

Williams Wall Update

Judge Gary Larson said today that the Williams Wall will be able to play during the appeals process of the Williams' testing positive of a diuretic. The NFL also cannot step up testing of them during that time. The linemen want a speedy trial so their will be a hearing on July 22nd. The NFL's request to put the state court matter on hold pending the league's appeal of federal claims -- a process that could take months.

Time to Knock Some Heads

What is a linebacker many would ask? It is second line of defense on the defensive unit. They are overseers of the field. The unit can see easily if it going to be a run or a pass and where the offense is going with the ball.

The Viking had their up and down with the linebacking corps last season. They had two key injuries last season. The first one was to Heath Farwell in the first preseason game and the other to EJ Henderson early in the season. Both were lost for the season.

50 Erin Henderson LB 6-3 244 Maryland

51 Ben Leber LB 6-3 244 Kansas State

52 Chad Greenway LB 6-2 242 Iowa

54 Jasper Brinkley LB 6-1 252 South Carolina

55 Kenny Onatolu LB 6-2 225 Nebraska-Omaha

*56 E.J. Henderson LB 6-1 245 Maryland

58 David Herron LB 6-1 239 Michigan State

*59 Heath Farwell LB 6-0 235 San Diego St.

BOLD is starter last season

Denotes finished season on injured reserve

Why were these two players so important to Viking at the linebacker position? Heath Farwell was the captain of the special teams unit and the Vikes did not have a identity all year. The unit looked like a bunch of chicken with their head chopped off running around back there at times last season.

During EJ Henderson absence the Viking struggled to find a replacement for middle linebacker. Chilly and company tried a variety of players and even brought in two former Vikes. The unit was stretched thin last season.

EJ Henderson was lost early in the season last year as well. He has been coming into his own as the Viking starting middle linebacker. He has great intuition for sniffing out the play and of course punishing the ball carrier when he runs in his zone.He is an exciting to watch as the general on the defense.He will knock some heads and hit the running back so hard that he make him see double. I already have EJ as the starting Middle Linebacker for Week 1.

As the Weakside Linebacker the Vikes have Chad Greenway out of the University of Iowa. He is entering his 3 year as a Pro. He missed all of his rookie season with a torn ACL. He led the Vikings last season with 150 tackles and 3^rd on the team with 5.5 sacks. Greenway has the speed and ability to chase down a running back in the flats or drop back into coverage with a wide receiver. Greenway has been progressing each of the last 2 seasons with the Vikings. It easy to say the he will have his starting role on the weakside at the beginning of this season.

On the strongside linebacker is Ben Leber. He does not make the bone crushing hits that many fans like to see from a linebacker from the NFC North. Leber is a smart player, he is a decent coverage backerHe is a reliable linebacker and can sniff out the play is tough to keep out of the pocket on a blitz. I just cannot see him losing his starting job. The other players that I see making the season are:

Erin Henderson

Jasper Brinkley(Rookie)

Heath Farwell

For the Vikings they have a quite the unit in the middle they will punish the ball carrier if they get past the 1^st line of defense.

McNair Found Dead

Former NFL QB Steve McNair was found dead yesterday in a condo in downtown Nashville Tennessee alongside a 20 year old woman. Police are still investigated the two death, but it looks like a double homicide. There are other reports saying that it it is a homicide-suicide. There are many question about McNair and the young woman.

McNair was a QB was respected on and off the field. He was better know as a passer than a runner. He broke the stereotype that a black QB is not a pocket passer. He passed for over 3100 yards in is NFL career 1995-2007.
McNair will be sadly missed by all fans of the game.