David Yankey

[VikingPaul73]

This is exactly the kind of informed and civil back and forth that I appreciate about this board. Good stuff guys.

Ponder sucks

[Texas Vike]

Ponder sucks

[Purple bruise]

Yankey interview: http://www.vikings.com/media-vault/vide ... 638c66dcfe

[headless_norseman]

Ponder sucks

........ ....... ........

[Pondering Her Percy]

Why are we benching Fusco, who was our best lineman last year?

I think Richardson has a good change to make the team as a swing tackle though.

I was just about to say this as well. There are so many on here that are down on Fusco and I have no clue why that is. He was a top 5 OG according to PFF last year and was by far one of our most consistent o-lineman. That was a diamond in the rough find by Spielman

[Slick Rick]

I was just about to say this as well. There are so many on here that are down on Fusco and I have no clue why that is. He was a top 5 OG according to PFF last year and was by far one of our most consistent o-lineman. That was a diamond in the rough find by Spielman

I think PFF could be biased towards the run though. There's no way our left side was so much worse than our right side the way that those rankings would have you believe. I think Ponder is such a high-anxiety runner, and it really made everyone look pretty #### in pass protection. Also, they all looked much better with Cassel in there.

I still agree that Fusco is probably a pretty solid all around guard, but I'm not so sure if anyone on the right side could look any too terrible with AP. Maybe they'd be better off going with pass protectors in this kind of offense, as opposed to the very horizontal, very conservative style of Bill Musgrave.

[Pondering Her Percy]

I think PFF could be biased towards the run though. There's no way our left side was so much worse than our right side the way that those rankings would have you believe. I think Ponder is such a high-anxiety runner, and it really made everyone look pretty #### in pass protection. Also, they all looked much better with Cassel in there.

I still agree that Fusco is probably a pretty solid all around guard, but I'm not so sure if anyone on the right side could look any too terrible with AP. Maybe they'd be better off going with pass protectors in this kind of offense, as opposed to the very horizontal, very conservative style of Bill Musgrave.

I understand where you are coming from but the pressure that Johnson allowed on that left side was pretty bad. If you watched close, when there would be a hurry or a sack, very rarely was Fusco ever at fault. Johnson was a big cause of a lot of things and was pretty much the only weak link on that line. I mean I can recall myself yelling at the TV at least 2-3 times a game because of Johnson. Also, I don't believe PFF focuses more on the run. Pass protection is weighed just as much as the run IMO.

I think if Davidson can make a 6th round guard out of Slippery Rock into a solid player, he will have no problem with Yankey. Yankey was arguably the best guard in the draft, played against solid competition, and was a consistent starter at Stanford.

[Purple bruise]

I understand where you are coming from but the pressure that Johnson allowed on that left side was pretty bad. If you watched close, when there would be a hurry or a sack, very rarely was Fusco ever at fault. Johnson was a big cause of a lot of things and was pretty much the only weak link on that line. I mean I can recall myself yelling at the TV at least 2-3 times a game because of Johnson. Also, I don't believe PFF focuses more on the run. Pass protection is weighed just as much as the run IMO.

I think if Davidson can make a 6th round guard out of Slippery Rock into a solid player, he will have no problem with Yankey. Yankey was arguably the best guard in the draft, played against solid competition, and was a consistent starter at Stanford.

Johnson, Loadholt (easily ran around him) and AD ( his lack of blocking skills) all contibuted greatly to a whole lot of sacks and hurries.
This has to improve no matter who the QB is.

[mondry]

Johnson, Loadholt (easily ran around him) and AD ( his lack of blocking skills) all contibuted greatly to a whole lot of sacks and hurries.
This has to improve no matter who the QB is.

I think Yankey can be a big improvement on the left side, then we can give help to loadholt and solidify the protection quite a bit. Hopefully Mckinnion is working on his pass blocking / blitz pickup.

[jackal]

I had this guy as a second round draft pick .
I love this guy running downfield and knocking
people down. I am just hoping we see nothing
Of Charlie Johnson on the field and Yankey knocking
packers down as Peterson scores seconds later.

