Vikings QB of the future search list

[NextQuestion]

Cousins has won ONE game vs the 2012 Browns. He's done nothing since and hasn't been very good in relief. He looks better than RG3 because he was healthy but do not give up more than a 6th for him.

Mallet has hardly played and it's only been in pure garbage time where NE just runs the ball. One of his passes was dropped by Shiancoe and then picked off. Give up nothing for Mallet.

[John_Viveiros]

How about the middle rounds 3 through 5?
(edited)
2007
3/8 72, Marcus McCauley CB

2009
3/22, 86 Asher Allen CB

2012
3/3 66, Josh Robinson CB

The first thing that jumps out is that the Vikigns have had only three 3rd round picks in the last eight drafts. How many "studs" in that bunch?

Thanks for the research! My first thought is that, with that kind of success in the third round, why keep the picks!? The other thought is that we choose the best of (what turns out to be) a bad bunch of CB's in the third round. Maybe we should try another position.

[Purpnation]

Thanks for the research! My first thought is that, with that kind of success in the third round, why keep the picks!? The other thought is that we choose the best of (what turns out to be) a bad bunch of CB's in the third round. Maybe we should try another position.

If I recall correctly, we could have had Casey Hayward but we picked Josh Robinson instead

[NextQuestion]

The Vikings haven't hit on a CB via the draft in a long time. Rhodes made some nice plays last year but DBs just don't get INTs in our system. Cook is a bust too. We could have drafted Casey Hayward but with our soft zone Cover-Nobody defense...Revis & Sherman would fail under Frazier. It was a soft, timid, and polite way to play defense. With Zimmer here I expect us to be aggressive in FA with CBs

[Purpnation]

The Vikings haven't hit on a CB via the draft in a long time. Rhodes made some nice plays last year but DBs just don't get INTs in our system. Cook is a bust too. We could have drafted Casey Hayward but with our soft zone Cover-Nobody defense...Revis & Sherman would fail under Frazier. It was a soft, timid, and polite way to play defense. With Zimmer here I expect us to be aggressive in FA with CBs

I understand what your saying, but true ballhawks succeed regardless of system. At the very least we could have kept a probowl caliber CB off of our division rivals roster.

Agreed on Zimmer being more aggressive in FA with DBs, although I truly think Xavier is going to be somebody, guy just has so much potential.

[NextQuestion]

Xavier and Harrison should shine under Zimmer.

[Purpnation]

Xavier and Harrison should shine under Zimmer.

Agreed.

[Mothman]

The Vikings haven't hit on a CB via the draft in a long time. Rhodes made some nice plays last year but DBs just don't get INTs in our system. Cook is a bust too. We could have drafted Casey Hayward but with our soft zone Cover-Nobody defense...Revis & Sherman would fail under Frazier. It was a soft, timid, and polite way to play defense. With Zimmer here I expect us to be aggressive in FA with CBs

I still think blaming the system for the inadequacies of the players is a cop out. The Vikings haven't spent the past 4 or 5 years just sitting in a soft zone/prevent look on defense all the time. They've mixed up coverages and we've seen quite a few potential picks dropped. I still contend that the far bigger issue has been talent. Cook is close to an NFL record for games played by a DB without an interception. It's pretty hard to believe that's a consequence of the system he plays in and not the fact that he's one of the least instinctive corners you'll ever see. The safeties have been a bad-to-mediocre bunch and when they weren't (Smith and Sharper), they came up with some picks.

More man-to-man coverage could (and hopefully will) yield more INTs but putting better players than Cook, Sherels, Sanford, Raymond, Allen, etc. back there should help more. You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig. Bad DBs typically don't make many interceptions.

[NextQuestion]

Yet when Nnamdi and Rodgers-Cromartie went to Philly and played in zone their careers changed. Nnamdi was putrid and DRC cashed in on a one year deal in Denver. Nnamdi is now retired

[Mothman]

Yet when Nnamdi and Rodgers-Cromartie went to Philly and played in zone their careers changed. Nnamdi was putrid and DRC cashed in on a one year deal in Denver. Nnamdi is now retired

What's your point?

