Evaluating and Projecting the 2019 Roster

[SteelKing728]

1 minute ago, Cearbhall said:

I agree with those guys both being big winners.

As far as losers, Abdullah is the loser of the Boone win. It is hard to pick out who was the loser of the WR battle because they have all been so bad it is hard to say who the competition was there. But, I'll say that Beebe was a loser as he had the WR3 job well in his grasp and he not only didn't solidify that but opened the door to calling it into questions.

With how bad the WRs have been I am starting to think that the Vikings may be best off keeping Treadwell around for the year if they can't trade him. And that is pretty sad.

Jayron Kearse continues to look nice but I am not sure what he really wins based on that as he still isn't the starter. Same can be said of Sloter.

Balsingame helped his chances a lot. And that hurts Ham's chances. The team can't really keep two FBs, can they? 

I think we wanted to keep 4TEs and 1FB so perhaps we go 3TEs and 2FBs?

[Cearbhall]

1 minute ago, SteelKing728 said:

I think we wanted to keep 4TEs and 1FB so perhaps we go 3TEs and 2FBs?

That is a possibility. If the team went that route I would be cutting Cole Hikutini.

[Krauser]

8 minutes ago, Cearbhall said:

The team can't really keep two FBs, can they? 

Last year they kept 4 RBs, 1 FB, 3 TEs. 

They could go with 3 RBs, 2 FBs, 3 TEs without affecting the roster otherwise. 

Abdullah is redundant if Boone is RB3, and Blasingame has outperformed whoever would be TE4 (Hikutini or Dillon).

Plus Blasingame has been playing special teams so he’d be worth making active on game day. 

[Kparty15]

Blasingame and Hikutini are perfect practice squad candidates.  I don’t see either of them getting picked up.  I think we’d carry 4 RBs until David Morgan is healthy.

At WR Johnson is a practice squad candidate who could make the roster if Treadwell is traded, but I think we’ll keep Zylstra and Treadwell on the active and maybe continue to try to trade Treadwell through the trade deadline

It seems like over the past few years we find someone from another team on waivers.  I wonder who that player could be this year.

[gopherwrestler]

14 hours ago, Krauser said:

 

Abdullah is redundant if Boone is RB3

I know it’s not important but right now it still looks like it’s more of a battle between keeping Abdullah vs. Badet rather than a battle of Abdullah vs Boone.

 

[Krauser]

After preseason game 3:

QB (3) Cousins, Mannion, Sloter
RB (3) Cook, Mattison, Boone
FB (2) Ham, Blasingame
WR (5) Thielen, Diggs, Beebe, Zylstra, Johnson
TE (3) Rudolph, Smith, Conklin
OT (4) Reiff, O'Neill, Hill, Udoh
IOL (6) Bradbury, Kline, Elflein, Jones, Dozier, Samia

DE (4) Hunter, Griffen, Weatherly, Odenigbo
DT (5) Joseph, Stephen, Holmes, Watts, Mata’afa
LB (6) Barr, Kendricks, Gedeon, Wilson, Downs, Smith
CB (5) Rhodes, Waynes, Alexander, Hughes, Thomas
S (4) Smith, Harris, Kearse, Derron Smith

ST (3) Bailey, Vedvik, Cutting

PUP: Morgan
IR: Bower
SUSP: Holton Hill
PS notables: Mitchell, Dillon, Saint-Amour, Aruna, Boyd, Epps

Keep both FBs: Ham has his spot locked down but Blasingame has been too good to let go, better than the TE depth. Watts over Jaleel Johnson. Treadwell traded or released. Don’t know what to do with Vedvik but keeping him instead of Wile makes more sense than letting Bailey go.

All the draft picks make it through the 5th round, 2 of 3 from the 6th (Watts and Udoh but not Epps) and 2 of 4 from 7th (Johnson, Cutting). 

[Krauser]

2 minutes ago, gopherwrestler said:

I know it’s not important but right now it still looks like it’s more of a battle between keeping Abdullah vs. Badet rather than a battle of Abdullah vs Boone.

Why, for kick returns? Kick returns aren’t important enough to justify a roster spot for that reason alone. 

Boone had a KR yesterday and did as well as Abdullah and Badet have. He also had a tackle as a punt gunner that was more difficult than Abdullah’s, though Bercich went on and on about Abdullah’s tackle without mentioning Boone’s. 

[Cearbhall]

1 hour ago, Krauser said:

After preseason game 3:

QB (3) Cousins, Mannion, Sloter
RB (3) Cook, Mattison, Boone

...

Just curious, is this a projection of what you think the team is going to do or a listing of what you would do if you were in charge?

Either way, it is interesting.

[Krauser]

8 minutes ago, Cearbhall said:

Just curious, is this a projection of what you think the team is going to do or a listing of what you would do if you were in charge?

Either way, it is interesting.

Little bit of both.

[gopherwrestler]

3 hours ago, Krauser said:

Why, for kick returns? Kick returns aren’t important enough to justify a roster spot for that reason alone. 

Boone had a KR yesterday and did as well as Abdullah and Badet have. He also had a tackle as a punt gunner that was more difficult than Abdullah’s, though Bercich went on and on about Abdullah’s tackle without mentioning Boone’s. 

