Loadholt out for season

[Mothman]

I'm not comparing Matt Cassel to any of those quarterbacks but they are the face of those franchises so I'm saying that losing guys like that are very similar to losing guys like AP. AP is our franchise and is the leader of this team. He has shown many times that he can solely win games for this team on his own. Just like a Manning, Brees and Rodgers did.

We'll have to disagree about that. i don't believe football players win games on their own, not even the great ones.

A guy like AP makes all the difference in the world. Just like an Aaron Rodgers does for the Packers (as seen last year). Those others teams can last with guys like Lacy or Julius Thomas or Mark Ingram but they can not last without their face of the franchise player. The packers proved that last year and I couldnt imagine what would happen to teams like NO and Den if Brees and Manning went down. No different with us. We could last without Cassel, Rudy and maybe even Fusco but we aren't lasting without the face of our franchise in AP. That's my point

I get your point but it IS different. I understand that Peterson was the Vikings big star player, the face of the franchise, but the nature of his position is significantly different from that of a QB. A well-built team has to be able to survive the loss of their starting RB, even if he is a running back of Peterson's caliber. If they can't, that's indicative of a problem with the way the team is put together. You pointed to last year's Packers as an example of a team that couldn't last without their franchise player but setting aside the fact that they still won the division, all that really illustrates is the same problem: inadequate depth. They went with Tolzein as their primary backup and he wasn't up to the challenge. Once they were able to sign Flynn and switch to him, they played .500 ball until Rodgers returned. If they'd had a better backup QB to play from the start, they might have won the division handily.

The Vikings problem isn't just that they lost Peterson for most of the season, it's that they weren't adequately equipped to deal with a loss like that. They lack the depth/talent/experience to overcome it because they don't really have anywhere else to focus their attack.

[Mothman]

Jim I think you are underestimating the drop off from Cassell to Bridgewater. It isn't that Cassel is great or that Teddy is bad, it is basically that Cassell has experience and Teddy does not. Whatever Talent Teddy does have has and will continue to have difficulty shining through due to his inexperience. In that respect having him start as soon as he did is a net negative for the Vikings IMO.

You may be right. Admittedly, I don't have a very high opinion of Cassel as a starting QB so I may be a little biased when it comes to assessing the impact of his loss on the team.

[PurpleKoolaid]

The fact of the matter is we wearnt in a good QB situation to begin with. We haven't been in years. I mean we had Josh Freeman in for crying out loud. Same with depth at oline. We KNEW Johnson wasn't good, yet we have no viable backups for him. We knew Kalil was struggling, no viable backups there. Matt Cassel was no gems to begin with. Some of us just had a little more hope with him in then #7. We now, just now, lost 2 starters to our Oline. A lot of good teams can overcome that with backups. Ours isn't one of them. Our main focus on draft day and FA's is going to have to be WR and Oline. Hopefully Cole or Mauti can step up. Heck I bet Dean could outplay Jasper.

[Pondering Her Percy]

The fact of the matter is we wearnt in a good QB situation to begin with. We haven't been in years. I mean we had Josh Freeman in for crying out loud. Same with depth at oline. We KNEW Johnson wasn't good, yet we have no viable backups for him. We knew Kalil was struggling, no viable backups there. Matt Cassel was no gems to begin with. Some of us just had a little more hope with him in then #7. We now, just now, lost 2 starters to our Oline. A lot of good teams can overcome that with backups. Ours isn't one of them. Our main focus on draft day and FA's is going to have to be WR and Oline. Hopefully Cole or Mauti can step up. Heck I bet Dean could outplay Jasper.

Dean's not even on the team anymore

[mansquatch]

I'm not hyping Cassel. I just think that starting a rookie QB who is 21 years old has issues regardless of said rookie's talent. That to me is the major drop off. He's never seen NFL Defenses, he's never experienced the speed of the game, he hasn't even had a full season to digest it all, etc. etc. etc. yes he has over half a season under his belt, but still, it takes most QBs a few years to get it together. It is hard to say how much of our offense's woes are due to this issue this year, but I doubt it is an insignificant number. Couple that with losing AP and the ineptitude is not really all that surprising.

Not to excuse our woes at WR, but I think those clowns are probably the least of our problems right now. The major positive for me is I think that Teddy is getting invaluable reps this year. The question is if the coaches are handling his psyche properly. Time will tell on that one, but I have infinite more confidence in this staff than I do the previous group.

This is going to be a VERY interesting offseason. Zimmer will likely really put his fingerprints on the team before next August.

[Pondering Her Percy]

Vikings worked out free agent OTs Eric Winston and J'Marcus Webb.
The Vikes need a body with RT Phil Loadholt (pec) done for the season. It's unclear if either Winston or Webb will get a deal. Winston is the NFLPA president.

Had a feeling this was coming. I would prefer Winston. Webb is awful

[Pondering Her Percy]

Vikings signed OT J'Marcus Webb.
J'Webb Nation announced the signing on his Facebook feed. Webb appeared in eight games for the Chiefs last season. He'll serve as the Vikings' emergency tackle after RT Phil Loadholt (pec) was placed on injured reserve

.....damn. Would much rather have Winston

[Mothman]

.....damn. Would much rather have Winston

Me too. Oh, well...

[Demi]

Wasn't his first place when he had to fill in last year a safety or strip sack or something?

[Mothman]

Wasn't his first place when he had to fill in last year a safety or strip sack or something?

Yes, I think that was against Dallas.

[Pondering Her Percy]

Yes, I think that was against Dallas.

Yeah on Ponder in the endzone

[chicagopurple]

in regards to just how important AP is/was...look around the entire NFL. Is there one team that is sucessful because they are entirely predicated upon a great RB ??? The answer is a resounding NO. In fact, I think you can safely say that there really is no critical RB in the whole league right now. The days of franchises built around RB is over.

[Pondering Her Percy]

in regards to just how important AP is/was...look around the entire NFL. Is there one team that is sucessful because they are entirely predicated upon a great RB ??? The answer is a resounding NO. In fact, I think you can safely say that there really is no critical RB in the whole league right now. The days of franchises built around RB is over.

Regardless if it's over or not....that's what's we depended on. AP has been the best RB to play the game in a long time. Nobody had the power, speed and elusiveness all in one like he did. We've been like that since he's been here so yeah I would say he is pretty damn important. His presence alone takes insurmountable pressure off of the players surrounding him and opens up a completely different type of offense and opportunities

[Bigwehrm]

Why are we not looking at richie icognito and moving johnson to right tackle, with incognito at left guard? Also whats wrong with Yankey?

[chicagopurple]

very good questions.......complacency?