We’re lucky enough to have renown awesome person, slight Vikings fan (sarcasm!), and insightful bastard Capital J continue our poor man’s Abbot and Costello feature where we discuss Vikings issues. Check out his personal blog, Capital J’s Corner, here, and his free agency and draft insight … RIGHT NOW! FUCK YEAH! As usual, I’m the Asian style italics and he’s the boring, yet smarter, normal print. You’ll figure it out. 
1. Let me preface this by saying that I absolutely hate the possibility of the uncapped year and the effect is has on free agency with the “top 8” rule. It takes the fun out of free agency. We’re likely not going to get any big name free agents this year as we have been accustomed to seeing under Childress. – Which is surprisingly odd to think about. The same cock puncher that let 12 guys out on the field before a possible game winning field goal in the NFC Championship game has managed to put together some ridiculous god damn drafts under his watch. I mean, even his seventh round picks have shown potential in the league. Tyler Thigpen? Well, kind of. But starting center John Sullivan and “potential NFL starter” Jaymar Johnson were found in the sixth rounds? It blows my mind. Even more so when you look at the abortion drafts that were had under Mike Tice. Dustin Fox, Ciatrick Fason, Rod Davis, and Adrian Ward ring any bells? *Shudder* I’ll give Pedobeard props for that. 2. The latest on Chester Taylor – I haven’t checked it out for myself, but I did hear that CT’s jersey is being sold at a discounted rate on Vikings.com, (Doesn’t look to be anymore – Ed.) similar to Darrern Sharper and Matt Birk’s last season. It’s not much, but it could be a small indication that Taylor won’t be back in Vikings’ purple next season. With the release of LT and Darren Sproles also hitting the market, the Chargers, who once had RB’s out the ass, now are in need of a starter. Taylor has been rumored to be headed there. – There and Chicago, and the Lions I heard too. San Diego has gone full retard at the running back spot this offseason. I don’t get what they’re doing. Do you not need a running back on the roster anymore? I bet they target Toby Gerhart and play up that Stanford connection. Plus, a white running back paired with King Laser Face would be some epic shit. 3. If Chester is gone, the Vikings have a few options. First, the in-house option. Yuck. Albert Young and Ian Johnson. Yeah, that’s not happening. But they could also use Percy Harvin as a change of pace back more if that happened. I thought Harvin was under utilized last year in the running game and would definitely be for giving him more touches on the ground. Another option would be to sign one of the cast-off RB’s that has been cut in the last month, which includes big names, Ladainian Tomlinson and Brian Westbrook, and Thomas Jones has also been reportedly cut or will be cut. Westbrook obviously has concussion issues and could be one hit away from retiring, but if healthy would be a great fit for this team. With Adrian Peterson obviously holding the starting spot down, Westbrook could be a dangerous 3rd down weapon. LT will probably look to start somewhere, but I really doubt he still can. He’s simply out of gas and a shell of his former self. He’d be wise to take a reduced role on a contending team. Thomas Jones had around 1,400 rushing yards for the Jets last year, and will likely wind up starting somewhere else. I would welcome Jones if he signed with the Vikings, but the odds of that are remote and not to mention he’s not much of a pass catcher. – Yeah, Thomas Jones makes no sense for the Vikings. Westbrook does, to a degree and for three dollars a game and a ham sandwich, with his concussion issues. LT, not so much either. I don’t think people have been talking enough about Percy’s role in this, which is a pretty interesting point. Maybe this is why the Vikings aren’t as concerned about bringing Chet back because of Harvin’s abilities. It does take him out of the passing game as a threat on third downs, if he’s lined up in the backfield, but maybe they’ll draft or sign another receiver that doesn’t run sloppy West Coast routes ::: … which is ironic, considering his love for California. Rumor has it Favre would love to see an upgrade at the receiver spot. Rumor from where? Just trust me. 4. The Vikings could always spend a draft pick on a RB as well, but there are too many other needs to be considered before hand and if they took a guy in a later round, odds are he wouldn’t be able to contribute much this season anyways. – I agree there too. I’d probably put the draft needs on OG or CB first, but wouldn’t be surprised with WR, QB, or DT as early as the second round either, depending on who is all available. It’s no joke that Favre is probably pushing for an offensive line upgrade if he decides to come back next year. A rookie won’t help that much, and Bryant McKinnie with club foot isn’t an improvement either. Something has to be done from outside the organization. WR doesn’t seem like a need either, but if you have one of those guys go down injured things get pretty ugly. I’d rather the Vikings look like Arizona in the passing game with their weapons than … I don’t know … The Bears or something. 
