Ozzy Posted May 6, 2023 Share Posted May 6, 2023 9 hours ago, vike daddy said: Gold and Silver for the Vikings For whatever it’s worth, though, PFF recently tossed a gold and silver medal toward the Vikings for their work in undrafted free agency. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah made at least a couple notable moves following the NFL Draft. Fairly surprisingly, the Vikings didn’t draft a single linebacker or edge rusher. Given Minnesota’s thoroughly underwhelming defensive effort in 2022, completely overlooking these positions came as a surprise. Nevertheless, the team clearly wanted to beef up those spots. Adofo-Mensah was able to land linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. and EDGE Andre Carter II. PFF had these guys as the highest two players remaining on their draft board. In a sense, then, Minnesota agreed to deals with the first and second best UDFAs (at least from the PFF perspective). https://purpleptsd.com/2023/vikings/opinion/gold-and-silver-vikings/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook In my last mock draft I had these guys still available and all were 3rd round picks, all were UDFA and the top ones I had according to that. No question Pace and Carter are up there with any at the position. At one point I had Carter and Pace 1st round picks, that changed after workouts and positional needs of teams but still. Andre Carter II OLB Mekhi Garner CB Raiqwon O'Neal OT Ivan Pace Jr ILB You take those UDFA out of the class and the draft does not look great, it is just ok but two potential guys like that along with Knowles really help the group overall and really are part of the draft class as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted May 6, 2023 Share Posted May 6, 2023 1 hour ago, Ozzy said: You take those UDFA out of the class and the draft does not look great, it is just ok but two potential guys like that along with Knowles really help the group overall and really are part of the draft class as well. i agree. knocking our grade up to an A- or something, perhaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 O'Connell: "For a guy like Andre Carter, we’re really looking forward to seeing him build on the career he had at Army. He’s a professional football player now, he gets to focus in on that as his job and really thrive in that with some great coaching. He’s a great kid, really excited to have him a part of our team, and looking forward to seeing what he’s able to do." "He was under consideration for us to be drafted a couple times, and through the dialogue and really trying to figure out how we still get him here, we felt like we gained an extra draft pick with him, we really did. Obviously the length, the athleticism, his production — when you watch him on tape you see a guy that is arrow up, gonna ascend, and how good can that be is what we challenge all of our guys here to do." "He’s looking forward to improve, add to his pass rush move catalog. He’s got one of the best position coaches in the league in Mike Smith to do that, Flo has a great plan for him. Can’t wait to see him get a ton of reps in the preseason." https://vikingsterritory.com/2023/news/analysis/is-especially-intrigued?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 On 4/29/2023 at 5:00 PM, gopherwrestler said: Najee Thompson: "My loyalty that I am going to have for the Vikings and my work ethic for the Vikings - words can't really explain that." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 NFL agent Joe Linta has been doing this a while. He once represented three-fifths of the Vikings offensive line – Matt Birk, Mike Rosenthal and Adam Goldberg. Last year, Linta had eight clients make an NFL team after not getting an invitation to the scouting combine. Linta got the word out on Jacky Chen, who kept playing well during a 6-4 season. Twenty NFL teams showed up on Pace's campus. The 49ers did a personal workout. The East-West Shrine Bowl gave him an invite, and he held his own. Linta has a special connection with Jamaal Stephenson, the Vikings' senior personnel executive. Stephenson went to Brown University. Linta's son played quarterback at Brown. Ten minutes after the draft ended with the Vikings selecting no offensive linemen, Chen was on the team. Linta: "It wasn't some arduous negotiation, I could have gotten Jacky in a couple of places. The Vikings liked him. Jacky is the consummate practice squad player who can develop into a guy who definitely can play in this league if they are patient with him." Chen: "Going against D-I guys and Power Five guys was all mental. If I can do in here [pointing to his head] I can do it because I'm just as big and strong as they are." https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-vikings-jacky-chen-undrafted-free-agent-pace-university-offensive-lineman/600278612/?fbclid=IwAR0N9n-NLrTBmp2W7NtOnoVDj4x-_6YXXOtIHREDFftADsYu59wbkYPtGyE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 Quote Now that we’re a few weeks removed from the 2023 NFL Draft, I thought it would be interesting to track the trajectory of players throughout the draft process by revisiting my initial top-50 draft rankings from last August. The purpose of this article isn’t to necessarily see what I got “right” or “wrong,” but rather to show the journey each prospect made. 33. Andre Carter II, Edge, Army Final ranking: No. 205 Where he was drafted: Undrafted (signed with Minnesota Vikings) At this time last year, Carter was coming off an All-American 2021 season, in which he set the Army program record with 15.5 sacks. He entered the 2022 campaign with early-round grades from NFL scouts — and plenty of hype. However, Carter struggled as a senior while battling injury, and he managed just 3.5 sacks in 10 games. His lack of physical development and a 4.91 40-yard dash also contributed to his draft stock falling off a cliff. https://theathletic.com/4590021/2023/06/12/nfl-draft-2023-top-50-board-revisited/ FWIW, Brugler had Addison right after Carter at #34. They were the only 2 from his original top 50 from last August that ended up on the Vikings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelKing728 Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 1 hour ago, swede700 said: https://theathletic.com/4590021/2023/06/12/nfl-draft-2023-top-50-board-revisited/ FWIW, Brugler had Addison right after Carter at #34. They were the only 2 from his original top 50 from last August that ended up on the Vikings. Are you able to post that without the pay wall? