Roster Cuts

[DK Sweets]

I didn't feel like this deserved it's own thread, but here is our practice squad (as of now):

DE B.J. DuBose
OL Isame Faciane
WR Isaac Fruechte
S Anthony Harris
LB Brian Peters
FB Blake Renaud
LB Brandon Watts
RB Dominique Williams
OL David Yankey

[Texas Vike]

I didn't feel like this deserved it's own thread, but here is our practice squad (as of now):

DE B.J. DuBose
OL Isame Faciane
WR Isaac Fruechte
S Anthony Harris
LB Brian Peters
FB Blake Renaud
LB Brandon Watts
RB Dominique Williams
OL David Yankey

Glad to see Williams, Yankey, and Watts on the PS. Something about Yankey just feels 'off' though, like he'll never cut it. But this is just intuition, I really don't know much about what is going on with him.

[S197]

Xavier Rhodes
Terence Newman
Trae Waynes
Captain Munnerlyn
Marcus Sherels
Jabari Price
Josh Robinson

There is no way we keep 7 CBs. Which two players do you think will be cut when Price and Robinson become available?

(I'm not implying that two of the top 5 guys on this list are gone. Price and Robinson may be temporary keepers, or we could cut a player from a different position group.)

I'm thinking kerin and maybe captain? It's no secret he's fallen out of favor, maybe enough to even get cut.

[PurpleKoolaid]

Yeah, why would a football team want good athletes?

I agree that the Ol needs more attention and I understand the gripe about Patterson, even if I don't agree with it, but McKinnon performed admirably as a rookie and it's not as if he was just an athlete and not a good football player when he was drafted. He had already proven himself to be both so what the heck is the complaint there?

Sarcasm or you really didnt understand me.

CP was drafted mainly because he was a freakish athletic player who had almost ZERO time playing/practicing as a WR. He doesnt have the hands, or, imo, the basic understanding of running routes/seperation. But we paid a ton to pick him where we did. It seems, to me, to be a very bad pick. I doubt hes on this team next year. Thats why I dont care for the picks mainly based on what type of athlete they are. I know I still bash Rick from time to time, but I'm starting to enjoy the purplekoolaid. I think the team is forming into a long time team of depth. With a chance of short time wins. If Waynes is a bust though......j/k )

[Mothman]

Sarcasm or you really didnt understand me.

The wink indicated that i was asking a rhetorical question... so sarcasm.

CP was drafted mainly because he was a freakish athletic player who had almost ZERO time playing/practicing as a WR. He doesnt have the hands, or, imo, the basic understanding of running routes/seperation. But we paid a ton to pick him where we did. It seems, to me, to be a very bad pick.

That pick was a long term investment and an obvious risk. Whether it will ultimately pay off or not remains in question (that's the nature of long term investments) but it's fair that some people are just against that approach. As I said, I understand your gripe about Patterson.

Thats why I dont care for the picks mainly based on what type of athlete they are.

You didn't answer my question about McKinnon. How is he like Patterson and in what way is he an "athlete" in the negative sense you seem to be applying to the word? The guy rushed for over 2800 yards during his final 2 seasons of college football and performed admirably last year as a rookie RB for the Vikes, averaging 4.8 yards per carry and rushing for over 538 yards on 113 attempts.

[Mothman]

Glad to see Williams, Yankey, and Watts on the PS. Something about Yankey just feels 'off' though, like he'll never cut it. But this is just intuition, I really don't know much about what is going on with him.

I have the same feeling but I guess the Vikes don't think they should give up on him ... at least not yet.

[PurpleKoolaid]

I guess because I heard an interview about Mckinoon being picked in the 3rd round, when most had him as a 5th-6th. He just had that 'it' quality, that is a HUGE in RD 3 when there were other better pure RB's there.

So how much of his rushing came from being a RB? How much as an option QB? How much time do you think the Vikings will spend running gimmick plays wit McKinnon.

But I do like him, I guess like I like Harris the RB we cut. Hard to explain why it do, but I do. At one time I though McKinoon could be our featured RB, if he got a ton of reps. I dont anymore. At this point Im hoping AD can be a 1000 yard rusher this year.

[PurpleMustReign]

They will NOT cut Captain. I can guarantee that.

[DK Sweets]

They will NOT cut Captain. I can guarantee that.

I wouldn't bet on them cutting Captain, but I'm not nearly as confident as you are.

As a matter of fact, I think that Captain would be cut before Sherels would be. If one of the 5 healthy CBs are to be cut, I would bet it is Captain.

[John_Viveiros]

I didn't feel like this deserved it's own thread, but here is our practice squad (as of now):

DE B.J. DuBose
OL Isame Faciane
WR Isaac Fruechte
S Anthony Harris
LB Brian Peters
FB Blake Renaud
LB Brandon Watts
RB Dominique Williams
OL David Yankey

I got half the guys I wanted (Harris, Peters, and Williams). That's not bad. Of course, I'm willing to allow that the Vikings staff might know a wee bit more about these guys than I do. Pleased to see that the staff thinks Yankey is worth a PS slot. I guess he hasn't cut the mustard, but they still see some potential, so I'm hoping he's going to figure it out in another year.

