Which camp story are you most interested in following?

[fiestavike]

The "Kevin McDermott vs. Cullen Loeffler" option cracks me up

After voting the LG position.....I must say Babs is a close 2nd. I'm really pushing for this guy. I absolutely love what I saw on tape. Granted, it's against poor competition but the fact that he blocks guys all the way down the field and how well he moves impresses me the most. If this guy can somehow put it together and learn the game quick, what a find he would be!!

It would make for a great story. I think he's clearly a long shot but that doesn't mean it isn't a fascinating offseason thread to follow.

[dead_poet]

The "Kevin McDermott vs. Cullen Loeffler" option cracks me up

I had to throw that in there. It'll be a hotly contested snapping battle!

After voting the LG position.....I must say Babs is a close 2nd. I'm really pushing for this guy. I absolutely love what I saw on tape. Granted, it's against poor competition but the fact that he blocks guys all the way down the field and how well he moves impresses me the most. If this guy can somehow put it together and learn the game quick, what a find he would be!!

That'd be awesome. Unfortunately I think he's on the outside looking in now that we're flush with offensive linemen (that have played football for more than a couple of years). There's that story about the 400-pound tight end playing for Baylor. Maybe he can convert to TE. Would be hard to cover and bring down a 6'10, 350-pound dude. I'd love to watch it. It'd be like:

[Mothman]

No worries

We've covered our disagreements about this already anyway.

True. It's Khalil Mack all over again (at least if I'm remembering correctly).

[chicagopurple]

My biggest questions is What happens when Kalil turns out to be the same old failure? Who steps in?? If we really nail down the OL, with a really promising QB, improved recievers and a VERY well rested RB with a nasty chip on his shoulder, we ought to be a juggernaut....but nothing happens without a good OL.

[Crax]

Something else I'm interested in is the who ends up making the team at WR.

I wonder if keeping 6 WRs is an option. Then again, they have a ton of competition at DB as well. There will be hard cuts coming this year.

I believe we started the season with 6 last year. We drafted Diggs in the 5th and then have quite a few FA's on the roster currently. They may all be fighting for one spot.

I figure the following are pretty much guaranteed as having a spot unless some crazy injury happens or something:
Wallace, Mike
Wright, Jarius
Patterson, Cordarrelle
Johnson, Charles

I also figure that Adam Thielen is right there on the bubble as well.

That means we have probably 1, maybe 2 spots if someone replaces Thielen. We drafted Stefon Diggs at the top of the 5th so he's gotta be the favorite right now for the last spot.

If we count Thielen, Diggs as the other 2 guys, we really have no spots. Otherwise, Diggs/Thielen are competing with the following guys for 2 spots
Colter, Kain WR 6-0 195 22 1 Northwestern
Daniels, DaVaris WR 6-1 201 22 0 Notre Dame
Diggs, Stefon WR 6-0 195 21 0 Maryland
Foster, Donte WR 6-1 193 24 1 Ohio
Leslie, Jordan WR 6-3 215 23 0 BYU
Lutman, Gavin WR 6-4 201 24 0 Pittsburgh State

I figure with Wallace, Wright guaranteed spots as well as Thielen and Diggs as favorites, we may be full up on the shorter, speedy guys. I could potentially see Jordan Leslie or Gavin Lutman sticking around even if it's just on the practice squad due to their size.

[Mothman]

Something else I'm interested in is the who ends up making the team at WR. I believe we started the season with 6 last year. We drafted Diggs in the 5th and then have quite a few FA's on the roster currently. They may all be fighting for one spot.

I figure the following are pretty much guaranteed as having a spot unless some crazy injury happens or something:
Wallace, Mike
Wright, Jarius
Patterson, Cordarrelle
Johnson, Charles

I also figure that Adam Thielen is right there on the bubble as well.

That means we have probably 1, maybe 2 spots if someone replaces Thielen. We drafted Stefon Diggs at the top of the 5th so he's gotta be the favorite right now for the last spot.

If we count Thielen, Diggs as the other 2 guys, we really have no spots. Otherwise, Diggs/Thielen are competing with the following guys for 2 spots
Colter, Kain WR 6-0 195 22 1 Northwestern
Daniels, DaVaris WR 6-1 201 22 0 Notre Dame
Diggs, Stefon WR 6-0 195 21 0 Maryland
Foster, Donte WR 6-1 193 24 1 Ohio
Leslie, Jordan WR 6-3 215 23 0 BYU
Lutman, Gavin WR 6-4 201 24 0 Pittsburgh State

I figure with Wallace, Wright guaranteed spots as well as Thielen and Diggs as favorites, we may be full up on the shorter, speedy guys. I could potentially see Jordan Leslie or Gavin Lutman sticking around even if it's just on the practice squad due to their size.

i seem to recall hearing that they liked Colter and I think he'll still be PS-eligible so I wonder if he might stick around too.