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 27 minutes ago, SteelKing728 said: Are you able to post that without the pay wall? I can not. That's about as much as I can likely post without getting in trouble. 😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 Quote One Vikings staffer mentioned undrafted signee Andre Carter II as a player to watch as training camp dawns...Carter participated in multiple snaps with the second team. His swift acclimation to Flores’ defensive concepts should only help his cause as time progresses. https://theathletic.com/4611201/2023/06/14/vikings-minicamp-brian-flores-defense/?source=emp_shared_article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 It’s all about strength with Carter. He was absolutely abused at the Senior Bowl, and his lack of strength was at the forefront. Not unexpected considering Army doesn’t utilize a typical football centered strength and conditioning program. But, I would have expected it to take more than a few months for Carter to reach an NFL threshold. But, it would be awesome if he came out of the gate as a productive member of the defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted July 2, 2023 Share Posted July 2, 2023 Ivan Pace Jr is a very interesting player. His best trait is as a pass rusher, but his position is MLB. That doesn’t exactly add up, but it can in this defense. Brian Flores is very aggressive and knows how to utilize a player with blitzing ability like Pace. His quickness and ability to evade offensive linemen could make him a valuable subpackage player in year one. However, The size and lack of lateral athleticism could be a major hindrance to him playing a modern-day inside linebacker. You need to be able to play coverage and move from sideline to sideline. Pace struggles with both. In today’s game, being a specialist doesn’t always work and could prevent him from making the roster. If Pace ended up anywhere, playing for Flores was a top-percentile outcome. He understands how to use a specialist like Pace and can maximize him early while also developing the rest of his game. The linebacker room is really weak and there is a lot of opportunity for a player like Pace to earn a roster spot. Expect Pace to be used on multiple special teams units and as a blitzer. https://vikingswire.usatoday.com/lists/vikings-90-man-roster-player-profile-lb-ivan-pace-jr/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem_manual&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1whwS-rtEBtqUrj1mkyDUJ87oe0j1yRMsVSssuXhg70wyNIkHwms2hGiM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted July 2, 2023 Share Posted July 2, 2023 On 6/15/2023 at 12:36 PM, SemperFeist said: It’s all about strength with Carter. He was absolutely abused at the Senior Bowl, and his lack of strength was at the forefront. Not unexpected considering Army doesn’t utilize a typical football centered strength and conditioning program. But, I would have expected it to take more than a few months for Carter to reach an NFL threshold. But, it would be awesome if he came out of the gate as a productive member of the defense. He has gotten more proper football training and lifting in these last few weeks with the Vikings than he did his entire college football career at Army. In no way is he not going to benefit greatly from it, because obviously the guy is not lazy, not some slacker so he will improve greatly, that is a fact. Only issue to him developing as a NFL player is if he wants to be in the Army more than the NFL and not so sure that is the case. It is all about want to, and outside of wanting to be a leader in the Army instead, the dude should be able to up his physical game easily over the next months and greatly improve. Sure at times in the Senior bowl he got pushed around but at other times he showed great bend and athletic ability for a guy 6-6 1/2" 255. Sure the guy did not have some great vertical jump or broad jump but also probably did very little squats and power lifting while at Army I would assume. They were not training him to go into the NFL and play football for a profession. They were training them to be soldiers and be well conditioned over the long hall. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 Admittedly, wide receiver is probably the deepest position on the Vikings roster heading into the 2023 season. As a result, it’s going to be difficult for an UDFA to crack into the final 53-man roster. However, while Malik Knowles had limited receiving production over the course of his career (catching a total of 127 receptions for 1867 yards and 14 TDs over five years at Kansas State), he brings a very intriguing combination of size and athleticism that could make him a playmaker in Kevin O’Connell’s offense. The receiver had 36 carries for 440 yards and 4 TDs over his collegiate career, making him a threat in the backfield, and he is an explosive playmaker as a return man. Knowles returned 61 kicks for 1691 yards (27.7 yards per return average), and he brought three kicks all the way back for touchdowns. Keep an eye on the “do-it-all” receiver this summer. https://vikingsterritory.com/2023/news/top_news/dark-horse-vikings?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 9 hours ago, vike daddy said: Admittedly, wide receiver is probably the deepest position on the Vikings roster heading into the 2023 season. As a result, it’s going to be difficult for an UDFA to crack into the final 53-man roster. However, while Malik Knowles had limited receiving production over the course of his career (catching a total of 127 receptions for 1867 yards and 14 TDs over five years at Kansas State), he brings a very intriguing combination of size and athleticism that could make him a playmaker in Kevin O’Connell’s offense. The receiver had 36 carries for 440 yards and 4 TDs over his collegiate career, making him a threat in the backfield, and he is an explosive playmaker as a return man. Knowles returned 61 kicks for 1691 yards (27.7 yards per return average), and he brought three kicks all the way back for touchdowns. Keep an eye on the “do-it-all” receiver this summer. https://vikingsterritory.com/2023/news/top_news/dark-horse-vikings?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook Sounds like an ideal candidate for the Practice Squad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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