[DanAS]

I had this guy as a second round draft pick .
I love this guy running downfield and knocking
people down. I am just hoping we see nothing
Of Charlie Johnson on the field and Yankey knocking
packers down as Peterson scores seconds later.

I'm a huge Stanford fan (I haven't missed seeing one of their games live since Yom Kippur, which came very early last season, which is tough to do when you live in the eastern time zone). It's still difficult for me to cope with what I saw in the fourth quarter of the Rose Bowl -- and yes, I saw it at the stadium, rather than on TV, so I couldn't curse the play-calling as loudly as I wanted to.

Anyway, that's just a lead up to how thrilled I was to see such a solid, solid player as Yankey, who plays at a position of tremendous need for the Vikes, dropping to us in round 5. I don't know whether he will be ready to start in 2014, but I don't think 2014 is our year anyway. I'm looking at this team re-building for a year -- seeing which of the new faces are good, and which of the old faces can respond to top-quality coaching, and letting the new QB develop. My hope is that we can be one of the elite teams in the league by 2015 -- admittedly, that will take a bit of luck, but I think we just might have the coaching to make it happen -- and that Yankey can be a productive starting guard on that team. Even if 2016 is more realistic for the next deep run in the playoffs, I still see this team heading solidly in the right direction, which is all a fan can ask. My main concern is how we can afford to keep AD and what we can get for him assuming we can't afford to keep him. He's still the man on this team, make no mistake about that, but his salary/affordability ratio is about to go off the charts.
Anyway, great pick with Yankey, and great analysis in this thread above about why a college that can't compete for more than a small number of top-flight recruits has actually been the one college in the nation with four straight BCS appearances. Go Cardinal! Skol Vikings!

[S197]

Spielman seems to do well grabbing guys in the trenches with mid-round picks. He's found solid starters in Robison, Griffen, Sullivan, and Fusco. If Yankey pans out, that's #5.

[jackal]

Anyway, that's just a lead up to how thrilled I was to see such a solid, solid player as Yankey, who plays at a position of tremendous need for the Vikes, dropping to us in round 5. I don't know whether he will be ready to start in 2014, but I don't think 2014 is our year anyway. I'm looking at this team re-building for a year -- seeing which of the new faces are good, and which of the old faces can respond to top-quality coaching, and letting the new QB develop. My hope is that we can be one of the elite teams in the league by 2015 --

Dan, Johnson is weak and slow unless he is straight in front of another player....Yankey will need to learn the protection calls and work
on his footwork a little but i think by the end of the this year he starts over Johnson; maybe even the start of the year..

[DanAS]

Dan, Johnson is weak and slow unless he is straight in front of another player....Yankey will need to learn the protection calls and work
on his footwork a little but i think by the end of the this year he starts over Johnson; maybe even the start of the year..

I just don't want to see the kid develop bad habits or get in there before he's ready and take on the mindset of a mediocre starter -- which, mind you, is still worlds better than Johnson. Perhaps the critics are correct and Yankey could use some extra strength in order to excel at the pro level. I really don't know. But I want him to develop in the best way possible for himself so that when the Vikes are ready truly to compete, he will be at his best.

As for Johnson, he's just a terrible player -- one of the worst guards in the NFL. I agree that it wouldn't take much to get an upgrade over him. Frankly, I was kind of surprised we re-signed him.

[dead_poet]

Not a ringing endorsement and throws a bit of cold water on those that believe he might become an elite player. But I'm sure many of us would be OK with "better than/at least not Charlie Johnson."

2014 MINNESOTA VIKINGS DRAFT PROFILE: DAVID YANKEY

A dud of a showing at the Scouting Combine has been pointed to as the reason for Yankey’s slide to the third day of the draft. He did forego a year of collegiate eligibility after all. The reasons must go beyond just below average athleticism.

Without further ado, let’s dig into why Yankey received all kinds of plaudits as a collegiate player and even as a prospect but also why he may have ended up so far down the draft board.

http://vikingsterritory.com/2014/analys ... vid-yankey