Viking Penguin Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 5 hours ago, vikestyle said: Completely agree with your sentiment. If you think Kirk is going to win us a super bowl and we can average 26 points per game, then fine go all in on the offense. I don't believe he's that guy. I want this team to still be successful after we get out from under Cousins' contract. If we go all in on offense and the offense still can't carry the team and we weaken the defense, them we are going to be a pretty bad team when Cousins leaves. Devote resources to the OL, but continue to build depth on the defensive side of the ball as well. If we are starting a young QB in two years, then a great defense and good OL will help immensely. I don't want to spend a bunch of resources on auxiliary pieces on offense in the short term. I think you hit the nail right on the head with this statement. We need to build the O-Line from now until 2021, when Kirks contract is up. At the same time, stock the D with high-end project type players, that should be ready for 2021-2022. In 2021 we do everything humanly possible to draft Lawrence to play in front of a young stacked O-Line, Cook in his prime, and a great D. Personally I'm sick of not having a number one quarterback, or a guy who's been with multiple franchises. I want our own top end quarterback! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RpMc Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Heavy Viking coach contingent at the shrine game. Including Adam Zimmer... who’s head coach of the East (I believe). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 30 minutes ago, RpMc said: Heavy Viking coach contingent at the shrine game. Including Adam Zimmer... who’s head coach of the East (I believe). West Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Excellent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted January 16, 2019 Author Share Posted January 16, 2019 15 hours ago, Viking Penguin said: Personally I'm sick of not having a number one quarterback, or a guy who's been with multiple franchises. I want our own top end quarterback! 2 It's been 40 years since that last happened, you'll drive yourself mad if you allow it to make yourself sick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VikeManDan Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Hopefully some team takes Murray ahead of #18, pushes another prospect down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Plissken Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 2 hours ago, VikeManDan said: Hopefully some team takes Murray ahead of #18, pushes another prospect down. Hopefully he is available at 18 and some team is willing to pay up to take him there. But, it is good to have a lot of guys we don't want to ahead of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Murray is going to be a really fascinating prospect to watch. He’s a fantastic quarterback, but he’s 5’9”, maybe 5’10” if takes some yoga classes to stretch out, and he’s only around 190 pounds. That’s a small NFL player regardless of position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Murray. This generation’s Doug Flutie. Some will see him as a franchise guy. Some will see him as too small to ever be the guy. However, with his size and the size and athleticism of today’s NFL players, I’d say the deck is more stacked against Murray than Flutie. That said, I’d rather spend a first on Murray than a 7th on Easton Stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthCountryEvo Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 On 1/14/2019 at 12:14 PM, vikingsrule said: I think it's a great to elite QB driven league. Look at the final 4. Brady, Brees, Mahomes. I don't want to include Goff in that same group yet. I don't think investing significant resources around Cousins will do much for him. Maybe it makes us more balanced. Until Cousins is upgraded, I don't think MN will do much either. As much as I do agree that the league is driven by elite QB's, there is so much more to it. Those QB's elevate their team tremendously. Case and point would be Aaron Rodgers: he has made his average to sometimes below average team a contender for a long time, and only until recently has that not been enough. The Patriots seem more and more lackluster every year, but through top notch coaching and Tom Brady being an amazing QB, they are able to continually be successful. Using the QB's in this year's championship games as evidence to needing an elite QB is misleading, though. That is one year's time, and one could go back to last year as a counter argument: In the NFC and AFC Championship games you had Keenum/ Foles and Brady/ Bortles respectively. There was one elite QB and 3 middle of the pack QB's (at best) leading 3 very good overall teams. Team composition and coaching are just as important as having a very good QB. I am absolutely a critic of Cousins, and I think that while he can put up admirable statistics, the actual play doesn't completely correlate. He seems to be a very A to B QB, without much ability to succeed if that expected approach gets shaken. That is a problem when you have an important facet of your team severely under performing, which we most definitely had with our O-line this year. Cousins will never be an elite QB, but if we mold our offense to best suit his strengths and account for his weaknesses, then he can definitely lead us to a championship. We generally have all the assets we need on offense for this to happen, sans the O-line. Since