[dead_poet]

Vikings tackle Matt Kalil reportedly had surgery on both knees but father says he’s ‘fit,’ has taken part in all offseason workouts

He wouldn’t give specifics, but said Kalil had success with the procedures and did them earlier than in 2014, when he had knee surgery just before the start of spring workouts and couldn’t take part.

“He’s a lot earlier in what he’s done with whatever ailment he had before,’’ said Frank Kalil. “He’s got that situation taken care of a lot earlier than he did last year. Last year, he came into camp right at training camp (still not 100 percent) and I think that kind of probably hurt him a little bit because he’s behind the eight-ball a little bit.

“So I think this year he’s planned it out pretty well. He’s participated in all the offseason workouts right now, and he looks good. I think that he’ll have a great season.’’

Frank Kalil didn’t immediately return a message Thursday and Kalil couldn’t be reached for comment. Frank Kalil was asked Monday if his son had additional knee surgery during the offseason.

“I’ll let him talk to you about that because I can’t tell you that kind of stuff because the team won’t tell you that,’’ he said. “But I can just tell you he’s pretty physically fit right now. He looks great. He’s got a great attitude, a great mindset. He knows what he’s got to do. So I think he’s on a mission.’’

http://blogs.twincities.com/vikings/201 ... -workouts/

[Pseudo Everything]

Vikings tackle Matt Kalil reportedly had surgery on both knees but father says he’s ‘fit,’ has taken part in all offseason workouts
http://blogs.twincities.com/vikings/201 ... -workouts/

Good stuff.

I don't think a knee scope is that big of a deal. It's an outpatient procedure. Most people are on their feet within a week and back to full activities in a month or so. He had has knees scoped back in January so last March (at the latest) he would have been good to go full tilt with his offseason workouts.

This was from an earlier Tomasson article on Kalil:

"He lives there full time," Frank Kalil said of the California native. "He really likes it in Minnesota. He likes to go in the outdoors, and in the offseason he likes to go snowmobiling. ... He just considers himself a guy from Minnesota. He would never move back to California. Obviously, he wants to play well for the fans there and for his teammates."

I think its great that he lives in the TC full time. Sort of unexpected for someone from SoCal.

[HardcoreVikesFan]

Hmmmmmm.

Vikings tackle Matt Kalil reportedly had surgery on both knees but father says he’s ‘fit,’ has taken part in all offseason workouts
http://blogs.twincities.com/vikings/201 ... -workouts/

Sometimes, you just cannot fight through that stuff. Again, it wouldn't be fair of me to speculate what he underwent, but I am sure it attributed greatly to his lack of production this year.

[chicagopurple]

I never thought that Kalils problems were poor knees that limited his excellent mechanics. He seems to frequently be overpowered or beat by better technique, and makes stupid mistakes where he blows the schemes. It has been exposed by announcers for the last 2 seasons.

[The Breeze]

I never thought that Kalils problems were poor knees that limited his excellent mechanics. He seems to frequently be overpowered or beat by better technique, and makes stupid mistakes where he blows the schemes. It has been exposed by announcers for the last 2 seasons.

Obviously I can't speak for the guy, but would imagine having pain in both knees would do lots of things to a person playing tackle, including messing them up in the head in terms of confidence and so on.

Not saying that was why he struggled solely....but it could have hampered his focus.

[jackal]

IMO Kalil was set back by a three key issues

Injuries in his knees could obviously cause problems for a guy that has to shuffle to protect a QB

LG IMO we had one of the worst left guards in the league, their were plays, he bumbling and stumbling
around and falling down. He had no ability to pick up blitz packages.

Peterson and injuries ... Loosing Peterson made us one sided, then once McKinnon went down, it got worse
again. I am hoping we can land a Chris Ivory kinda guy. Matt Asiata is too slow and does not have the ability
to play, in the open field. Harris might be this guy; I have always loved backs, that can level defenders.

[fiestavike]

True. It's Khalil Mack all over again (at least if I'm remembering correctly).

That's true! still not sold on Mack, despite the hype. The few raiders games I saw last year he didn't impress me. Barr is a much better player IMO.

[KSViking]

I selected LG spot, Patterson vs Playing Time, and Babs, but in all honesty, Im interested in most of the camp stories that have nothing to do with AP holding out, talking about APs off the field issues last year, AP wanting to be on another team, or any other negatively charged stories surrounding #28 and the off season.

That whole ordeal ruined my personal enjoyment of last season. I just want him to come back, play the game to the best of his ability and nothing else.

[Hunter Morrow]

The starter at safety. We've got some linebacker concerns and coverage concerns but I think our draft addressed that with Waynes and Kendricks.
I'm kind of at my wit's end watching guys like Sendejo get brutalized by a crop of big NFC North receivers. Our safety situation is
Smith and then everybody else is a tremendous downgrade. Especially if Smith gets hurt as he already has in his career.

My secondary storyline is seeing if Greenway starts producing again and gets better in coverage. Last year for him look as bad a down
year as Kalil's was, but it didn't really get too much coverage.