2023 Vikings

This thread is proof positive that people watch ESPN & the NFL Network.

Did not see Trae Waynes starting a Hunting Outfitter business in retirement, but sounds like he’s got quite the operation building. Pretty cool post NFL career, and him walking away young and healthy from the NFL makes more sense after he cashed in and then got cut by the Bengals. I’ve seen some Love the Grind videos, I did not know they were from Northern MN, and sounds like Waynes is partnered with them.

http://www.vikings.com/news/trae-waynes-retirement-hunting

Read an interesting stat today regarding the 1st round of the draft. Only 31% of first round picks from 2011-2014 were signed to a 2nd contract by the team that drafted them, and less than 50% overall from 2011-2019.

As far as the Vikes draft goes, I expect more wheeling and dealing. Only QB I like is Hendon Hooker, but doubt we get him. Defense at all levels will be the focus I think.

That 2nd contract is one of the more reliable measures to gauge if a draft pick was successful. And I don’t think people consider often enough that they’re reviewing draft picks in hindsight. No team or any one GM has nailed it all that well when drafting. In the 70’s the Steelers drafted four future hall of famers in the first 5 rounds of one draft….then went many years only drafting two pro bowlers total. Many people praise the roster Philly has put together, deservedly so. But that same GM that’s been to two Super Bowls in 6-7 years also traded up to draft Jalen Raegor over Justin Jefferson. Drafting is hard and not the only component to building a roster.

Draft week! Only 5 picks for the Vikings (First Round, 23rd overall selection, Third Round, 87th overall selection, Fourth Round, 119th overall selection, Fifth Round, 158th overall selection, Sixth Round, 211th overall selection (compensatory)), so I expect a LOT of wheeling and dealing by Kwesi.

I think Dalvin and Z’Darius get moved this week for picks, and they move around with the added capital. I don’t like any of these QB’s in the first round, and hope we at least wait for R2 or 3 to pick one. I like Joey Porter Jr in mid-late Round 1 for the Purple.

I’m hoping we either stay at 23 and take BPA on the defensive side, or trade back and add a second rounder.

BigWerm wrote:

Draft week! Only 5 picks for the Vikings (First Round, 23rd overall selection, Third Round, 87th overall selection, Fourth Round, 119th overall selection, Fifth Round, 158th overall selection, Sixth Round, 211th overall selection (compensatory)), so I expect a LOT of wheeling and dealing by Kwesi.

I think Dalvin and Z’Darius get moved this week for picks, and they move around with the added capital. I don’t like any of these QB’s in the first round, and hope we at least wait for R2 or 3 to pick one. I like Joey Porter Jr in mid-late Round 1 for the Purple.

I definitely think both players listed are available and the new GM would prefer to move them. The tough thing is that their perceived value isn’t that high given their contracts, age, injuries, etc. Dalvin is projected to bring a 3rd or 4th round pick in a trade…while Z’Darius a 5th round pick.

Both are paid a premium given their position and production. In the end, I think Dalvin stays a Viking with his rich contract and Z’Darius is moved for peanuts either on draft night or after when GMs circle back and evaluate needs post draft.

If anyone is interested ESPN currently has on their front page an article with some good info recapping the 2003 missed draft pick when the Vikings let their time expire and they were jumped in front of. Pretty good read.

KFAN made the case for trading Cousins to SF, sending Trey Lance to Baltimore, and then bringing in Lamar Jackson to Minnesota. It sounds pretty lucrative to me and it would likely cost the Vikings two first round picks. I am not sure that Jackson and his baggage is a major upgrade at QB. He’s injury prone and a bit of a diva, even if he’s more athletic and younger.

gim wrote:

KFAN made the case for trading Cousins to SF, sending Trey Lance to Baltimore, and then bringing in Lamar Jackson to Minnesota. It sounds pretty lucrative to me and it would likely cost the Vikings two first round picks. I am not sure that Jackson and his baggage is a major upgrade at QB. He’s injury prone and a bit of a diva, even if he’s more athletic and younger.

San Francisco knows what they’re doing. They’ve built a SB ready roster (minus the QB). Their GM has publicly said it’s Purdy’s job to lose which tells me they’re admitting Trey Lance is not what they’d hoped. I will be shocked if they do NOT move him before Thursday.

The hold up with that x3 team trade is that the Vikings would give up 2 firsts AND be stuck with whatever Lamar needs for a contract. No way does Kwesi do that. I’m also not sure it leaves the Vikings in a better spot than they are now. Baltimore would be fine with it as they’d get the picks and embrace a full rebuild. I think San Fran would likely be “OK” with that deal too as they get a veteran proven starter to come in on a 1 year deal. They could easily win the SB with a QB of Cousins caliber while Purdy rehabs and looks to take the job over in 2024-2025 on a cheap deal.

gim wrote:

KFAN made the case for trading Cousins to SF, sending Trey Lance to Baltimore, and then bringing in Lamar Jackson to Minnesota. It sounds pretty lucrative to me and it would likely cost the Vikings two first round picks. I am not sure that Jackson and his baggage is a major upgrade at QB. He’s injury prone and a bit of a diva, even if he’s more athletic and younger.

I wouldn’t advise doing it. Lamar has skills but plays too close to the edge. The chances of his 100mph style biting you is too great a risk.

gim wrote:

KFAN made the case for trading Cousins to SF, sending Trey Lance to Baltimore, and then bringing in Lamar Jackson to Minnesota. It sounds pretty lucrative to me and it would likely cost the Vikings two first round picks. I am not sure that Jackson and his baggage is a major upgrade at QB. He’s injury prone and a bit of a diva, even if he’s more athletic and younger.

If you listen to KFAN/Sauce enough you will hear every hair brained idea and possibility out there, except for the one’s that actual happen by the actual teams.