we are stuck with Cousin's (and his good and bad traits/qualities) for the next 2 years, we have to be willing to mold our offense to create the most advantageous situation for him. This is why the line has to be such a priority. That, plus our roster is not getting any younger, and money will be a big factor going forward. It's unreliable and unrealistic to expect us to have a 1 year turn-around on our offensive line. 2 years even would be very difficult. We simply won't have the money to go out and get the best lineman in free agency, and that avenue for getting new players generally doesn't have a positive rate of return historically (for us or the NFL as a whole). The draft is a big gamble as well, because you have no idea if a guy will develop, how long they will take to develop, and expecting a rookie lineman to start at a average to above average level in year 1-2 isn't an often occurrence. Assuming that a competent O-line in front of Cousins would unlock/un-hinder his potential is reasonable, in my estimation. I'd rather not have someone so reliant on that, but it seems like that is a major factor for him. This is why we have to (unfortunately) hope to be able to find inexpensive diamond-in-the-rough linemen through FA, we need to absolutely spend significant draft capitol on lineman in the hopes of hitting big and quick, and we have to hope that the offensive scheme and coaching leads to a much better product/much better development ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cearbhall Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 25 minutes ago, NorthCountryEvo said: It's unreliable and unrealistic to expect us to have a 1 year turn-around on our offensive line. 2 years even would be very difficult. I agree. It isn't realistic to expect a 1 year turnaround on the offensive line. The Vikings are passed year 15 though since they were able to put together a line that has been above average for more than one year at a time. I do expect the offensive line to be fixed this season and if not I will be hoping for a new general manager. This is not a surprise problem. I have been calling for the offensive line to be prioritized higher for more years than I care to remember. Rick needs to fix the line NOW or take a hike. Maybe not likely but it is the corner he has painted himself into. Nothing is a guarantee so he might have already put himself in a situation that he'll lose no matter what he does this offseason. He should have been thinking about that for the last five years. His best shot is signing 2 free agent offensive linemen that have a proven ability to play above average and then working the draft to get the best offensive lineman practically available to him (anyone taken at pick 11 or later I consider reasonably attainable) with the Vikings first pick and then picking up another offensive linemen someone else in the first four rounds. If he doesn't sign the free agents before the draft I don't even need to wait to see what happens in the draft. Counting on the draft for a starter is so foolish that it alone warrants a general manager being fired. A team should never be relying on the draft for immediate help. The draft is for building towards the future of the team. A team should always have a Chester Taylor in place before drafting an Adrian Peterson; there is no way the team can be sure that will be getting Peterson or that the draft pick will ever pan out. The team is on year two-many of rebuilding the offensive line. It is not unreasonable to expect results this year. This is not year one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted January 17, 2019 Author Share Posted January 17, 2019 13 hours ago, wcblack34 said: That said, I’d rather spend a first on Murray than a 7th on Easton Stick. Regardless of how he plays football, there probably isn't a better hockey name than Easton Stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 12 hours ago, Cearbhall said: It isn't realistic to expect a 1 year turnaround on the offensive line I think it depends on what you’re expecting in terms of turn around. You’re not going to find 5 all pros, no. But we saw from 2016 to 2017 a significant turn around from just adding a couple of new players, bringing in the right system, and having a good play caller. No reason not to expect something similar for 2019. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RpMc Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 The Colts had a darn good one year turn around that included two rookies. Sometimes the way a, hopefully, new coach teaching things can also make things click for an individual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingsrule Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 1 hour ago, RpMc said: The Colts had a darn good one year turn around that included two rookies. Sometimes the way a, hopefully, new coach teaching things can also make things click for an individual. In the Vikings case, actually having an OL coach during the season. Still, adding Nelson was huge for Indy. I wouldn't expect that kind of turn around based on what will be available in the draft. We're not getting a top 5 talent at 18 along the OL. As long the offense can establish the run regularly, I think the OL will be a success. I think there's only so much we can do to help Cousins, he'll still be prone to his lapses in the pocket. Just have to hope there's fewer of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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