2019 off-season thread: moves and news

[hermes]

interesting stuff going on with rudolph, ended restructuring talks

they restructured wilson and kendricks to be able to sign bradbury

kyle only has one year left on the deal, but he has said he wants to retire a viking. i guess we'll see what happens since it does seem like his replacement is now on the team. kyle's one of my favorite players i hope they can figure something out long term

[KGdaBom]

got the alabama tight end, does this hasten the end of rudolph? or are we going more two tight end?

More two TE stuff.

[KGdaBom]

A 3rd round lineman would have been nice, we really need someone who could challenge for a starting spot at guard or fill in for an injury. I didn't see a need for a backup running back in the 3rd round. Still need to cover a few other positions as well.

He had the perfect opportunity to get two lineman in the top 3 picks they had. He just wouldn't do it. They didn't need another TE so badly that they had to use a second round pick on one either. He's also been described as a H-back/tight end/fullback by Rick now so him and the 3rd round pick of a moose runner should tell us they plan to return to being a running team ala Kubiak.

Drafting depth RBs in the third is foolish as I see it too, given what they need. He had people telling him they needed a RB. There are some fans that beleive it after Cook has been showing a propensity for not finishing seasons. The problem is they've never noticed it's easy to find useable RB in any round, even undrafted. 4th 5th 6th rounds are fine for a RB and when you know full well they will be slotted in behind Cook regardless, it should be even more so important to wait and bolster other positions first.

They need a new GM. There is no getting around it. I knew full well a RB and TE would be larger priorities for him as it always has been. His track record is clear and there is ample evidence for why the team finds it so difficult to produce an offensive line that protects their QBs to enable their best offense possible.

If we hadn't got Samia in the fourth I think your arguments that we should have drafted an OL earlier would have been right on. It turned out that the Vikings/Rick Spielman were smarter than us. Samia was a second team all American and was OL of the year over Cody Ford for the Big 12. He shared that honor with Risner and Cajuste.

[KGdaBom]

I didn't necessarily mind the 2nd round pick, since he at least seemed to be in the discussion for BPA at the time, but I agree with everything you said about the 3rd round pick. He doesn't seem to be a steal at where we took him, you get can get decent RB's later in the draft, and we had more pressing needs.

Agreed, runningback selection in third (and a depth RB) just shouldn't have happened. But seeing Rick's description of the second round pick including the words H-back yesterday might mean they actually doubled down on running options in the second and third. Anyone that truly believes a 6 ft 2 inch "H-back/tight end/fullback" is going to make a great starting TE to replace Rudolph with as a future starting TE is only fooling themselves just enough to be ok with this pick in the second round. Because he's not a true TE. He could end up anywhere from a Treadwell 4th receiving target replacement to doing nothing but lead blocking for Cook and Mattison or stealing some of their short receptions for no reason. But a future starting force at TE from a receiving and blocking standpoint it just doesn't sound like it. I'm not really sure how he can be claimed a BPA at pick 50 either. Was he claimed as the best talent left at TE at that point?

I just think we need to look at Rick's big picture over these years of drafting to see the fallout of constantly drafting backup TEs. It's a very real problem. 10 moves to bring in 10 new TEs in 9 seasons and most of them were used/slotted significantly as backup TE levels. Aside from Rudolph, they won't seem to just leave the TE position alone and focus on improving other positions. All this focus given to the TE position's backup or secondary role each year.

Sounds like a Kubiak plan to me. Looks to me like they spent rounds two and three on Kubiak's plan to bolster the running game. It could be argued the Center choice when they already had Elf is another step in building the running game. When what they needed more then anything (with Cousins as QB), was a massive improvement at passing protection. With greater passing protection they would have gotten an improved running game by default space created within opposing defenses respecting the passing game. This team is led by fools. I don't know why I put two seconds into thinking about them anymore.

Smith is absolutely a TE he just happens to have versatility. He was regarded as the 20th best player in the entire draft by many and almost nobody had him lasting until pick 50.

[KGdaBom]

It would be nice if he was 6’5, but that really isn’t a huge concern for me.
In terms of draft experts, pretty much everyone had him as a 2nd round pick.

Half the draft experts had him as a 2nd round pick. The other half had him as a first round pick. How anybody can complain about that one I have no clue.

[KGdaBom]

i wonder if they are worried about cook's durability so they went running back in the third?

Yes.