FYI since 2020:
Kirk 102 TD’s, 44 Turnovers, 0 Injuries, 1-3 playoff record (7 TD’s 2 TO’s) and 15 Game Winning Drives
Lamar 61 Total TD’s, 39 Turnovers, 3 injuries, 1-3 playoff record (4 TD’s 8 TO’s) and 7 Game Winning Drives

I fully anticipate Kwesi to do a bunch more moving around, again and enough he may even make Slick Rick blush. I do not like any of these QB’s so I’m just hoping we leave Rd1 with a CB or trading back and getting some more capital in Rd 2. All defense draft early, and maybe some OL depth late.

imagine all the people going to the draft party tonight waiting 3 hours for the Vikings to pick only to see them trade out of the 1st round to aquire more picks…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

imagine all the people going to the draft party tonight waiting 3 hours for the Vikings to pick only to see them trade out of the 1st round to aquire more picks…

Haha yeah that’s definitely happened before, and will happen again. Hopefully this year imo. And also one of the reasons why I don’t like the made for TV draft, but TV pays the bills.

Well, isn’t he cute.

Even viking fans can’t be happy with a wr in the first round

I don’t mind it at all. Kid is a darn good WR. Fast and great route runner. Only thing I would’ve rather had was a CB and the ones I wanted were taken already. I thought Cook would be traded tonight but they might move him to get into the early part of round 2 to take Porter Jr.

mahtofire14 wrote:

I don’t mind it at all. Kid is a darn good WR. Fast and great route runner. Only thing I would’ve rather had was a CB and the ones I wanted were taken already. I thought Cook would be traded tonight but they might move him to get into the early part of round 2 to take Porter Jr.

If Kwesi can find a way to get back into the second to take either of the three top CB’s left that would be a GIANT win. Lots of draft boards had Addison as the #2 receiver in the draft, so the fact that we were able to just hang tight and take him was great. Would have been nice to see them move back even 2-3 spots to pick up another 3rd or 4th, but as always, you need two to tango when it comes to draft night trades.

That Eagles front 7 is going to look quite scary here for a while

Not saying that Addison isn’t a great wr but with the third most sacked quaterback I would be thinking of working on a few different areas before a wr.

supercat wrote:

Not saying that Addison isn’t a great wr but with the third most sacked quaterback I would be thinking of working on a few different areas before a wr.

If you can’t stop them you have to outscore them. If you can’t pass protect set up to get rid of the ball quick where the only downside is Jefferson getting pounded to pulp by linebackers.

Yeah Addison is a great WR and possible was the best available when they drafted at 23 but I was hoping for best available defensive player. I think they’re banking on Flores changing a lot and using players better, but the D was awful last year and now Hunter is showing signs of being unhappy.

My guess is the Vikings big needs were Offensive Line, Defensive Backs, and a #2 WR. From those positions they likely chose the best player available at their draft spot. There wasn’t an offensive linemen worth taking there, and they must have liked Addison better than Porter Jr. It looks like a solid, logical pick for the Vikings in that spot. Small twitchy slot guys are hard to find, and they can be game changers in the right offense. Time will tell if he’s just that…or if he’s an undersized special teamer.

supercat wrote:

Not saying that Addison isn’t a great wr but with the third most sacked quaterback I would be thinking of working on a few different areas before a wr.

Meh, can’t fill all the holes with one pick. I bet the argument could be made that you should be drafting OL in one of the first two or three rounds EVERY year.

Side Note: I worked outside until 9:00pm tilling and seeding some ditches. I DVR’d the draft and watched 2+ hours of “draft” in about 35 minutes without missing any trade or major discussions on picks that I wanted to hear. They really have poured it on and sucked in viewers. There’s no way I’ll ever watch the draft any differently in the future now.

supercat wrote:

Even viking fans can’t be happy with a wr in the first round

Why they needed one and he was the best player available.

I’m fine with the pick, there’s something to be said about reinforcing a strength. And Addison is a stud WR, haven’t been this deep at WR since 3Deep w/ Moss, Carter and Reed. Also, there is no way one or 4 rookies were going to rebuild the defense.

No idea where you guys talking OL are coming from?!?! They were middle of the pack on sacks, and most metrics had the OL as solid to elite from pass to run blocking. Darrisaw and ONeill are beasts at Tackle, Cleveland is solid, Ingram had a decent rookie year, and they just resigned Bradbury. So even if you think one of those guys is terrible, pretty unlikely a rookie was coming in and starting over them, which would be a waste of a 1st round pick.

Also agree, the Eagles defense is going to destroy people.

BigWerm wrote:

Also agree, the Eagles defense is going to destroy people.

ANd I hate that.

I think they got a good WR, but was a WR their biggest need? I’d say not Hardly. With being one of the worst rated Def. last season I thought that was by far their biggest need. This taking the Best player available has not worked out well for them in the past. The last time that worked out for them was Justin Jefferson. That year they actually needed a WR. I guess we will have to just wait to see if this ends up being a good decision or not. Most sources are giving the Vikings a A grade on the pick. There was not many A grades given in the 1st round.

I don’t think the Vikings were ever going to go OL, they have good young options at 3 of the five spots. CB was and is certainly a need, but Gonzalez from Oregon was the last CB I would’ve taken in the first round. Porter might end up being good but he has some big question marks.

I would’ve also been fine with the LB that got taken a pick or two later.

Addison will fill the role that Theilen played when he was a top receiver. A quick guy, that runs sharp, quick routes over the middle so Kirk has a quick hit option. He didn’t have that last year because of Theilen losing a step and it killed this offense in a few games.

I don’t see how they can keep Cook on this team so I hope they move him for a couple picks, hopefully one in the second round.