vike daddy Posted December 14, 2023 Share Posted December 14, 2023 Exploring Bud Grant and His Personnel. Perhaps no NFL head coach during the 1970s utilized the players that he had on his roster better than Minnesota Vikings head coach Bud Grant. More specifically, Grant used the talents and the abilities that each of his players possessed to the utmost benefit of his team. Take quarterback Fran Tarkenton for example. Grant realized that Tarkenton was most effective as a scrambler, and that he had good peripheral vision. Grant therefore did not try to inhibit Tarkenton from running. Moreover, Grant also knew that Tarkenton did not possess a strong arm...at least not as strong as quarterbacks such as Joe Namath or Terry Bradshaw. So, Grant effectively utilized more shorter pass plays to take advantage of Tarkenton's skill set. When Grant drafted University of Miami tailback Chuck Foreman in 1973, he gave his quarterback a vital weapon in Minnesota's arsenal. By having Tarkenton throw to a great pass-receiving setback like Foreman -- a guy who had great hands and great moves -- the Vikings started accumulating increasing amounts of yardage. Foreman caught a total of 218 passes in his first four years in the NFL, worth an incredible 2,206 yards. A head coach like Bud Grant became successful because he was willing to work with the players that he had, and he utilized their best talents to secure wins for his team. NFLinthe70's.com 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 This past offseason, tight end Irv Smith Jr. hit free agency after spending the first four years of this NFL career as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. Eventually, Smith wound up landing a one-year deal worth less than $2 million from the Cincinnati Bengals. Unfortunately, Smith has been a massive disappointment for Cincinnati this year. In 13 appearances with the Bengals, the former Minnesota tight end has only caught 16 passes for 97 yards and one touchdown. https://thevikingage.com/posts/former-minnesota-vikings-irv-smith-letdown-cincinnati-bengals-2023?fbclid=IwAR12wBAofwpUk4t7mAwCFUGrP2WDT-D-DT3hP0ND_X6CVNJuWCVxHVHQ5sY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingsrule Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 (edited) 4 minutes ago, vike daddy said: This past offseason, tight end Irv Smith Jr. hit free agency after spending the first four years of this NFL career as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. Eventually, Smith wound up landing a one-year deal worth less than $2 million from the Cincinnati Bengals. Unfortunately, Smith has been a massive disappointment for Cincinnati this year. In 13 appearances with the Bengals, the former Minnesota tight end has only caught 16 passes for 97 yards and one touchdown. https://thevikingage.com/posts/former-minnesota-vikings-irv-smith-letdown-cincinnati-bengals-2023?fbclid=IwAR12wBAofwpUk4t7mAwCFUGrP2WDT-D-DT3hP0ND_X6CVNJuWCVxHVHQ5sY Josh Oliver also has 16 catches but he has doubled Smith on TDs with 2, on what has to be on one of the worst rushing teams in the league. Money well spent! If Smith is a massive disappointment at $2m what’s Oliver? Edited December 15, 2023 by vikingsrule Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cearbhall Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 8 hours ago, vikingsrule said: Josh Oliver also has 16 catches but he has doubled Smith on TDs with 2, on what has to be on one of the worst rushing teams in the league. Money well spent! If Smith is a massive disappointment at $2m what’s Oliver? Oliver is signed at $7M per year, but his value is in his blocking ability, not his receiving ability. Had the team signed Oliver for that much for his receiving ability he would be a massive disappointment. I assure you, though, that he was signed for his blocking. You need to look at what he has brought to the table there to consider what kind of value he is to the team at his current contract. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingsrule Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 (edited) 2 minutes ago, Cearbhall said: Oliver is signed at $7M per year, but his value is in his blocking ability, not his receiving ability. Had the team signed Oliver for that much for his receiving ability he would be a massive disappointment. I assure you, though, that he was signed for his blocking. You need to look at what he has brought to the table there to consider what kind of value he is to the team at his current contract. Well we sure can’t run the ball this year. Not that it’s Oliver’s fault but at some point we’ve got to be okay judging these transactions for what they are. But at least he sees the field unlike Davenport. Edited December 15, 2023 by vikingsrule Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cearbhall Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 (edited) 10 minutes ago, vikingsrule said: Well we sure can’t run the ball this year. Not that it’s Oliver’s fault but at some point we’ve got to be okay judging these transactions for what they are. But at least he sees the field unlike Davenport. I agree. Davenport has