[Loki]

I think our defensive scheme in recent years is definitely to blame for the inadequacies in our secondary. We rarely blitzed to get extra pressure on the quarterback which would've resulted in the corners being able to jump routes. We asked our corners to play a lot of zone which can result in picks but usually only after the quarterback gets used to reading man coverage. I'll admit the talent is definitely sub-par (besides Xavier and Harrison) but the system is definitely holding them all back. Zimmer will defiantly fix this by molding the D to players strengths, using creative blitz's to pressure QB's, and using Zone coverage as a trap against QB's who get in a rhythm throwing timing routes against man coverage.

[Mothman]

I think our defensive scheme in recent years is definitely to blame for the inadequacies in our secondary. We rarely blitzed to get extra pressure on the quarterback which would've resulted in the corners being able to jump routes. We asked our corners to play a lot of zone which can result in picks but usually only after the quarterback gets used to reading man coverage. I'll admit the talent is definitely sub-par (besides Xavier and Harrison) but the system is definitely holding them all back. Zimmer will defiantly fix this by molding the D to players strengths, using creative blitz's to pressure QB's, and using Zone coverage as a trap against QB's who get in a rhythm throwing timing routes against man coverage.

If you acknowledge that the talent has been sub-par then it's pretty tough to argue that the defensive scheme was "definitely to blame for the inadequacies in our secondary". Acknowledging the former undermines the latter argument.

I'm not trying to put forth an either/or argument. It seems to me that both talent and scheme have been factors. I agree that the Vikings scheme has likely had some influence on the low number of INTs they've come up with in recent years but I think talent has had more to do with it. It's easy to blame the scheme but the Vikings, like every other NFL team, have mixed zone and man concepts in recent years. Their DBs haven't been in position to make a lot of INTs either way and when they have been in position, we've seen quite a few drops or failures to make a play on the ball.

[NextQuestion]

My point? It's not a good system. DRC played man again this year in Denver and is viewed as a top CB again. Nnamdi got hurt in SF and was released/retired. Look at Brandon Carr in Dallas...he's terrible in the Cover-2 system there. The system isn't very good.

[dead_poet]

My point? It's not a good system. DRC played man again this year in Denver and is viewed as a top CB again. Nnamdi got hurt in SF and was released/retired. Look at Brandon Carr in Dallas...he's terrible in the Cover-2 system there. The system isn't very good.

That's debatable. Some skills don't translate. Just like Everson Griffen might be a better DE than LB. Nnamdi wasn't much suited for the role, but Charles Tillman clearly is/was. Same for Ronde Barber. Revis played quite a bit of it last year and was still his usual dominant self.

This was an interesting article on the subject: http://www.bucstop.com/2013-articles/ta ... dated.html

I'm not a big fan of it myself, but that's mostly because we don't have the horses to run it effectively. If we end up getting Dennard, for example, it would be smart to play to his (and Rhodes') strengths, which is more man (vs. zone) (also taking into account whatever our defensive line situation could end up being). I hope whatever scheme we run, we play to our defense's strengths rather than trying to force guys into roles to which they are not suited.

[saint33]

That's debatable. Some skills don't translate. Just like Everson Griffen might be a better DE than LB. Nnamdi wasn't much suited for the role, but Charles Tillman clearly is/was. Same for Ronde Barber. Revis played quite a bit of it last year and was still his usual dominant self.

This was an interesting article on the subject: http://www.bucstop.com/2013-articles/ta ... dated.html

I'm not a big fan of it myself, but that's mostly because we don't have the horses to run it effectively. If we end up getting Dennard, for example, it would be smart to play to his (and Rhodes') strengths, which is more man (vs. zone) (also taking into account whatever our defensive line situation could end up being). I hope whatever scheme we run, we play to our defense's strengths rather than trying to force guys into roles to which they are not suited.

Bingo, that's what I think was the main fault of the Frazier and Childress eras. Fitting square pegs into round holes, our schemes were not designed around the players, the players were forced to fit into the scheme, whether it played to their strengths or not.