Oh, almost forgot. How bad was Tyrus Thompson to not even make the PS in a position of need!

I still don't see anything in DuBose. Weirdest guy to draft, and now to put on the practice squad, from what I've read and seen. I wonder if BJ has any incriminating pictures of Spielman somewhere.

[John_Viveiros]

I was thinking about that yesterday because initially, I had the same reaction. Then I thought: the Vikes drafted 10 players and they've been drafting 9 or 10 every year since Childress was fired. As we know, they can only keep 53 so keeping all 10 rookies is almost the equivalent of replacing 1/5 of the roster. If a team can do that every year, they're probably not doing a good enough job of building a quality roster. At some point, keeping that many rookies simply shouldn't be viable because the team has become too strong and too deep. Hopefully, the Vikes have reached a point where that's the case and it will become even more difficult for mid-to-late round rookies to make the roster as the team moves forward. Ultimately, i think that would speak to the quality of the team in a positive sense.

Good points Jim.

I would think you would change your draft strategy based on the quality of your roster. If your team stinks, you probably want to draft a whole lot of replacement level players to fill in where you are weak. But if you have a good roster, you probably should be taking more risks with your later picks. Look at the LB corps - it's solid now, although to be honest, I'm still not convinced anyone is elite yet. But there's no reason to draft guys who will be replacement level players at LB - that's Mauti at this moment. You want to get guys who have a chance to make your team better. So you go after the high SPARQ guys from small colleges and see if you can coach them up. I am feeling pretty good about the ability of our coaching staff to get the most out of our defenders at the moment.

[Mothman]

I guess because I heard an interview about Mckinoon being picked in the 3rd round, when most had him as a 5th-6th. He just had that 'it' quality, that is a HUGE in RD 3 when there were other better pure RB's there.

NFL.com had him projected in Round 3 or 4 and NFLDraftscout.com had him projected as a 4th rounder so I don't think he was a big reach. His talent was evident.

So how much of his rushing came from being a RB?

Quite a bit of it, I think. You can get a general idea by reading his NFL.com draft profile: http://www.nfl.com/draft/2011/profiles/ ... id=2543715

How much time do you think the Vikings will spend running gimmick plays wit McKinnon.

Not much. That wasn't his role last year and they don't seem to see him as a gimmick player.

But I do like him, I guess like I like Harris the RB we cut. Hard to explain why it do, but I do. At one time I though McKinoon could be our featured RB, if he got a ton of reps. I dont anymore. At this point Im hoping AD can be a 1000 yard rusher this year.

Okay, but I still don't understand why you see him as an "athlete"of a type the Vikes shouldn't draft in the future.

[Mothman]

Good points Jim.

I would think you would change your draft strategy based on the quality of your roster. If your team stinks, you probably want to draft a whole lot of replacement level players to fill in where you are weak. But if you have a good roster, you probably should be taking more risks with your later picks. Look at the LB corps - it's solid now, although to be honest, I'm still not convinced anyone is elite yet. But there's no reason to draft guys who will be replacement level players at LB - that's Mauti at this moment. You want to get guys who have a chance to make your team better. So you go after the high SPARQ guys from small colleges and see if you can coach them up. I am feeling pretty good about the ability of our coaching staff to get the most out of our defenders at the moment.

Thanks, John.

I feel pretty good about the defensive coaching staff too andI agree that once the team feels the roster is strong enough, it might make sense to modify their draft strategy a bit.

[S197]

I was thinking about that yesterday because initially, I had the same reaction. Then I thought: the Vikes drafted 10 players and they've been drafting 9 or 10 every year since Childress was fired. As we know, they can only keep 53 so keeping all 10 rookies is almost the equivalent of replacing 1/5 of the roster. If a team can do that every year, they're probably not doing a good enough job of building a quality roster. At some point, keeping that many rookies simply shouldn't be viable because the team has become too strong and too deep. Hopefully, the Vikes have reached a point where that's the case and it will become even more difficult for mid-to-late round rookies to make the roster as the team moves forward. Ultimately, i think that would speak to the quality of the team in a positive sense.

Yes, it would be nice if we are finally transitioning from rebuild mode to reload mode.

[DK Sweets]

I got half the guys I wanted (Harris, Peters, and Williams). That's not bad. Of course, I'm willing to allow that the Vikings staff might know a wee bit more about these guys than I do. Pleased to see that the staff thinks Yankey is worth a PS slot. I guess he hasn't cut the mustard, but they still see some potential, so I'm hoping he's going to figure it out in another year.

Oh, almost forgot. How bad was Tyrus Thompson to not even make the PS in a position of need!

I still don't see anything in DuBose. Weirdest guy to draft, and now to put on the practice squad, from what I've read and seen. I wonder if BJ has any incriminating pictures of Spielman somewhere.

I hadn't even noticed Tyrus hadn't found a spot until you pointed it out. You're right, though, he must have really #### the bed.