Absolutely, and I also believe that. I think worrying about just a kick returner would be a waste. But I also believe they would have put more emphasis into finding and using more players as a KR to start games. 

I still have that feeling either Abdullah or Badet make the roster because of their return ability. I do feel Boone is 100% safe, 

[Klomp]

 

[SemperFeist]

I really don’t think there’s been any doubt that Johnson was making the final roster, given the reports from TC and how he’s performed in the preseason. 

The more intriguing question, is whether the team is going to keep 5 or 6 receivers?

[Ozzy]

21 hours ago, Krauser said:

After preseason game 3:

QB (3) Cousins, Mannion, Sloter
RB (3) Cook, Mattison, Boone
FB (2) Ham, Blasingame
WR (5) Thielen, Diggs, Beebe, Zylstra, Johnson
TE (3) Rudolph, Smith, Conklin
OT (4) Reiff, O'Neill, Hill, Udoh
IOL (6) Bradbury, Kline, Elflein, Jones, Dozier, Samia

DE (4) Hunter, Griffen, Weatherly, Odenigbo
DT (5) Joseph, Stephen, Holmes, Watts, Mata’afa
LB (6) Barr, Kendricks, Gedeon, Wilson, Downs, Smith
CB (5) Rhodes, Waynes, Alexander, Hughes, Thomas
S (4) Smith, Harris, Kearse, Derron Smith

ST (3) Bailey, Vedvik, Cutting

PUP: Morgan
IR: Bower
SUSP: Holton Hill
PS notables: Mitchell, Dillon, Saint-Amour, Aruna, Boyd, Epps

Keep both FBs: Ham has his spot locked down but Blasingame has been too good to let go, better than the TE depth. Watts over Jaleel Johnson. Treadwell traded or released. Don’t know what to do with Vedvik but keeping him instead of Wile makes more sense than letting Bailey go.

All the draft picks make it through the 5th round, 2 of 3 from the 6th (Watts and Udoh but not Epps) and 2 of 4 from 7th (Johnson, Cutting). 

I would agree with basically all of this.   I do feel though I would rather have Treadwell than Jonson unless they just want the money in cutting Treadwell, doubt they will be able to trade him for anything legit.

Johnson could be a punt return man potentially and if he makes the roster that is probably the #1 reason why.  Sure you say kick return men are not that important but they are needed and especially punt return men.  Honestly though I would cut Cameron Smith to keep Abdullah all day long.  Backup LB is not that important especially with all the nickle they play I think it would be a hard ask to keep that many linebackers.  I agree with the punter being out and Vedvik in, they have to do it really it is not a choice after what they gave up to get him.

So say Treadwell is gone for money reasons and Johnson is on, I take off Cameron Smith and put on Abdullah because he fits the system, is arguably the best pass catcher of all the backs and clearly the best return man and most experienced at that on the entire roster.

 

PS Put Mannion to the crub and put in Sloter in Cousins goes down, the kid needs a chance to play as a backup I do not care about Mannion being connected to a great offense he had no part in making or functioning.  

[SemperFeist]

There is zero reason to keep Treadwell over any other receiver on this roster. 

He’s done nothing in 4 years. He still looks lost on the field. The touchdown that Johnson hauled in against New Orleans is a better play than anything Treadwell has done in his 4 year career. 

[Ozzy]

47 minutes ago, SemperFeist said:

There is zero reason to keep Treadwell over any other receiver on this roster. 

He’s done nothing in 4 years. He still looks lost on the field. The touchdown that Johnson hauled in against New Orleans is a better play than anything Treadwell has done in his 4 year career. 

This is why they will not cut Treadwell unless they trade him and even that is not very unlikely to happen.  I am not great with cap numbers so here you go.  If they cut their losses with him it will most likely be after this season is over.

 

"If the Vikings decide they want to cut Treadwell, it’s a move that would create $654,770 in cap savings, no matter if he’s cut today or at the end of August. Minnesota would be responsible for $1.356 million of proration (signing bonus) and the $1.150 million of the receiver’s $1.804 million base salary that is guaranteed in 2019."

"Treadwell carries a $3.161 million cap hit, but if the Vikings decide to cut him, they would be paying $2.506 million in dead money (which would count against their cap) for a player not even on their roster. It’s better to keep someone on the roster who can produce something -- anything -- even for just a little bit longer, than to incur a cap hit of that size for a player who is searching for a job at home."

"Though the Vikings have unsuccessfully shopped Treadwell, if they’re able to find a trade partner and the right compensation (likely a late-round pick), the new team would be responsible for the guaranteed portion of Treadwell’s contract ($1.15 million), which is a lot for a player who has not been able to prove himself."

"While there’s likely an offset provision in his contract, if Treadwell gets cut and signs elsewhere, that new team probably would pay his minimum salary (around $700,000) which would reduce the Vikings’ obligation to pay the difference between the $1.15 million guaranteed of his $1.804 million base salary and what he would be making elsewhere."

 

https://www.espn.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_/id/83623/why-cutting-laquon-treadwell-isnt-right-answer-for-vikings