Uncle Buck Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 First of all, I know we still have the draft to fill in some holes, but after thinking about it, I'm not sure I can see an area in which we can be truly dominant. I guess if we get a couple of good offensive linemen and re-sign Dalvin Cook, we should have a very good running game again. Will that be enough with what we have for a supporting cast to get us deep into the playoffs? I don't think so. I guess what I'm wondering is what direction we can go in that will lead to success this season? Do you see anything we can do with what we have on the roster now and with the draft picks we have? What would you do, and what would you expect if we did do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikes635 Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 I feel if we Hughes can stay healthy and we land a rookie corner that is not a liability our Defense will be above average. We of course need some D-Line Depth but overall I think our starters will be fine. (granted thats a thin line with the amount of depth we have across the board! Losing Diggs definitely hurts our air attack but if we can solidify the LT position and add WR that produces a line like 60/850/6 with our run game we should be ok on offense. We have to be careful to not burn the extra picks we have on trading up in the mid rounds. The talent for role players and depth is all over this draft and it is what we need. To Answer you Question, If we have our starters Healthy come playoff time and we shore up 2 key positions in this draft Yes I believe we can compete for the superbowl or NFC Championship at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingsrule Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 Unfortunately, when your QB becomes such a significant part of your cap, that position largely becomes your identity. The Vikes go as far as Cousins. I expect the defense to decline a bit given the amount of turnover and expected youth movement, it will be bumpy at times. Back to Cousins, if he elevates his play against playoff caliber teams and has a top 5 caliber season, the Vikes are going to be a playoff team. However, the downside of this offseason was losing Diggs. With a defense in transition, I’d expect the offense to carry the team and that will certainly be a challenge without a game breaker like Diggs. I think it’s likely we see a pretty noticeable decline in the defensive rankings, maybe outside the top 10. We’re used to the identity of being a run oriented team backed by an elite defense, but that may have to change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Wallbang Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 I have been wondering the same thing when looking at this draft and where we are. Also, the point vikingsrule makes is one that I have believed and discussed for years, applying to teams way before us and now us with Cousins. For me the disappointing part is the way we got pushed around late last year. It seemed to take the wind out of my sails a bit. We are tied to Cousins for at least a couple years so I say we go for it. Trade for Williams (2nd next year), sign Clowney, cut Reiff, trade Harris for a late second or third, hope Kinlaw falls (or trade up), and then get lots of corners, an interior OL and a WR with the 6 pics in top three rounds. Lets go get it. I just hate being pushed around. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CriminalMind Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 (edited) Our top 3 offensive weapons: Cousins, Cook & Thielen will all be help with drafting a trench player highly (more time to operate), moreso than an offensive skilled position. Our defense as a whole (CBs, LBs, Ss, DL) will all be helped with adding a faster\better pass rush, where the opposing QB needs to make decisions faster, which leads to higher defensive success rate accross the board for all D positions. Draft 3-down, trench players with our early picks, as the ball 100% always starts at the LOS, on both sides of the ball. This identity would be "the game is won in the trenches" Edited April 10, 2020 by CriminalMind 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 (edited) The identity of this team is Kirk Cousins. He has to elevate his play to the level of Steve Young, Joe Montana or Tom Brady for this franchise to have success. He is a very good quarterback with weapons supporting him, and time in the pocket. He has less weapons...arguably a weaker offensive line than last year...no OTA's...no rookie camp...no training camp or preseason to speak of...unproven starters at key positions (CB, RG, WR1, DT.) He's going to have to play out of his mind. Edited April 10, 2020 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 Identity, thy name be 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cearbhall Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 It is nearly impossible to establish an offensive identity when you can't control the line. That allows the opposing defense to dictate too many things to the offense and leaves the offense in a take what they give you mode rather than having an established identity that can be used to control the game. The direction I believe the team should go is to build up the offensive line. They immediately need two guards and they need a new tackle in the not too distant future. Their current center situation doesn't inspire any confidence so they ought to be considering some contingency planning there. Given the current state of things I would expect it to take this offseason and next offseason to build the offensive line and really be able to establish itself. But that will only happen if they really focus on the line. If not, they'll continue to have an offense that will be pushed around by the better defenses in the league; they will (continue to) struggle because of that in playoff games where teams have a good defensive front. Meanwhile, as they build a the offensive line the team needs to continue reinforcing the defensive line while bringing in some pieces for the defensive backfield. The team should be looking for both a DE and DT in this draft while filling out their defensive backend with free agents like Denard, Kirkpatrick, and Trumaine Johnson. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vikes22 Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 Build up both lines in the draft.. That’s my fix.. trade up in the later rounds and make the picks count. get a DE, DT, CB, and 2 OG’s with our 1st 5 picks. Trade up in the 2nd for a top player that slides. Trade up in the 3rd for a OG that slides .. I believe we will roll with our OT’s this year. Going with these 1st 5 picks to me is heading in the right direction.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWG VIKE Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 Ask long as Zimmer is the coach this teams Identity will always be Defense and you know Zim will be itching to get his defensive backfield playing at a high level again. Run the ball. Control the clock. Make the opponent one dimensional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 37 minutes ago, BWG VIKE said: Ask long as Zimmer is the coach this teams Identity will always be Defense and you know Zim will be itching to get his defensive backfield playing at a high level again. Run the ball. Control the clock. Make the opponent one dimensional. Yet...if you don't score more points than your opponents..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 4 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said: Yet...if you don't score more points than your opponents..... Scoring points wasn’t really an issue, outside of 2 games last year (3 if we include the playoffs). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 7 minutes ago, SemperFeist said: Scoring points wasn’t really an issue, outside of 2 games last year (3 if we include the playoffs). And after the season, the offense got noticeably worse. Diggs production is traded. Kline, the best interior lineman on the team, was let go. I suspect that the Vikings offense will be even more one dimensional and reliant on the run game than anytime since AP was the running game. Cook is very good when he's not injured...but, he's not Adrian Peterson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 17 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said: And after the season, the offense got noticeably worse. Diggs production is traded. Kline, the best interior lineman on the team, was let go. I suspect that the Vikings offense will be even more one dimensional and reliant on the run game than anytime since AP was the running game. Cook is very good when he's not injured...but, he's not Adrian Peterson. Diggs is a big hurdle to replace, no doubt. But I‘m not worried about replacing Kline. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingsrule Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 14 minutes ago, SemperFeist said: Diggs is a big hurdle to replace, no doubt. But I‘m not worried about replacing Kline. Agreed. Kline isn’t a huge loss and I like the teams decision to rely on a young player to fill the spot, presumably Samia. Diggs will be tough to replace. Likely won’t find a receiver as good as him in this draft for this year, this is where Cousins will need to step up and spread the ball around. Still a need exists for a deep threat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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