Vikings Message Board.Com

fiestavike wrote: Sherels is one of my favorite Vikings. He makes the most of what abilities he has. That's all you can ask of anyone.

Absolutely. He has improved vastly in coverage as well.

Demi wrote: Overrated.

Gets incredibly talented returners. Faces a good returner and gets burned.

Unless you're going to give him credit for turning Walsh around? Who knows on that. Not enough to keep a guy who hasn't done much else...talent matters. There's a reason good returners usually have good returns, and it's not coached up blockers...

Look at our rankings in kick coverage before he was hired. Look at it since.

Look how Sherels has improved over the years he's been here.

Look how we traded the best kick returner in the game and then replaced him with the new best kick returner in the game.

Look at the inconsistent college kicker that he turned into one of (if not) the best kicker in the NFL



I wouldn't say he's overrated.

We spent a 1st rounder on that best kick returner, and then spend a 6th on a freaking kicker. Not like he turned a couple undrafted bums into valued members of this team...

I liked the Walsh pick, but there were plenty of people who thought it was pointless to spend that pick on a kicker. Because he's a kicker. Did he really "coach" these guys, or get a guy who's an amazingly gifted returner, and a damn good kicker, and just just happen to be the coach at the time...

As far as the return stats against...maybe a certain rules change helped? And when he faced a good returner...they got scorched...

Demi wrote:We spent a 1st rounder on that best kick returner, and then spend a 6th on a freaking kicker. Not like he turned a couple undrafted bums into valued members of this team...

I liked the Walsh pick, but there were plenty of people who thought it was pointless to spend that pick on a kicker. Because he's a kicker. Did he really "coach" these guys, or get a guy who's an amazingly gifted returner, and a damn good kicker, and just just happen to be the coach at the time...

As far as the return stats against...maybe a certain rules change helped? And when he faced a good returner...they got scorched...

So a coach needs to turn undrafted players into all pros in order for them to keep their jobs?

Priefer played a role in the drafting of both those players. And I'll never understand the constant complaints for using draft picks on kickers/punters. They are players who impact the team a hell of a lot more than almost all other 6th round picks, who are usually relegated to backup positions and don't usually stick with their teams more than a few seasons, if they last at all. Of course there are exceptions to this, but a good young kicker shouldn't be taken for granted. Especially one of Walsh's caliber.

And of course the rule changed helped, as it did for the rest of the league. Doesn't change the fact that we went from one of the worst teams in the league in kick coverage to up towards the top. Not to mention that same kicker also helped a great deal in that department, being able to kick it through the endzone unlike Shortwell.

If all it takes for a special teams coach to get fired is the occasional long return given up to the best return men in the league, well then I don't know how any of them keep their jobs for more than a year or two.

Oh and it's not like he's only been successful in Minnesota. In Denver both Eddie Royal and Eric Decker were top ten in Punt return/kick return average respectively. In Kansas City he coached Dustin Colquitt to the top 3 punting years in Chiefs history.

Success has followed Priefer where ever he has gone. Of course we could always let him go and risk going back a few years when we gave up touchdowns at will to return teams. Can't remember the exact year, 2009 or 2010 if I recall we almost set the record for most touchdowns allowed on punt/kick returns. Now we're at the top of the league in kick coverage, and didn't allow a single touchdown last year. And I don't remember if we allowed one this year, but it was at most 1.

saint33 wrote:Success has followed Priefer where ever he has gone. Of course we could always let him go and risk going back a few years when we gave up touchdowns at will to return teams. Can't remember the exact year, 2009 or 2010 if I recall we almost set the record for most touchdowns allowed on punt/kick returns. Now we're at the top of the league in kick coverage, and didn't allow a single touchdown last year. And I don't remember if we allowed one this year, but it was at most 1.

It's one, on a punt return (I think it was in the Green Bay game).

I agreed with the vast majority of your post and I think Priefer is a good coach but I do have to point out that the coverage teams have taken a BIG step back this year. Neither the punt or kick return coverage is near the top of the league and, in fact, the kickoff coverage team is close to the bottom. Only 3 teams 9Houston, NYG and GB) are allowing a higher average per kickoff return.

The punt coverage unit is better but is still in the bottom third of the league.

You can see the stats here:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/stats/team ... _3:col_1=7