[KGdaBom]

took a guard from oklahoma in the fourth, traded up to get him so only 7 picks left today (as of right now)

don't know anything about this guy but hey, he's an offensive lineman so that's nice

I'm guessing you are up to date about him by now, but just in case. Second team all American. Big 12 OL of the year shared with Risner and Cajuste. Cody Ford did not share the award.

[KGdaBom]

ok. I didn't like the TE pick in round two. Also thought backup RB in third was to early to grab a depth back.

But otherwise, I have to say hats off to their drafting for once for at least making sure to bring in multiple lineman.

C, G, T Samia and Udoh seem interesting.

Then I think they picked an interesting WR fpr a 7th round pick. Mitchell. Seems like the Ducks got a lot our of him. Hope it translates at this level.

I think they could have addressed Oline a little more powerful with earlier picks, but they pulled the trigger three times and that's unheard of around here. I go with a B rating just on that alone. Usually Rick is in total denial about the Oline.This shows someone there recognizes they needed more chances to build a line with depth for this season.

Not sure about all the trading around, so much so they ended up selecting a long snapper at the end. Was that the most of the draft by any team?

Mitchell's measurables and production was worthy of at least a 3rd round pick. Some scout basically said he had a BA and that caused him to drop.

[KGdaBom]

Kubiak had a lot to do with this one. Too many differences for it not to be real. The guy is churning the butter over there.

I believe that Kubiak is the real OC and Stefanski is his apprentice.

[KGdaBom]

interesting stuff going on with rudolph, ended restructuring talks

they restructured wilson and kendricks to be able to sign bradbury

kyle only has one year left on the deal, but he has said he wants to retire a viking. i guess we'll see what happens since it does seem like his replacement is now on the team. kyle's one of my favorite players i hope they can figure something out long term

I never heard about Wilson. Just Kendricks.

[hermes]

took a guard from oklahoma in the fourth, traded up to get him so only 7 picks left today (as of right now)

don't know anything about this guy but hey, he's an offensive lineman so that's nice

I'm guessing you are up to date about him by now, but just in case. Second team all American. Big 12 OL of the year shared with Risner and Cajuste. Cody Ford did not share the award.

why did he drop?

[hermes]

interesting stuff going on with rudolph, ended restructuring talks

they restructured wilson and kendricks to be able to sign bradbury

kyle only has one year left on the deal, but he has said he wants to retire a viking. i guess we'll see what happens since it does seem like his replacement is now on the team. kyle's one of my favorite players i hope they can figure something out long term

I never heard about Wilson. Just Kendricks.

maybe it wasn't wilson, not sure

[KGdaBom]

took a guard from oklahoma in the fourth, traded up to get him so only 7 picks left today (as of right now)

don't know anything about this guy but hey, he's an offensive lineman so that's nice

I'm guessing you are up to date about him by now, but just in case. Second team all American. Big 12 OL of the year shared with Risner and Cajuste. Cody Ford did not share the award.

why did he drop?

By most he was considered a third or fourth round pick so not much of a drop, but a good value where we got him.

[KGdaBom]

interesting stuff going on with rudolph, ended restructuring talks

they restructured wilson and kendricks to be able to sign bradbury

kyle only has one year left on the deal, but he has said he wants to retire a viking. i guess we'll see what happens since it does seem like his replacement is now on the team. kyle's one of my favorite players i hope they can figure something out long term

I never heard about Wilson. Just Kendricks.

maybe it wasn't wilson, not sure

All I ever heard about was Kendricks. Nobody else restructuring or extending for a long time.

[hermes]

got rudolph signed to an extension, 4 years and $36m.

haven't seen anything on the details other than we'll get some cap relief this year and only $9m of it is guaranteed

[Jedzz]

https://thevikingage.com/2019/07/21/why-minnesota-vikings-worse-super-bowl-odds-packers/

[Jedzz]

Teddy ball looked like normal. Teddy playing alright, though his first drive ends with a field goal of course.

Cousins looked fine. Usual suspects catching the passes. Surprised to see who all was at receiver. Maybe the team is learning some things.

[hermes]

good for teddy

so nothing much of note? i didn't watch the game, any injuries?

[hermes]

so we just traded for a new kicker, and now we've potentially got a competition at kicker and punter

the instability in the kicking game has been really amazing under the zimmer regime

[Jedzz]

Instability at the kicking game is probably an understatement. No surprise from this HC or GM. Neither is trading a pick for a new one in August.