proven himself to be a poor value. IMO, there is no reason to judge the transaction for Oliver until after next season when the team has a decision to make. It is certainly possible that they'll decide he isn't worth the third year on the contract, which looks like a team option year at about $8MM. They have Oliver for about $13MM total for this year and next with no decent way to change that. Davenport will almost certainly be left knocking on the door after this season. I don't know about Oliver after next season, but he won't be knocking after this season. Edited December 15, 2023 by Cearbhall 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 Via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Teddy Bridgewater will retire after the 2023 season. He plans to coach high school football. He just turned 31 last month. He’s got plenty of football left in him, if he chooses to keep playing. And, like any other retirement, this one won’t be final and binding. A first-round pick in 2014 by the Vikings, Bridgewater’s career was derailed by a non-contact ACL tear in a late August practice just before the 2016 season. After 2017, he signed with the Jets. He then was traded to the Saints before the start of the 2018 season. He spent two years with the Saints, one with the Panthers (as the Week 1 starter), one with the Broncos (as the Week 1 starter), one with the Dolphins (as the primary backup), and one in Detroit. Through 10 seasons, he has 65 career starts. His record is 33-32. https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/teddy-bridgewater-plans-to-retire-after-2023-season 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Relax Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 49 minutes ago, vike daddy said: Via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Teddy Bridgewater will retire after the 2023 season. He plans to coach high school football. He just turned 31 last month. He’s got plenty of football left in him, if he chooses to keep playing. And, like any other retirement, this one won’t be final and binding. A first-round pick in 2014 by the Vikings, Bridgewater’s career was derailed by a non-contact ACL tear in a late August practice just before the 2016 season. After 2017, he signed with the Jets. He then was traded to the Saints before the start of the 2018 season. He spent two years with the Saints, one with the Panthers (as the Week 1 starter), one with the Broncos (as the Week 1 starter), one with the Dolphins (as the primary backup), and one in Detroit. Through 10 seasons, he has 65 career starts. His record is 33-32. https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/teddy-bridgewater-plans-to-retire-after-2023-season I wish him great success as a coach. Teddy is a class act. I will always wonder what would have happened had he not had the dislocated knee. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelKing728 Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 21 hours ago, Captain Relax said: I wish him great success as a coach. Teddy is a class act. I will always wonder what would have happened had he not had the dislocated knee. I figured he'd call it a career early after last season. He's still a good backup QB I think, and I think he'll be a great coach. Maybe he'll decide to come back to the pros some day as a QB coach or something. That would be awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs added another record to his tally Sunday afternoon. He became the first player in Bills history to earn four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons receiving. https://www.wgrz.com/article/sports/nfl/bills/stefon-diggs-buffalo-bills-history-1000-receiving-yard-seasons/71-c9fbdf3d-a076-4cdd-91fe-2f926fff373a?fbclid=IwAR1jqnp3vJpKXRLBOaxK2nRrNpzDNbBKLaagHCT5q93tzNabpL-W9h7Bx_Y 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 Getting old... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 44 minutes ago, swede700 said: i thought that wasn't allowed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 9 minutes ago, vike daddy said: i thought that wasn't allowed. It wasn't. That's probably for the best. With all of the guys who bust after playing years of college football, and no minor league system, it would be a disaster trying to forecast a 17 year old HS Senior to the NFL. Add in the fact that, back in AP's day, there was no rookie pay scale, and it becomes an even worse idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 (edited) 24 minutes ago, vike daddy said: i thought that wasn't allowed. It wasn't. But at the time of his HS recruitment, the Maurice Clarett situation was going on (and Lebron had recently made the jump...Adrian actually is only about 3 mos younger than him), which could have potentially opened the door. Pointed out in the article was that Adrian Peterson was a unicorn and he would have been the extremely rare situation where he could have done so, but almost every single other one that would have tried would have failed. Edited December 19, 2023 by swede700 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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