Vikings Message Board.Com

I would start off by saying what a tough choice this is. When you have three future all-pros in Kalil, Walsh and Smith to choose from it makes it quite difficult.
My choice would be Kalil but you could certainly argue for Smith and Walsh.

Walsh. 4 field goals against JAX in week 1. I don't think they win with Longwell.

Only misses 3 field goals all year. Never misses a field goal at home. Hits more 50 yarders in a season than anybody ever. Think of the implications of missing a 50+ yarder field goal. Excellent field position and points off the board for the opponent.

My estimation is Walsh, Smith Kalil. Sullivan is improving and Felton helped out a ton for Peterson.

Walsh. He is already arguably the best kicker in the NFL and came through again and again in clutch situations.

Good question. Im going to give my vote to Kalil. His position is not as flashy and wont get the espn highlight plays as Walsh and Smith do, but he has helped turn our line around. We were headed in the wrong direction the last couple of years, and he has been anything but solid and has helped bring a swagger to our line. You really cant go wrong voting for any one of these three and hope we continue to draft guys who love to play and are physical.

Now if the question was who is the biggest surprise, it would have bee Walsh hands down. No one saw that coming.

Wal$h

Kalil. Hands down.

Probably a top five NFL left tackle already in his rookie year. There's a good reason why great left tackles are so highly valued. They don't come along very often.

Kalil

we have three that deserve it IMO Kalil Harrison and Blair Walsh

Walsh.

I think all three players in the conversation are worthy but I would make the decision on the player whom I would keep if forced to keep only one.

Tough choice ... and it comes down to Kalil and Smith for me. I don't mean to downplay Walsh's importance but playmakers at LT and Saftey are worth more to the team in my opinion. Out of those two, I think finding a Safety like Smith is more uncommon than finding a left tackle like Kalil so I'd go with Smith. The secondary was also in worse condition to start the season.

However, it's a very tough question. All of these players filled big holes on the team in their rookie season and all of them did a terrific job especially for their experience in the league.

The future is looking pretty bright for the Vikings. I don't want to look forward to next season as they still have a shot at the playoffs and if they can dominate Houston they can beat anyone in the league, in my opinion. However, I am very excited about next season already.

My vote goes to Walsh as well, although he needs a nickname(although I dug "Legatron" but the kicker on the Rams uses that already)...

I wonder if any team has ever had three rookies make the Pro-Bowl? All three deserve to be there and I imagine that they will.
Again, what a great draft

A three-way tie. Yeah, I know, that's kind of a cop out but I honestly can't rate one of these guys above the other. They play on three different units that span the offense, defense, and special teams. And look at their contributions in each unit!

Kalil plays right at the LoS, where games are won and lost.
Blair Walsh has not only been utterly consistent but he's wowed us with his kicking distance to put points on the board.
Smith has come up with big defensive plays at crucial moments during the season.

What's more, all three of these guys are only going to get better. That has to concern the opposing teams.

Like Purple Bruise said, "What a great draft!"

while i think walsh, kalil and smith all could make a case for it, legolas (walsh) deserves it.

It's honestly a dead heat between Kalil and Walsh, but my vote goes to Walsh.

Kalil has been amazing, of that there is no doubt. And, it could be said that simply raising the level of OL play, and propelling AD toward a possibe 2000 yd season is worth the ROY. Also, I tend to highly value excellent line play.

However, without Walsh's amazing kicking ability, the Jaguars game is a loss. The second Detroit game could have been a loss without Walsh's 4 FGs. And it was his leg that kept the Texans game out of reach, IMO. How demoralizing must it have been to watch the Texans defense stymie the Vikings offense, only to have Walsh boot a 56 and 41 yarder in the 2nd and then add the 39 yarder in the third to maintain the momentum in the Vikings favor.

Plus, he kicked more 50+ yarders in one season than anyone... ever. As a rookie.

Any of those games could have turned on Walsh's leg. For that. he's earned ROY, IMO.