5. The combine is overrated – I haven’t been able to watch much of the combine, simply because I only get NFL Network on my phone. Anyways, I think it is overhyped. I don’t understand how an OL’s 40 time helps scouts evaluate him, nor do I care how high Tim Tebow can jump. Maybe I’m just bitter because Troy Williamson’s stock was helped so much by it and the fact that he had no hand-eye coordination was overlooked by his 40 time. – You get the NFL Network on your phone?! WANT! … You do realize that the ability to jump is so very important in Brad Childress’ QB system, right? That’s why Favr … oh, nevermind. 6. Antrel could be Rolle’in out of AZ (I see what you did there –Ed.) – S Antrel Rolle is expected to hit the market once the Cardinals officially release him. I’ve head that the Cardinals are still trying to bring him back, but they don’t w
ant to pay him his roster bonus. Do the Vikings need an upgrade at safety? Absolutely. Madieu Williams and Tyrell Johnson combined for just one flippin’ INT last season. That needs to change. Some can blame the Cover 2 system, but the fact is that Johnson in particular had opportunities for several more picks last year and simply couldn’t hold on. Rolle would come at a steep cost and the Vikings will have to determine if he’s worth that or if they want to roll with what they have. To be fair, Johnson did seem to step up towards the end of the season, but he still has stone hands and looks hesitant. Rolle is as dangerous as anyone when he gets his hands on the ball. He once had 3 INT returns for a TD in one game, although one of them was nullified by a penalty. – Ew. Antrel Rolle? I don’t think I buy this idea. I think it’s more of a scheme issue, not a personnel problem. I think Madieu is hated on pretty bad in these parts. He had a tough year, but I’ve always liked him. He’s fine. Could we be better there? Yes, but I don’t want to spend that kind of money on Rolle when we need an OLine upgrade worse. And I’m willing to roll with Johnson and Sanford together, with the single provision that Sanford doesn’t destroy any more lives on the field, unless they are wearing the opposing teams’ colors. 7. Lewis re-signs – The Vikings re-signed Greg “Oh my heavens” Lewis this week. He is what he is; a 4th WR on a good team and a ST contributor. The move assures depth in the receiving corps for now, but don’t be surprised if he’s cut at the end of camp for a younger WR such as Jaymar Johnson, Darius Reynaud, or a draft pick. – See, I don’t get people still suckling the nut juice of Reynaud and Johnson. Neither have done a thing at the receiver position their entire career, and it hasn’t been just because of lack of opportunities. With hurt to start the year these guys had chances to play and they did nothing. Reynaud can contribute on punt returns, but at some point you figure that role goes to someone more dynamic like Harvin. I’d love to see a true number one sized receiver get drafted by the Vikes. Some six foot six animal of a man that weighs like 260 pounds and just skull crushes people in the corner of the endzone. Shit would be awesome!!!! 8. I think the new draft format is terrible. I get they want it to be on primetime, but draft weekend was one of the greatest weekends in all of sports. Leave it alone, Goodell. Stop changing every fricken thing. Now we get like a round a night for a week? Okay, not quite, but might as well. – Totally agree. This may be the single worst thing he’s done besides implementing the no fun rules. Saturday and Sunday draft weekends were awesome. You got wasted all day and waited like 13 hours to hear one single name called. I never went to any official team draft parties, but I assume that it’s much easier to throw and attend one on the weekend than it is on a Thursday night. And didn’t Saturdays use to be the first three rounds until last season? Then on Sunday they were all throw away picks, but who cared, because they were also showing NFL highlights! Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise, kind of like having NFL games on Thursdays, playoff games on Saturdays, and then your Sunday fare. But I doubt it. And think about those borderline first and second round kids waiting to get picked? That Thursday night they spend without hearing their name called is going to be BRUTAL. Hopefully Jets fans will still make us all smile …
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
