Viking make playoffs next season

[jackal]

Greatly improved defense from last year...

Added defensive weapons in all three sections of defense ...
Waynes CB
Kendricks ILB
That gives us an awesome group with Barr/Kendricks/Hodges
possibly

Our DL might have to wait for our replacement at RE
Scott Crighton or The LSU JPP guy

Peterson back in the fold...

Teddy should see a lot of single coverage with wide outs

( I love Jennings...) Wright has a lot more upside and speed, now

My only concern is the OL .. IM guessing Yankey or Harris will take
the LG spot next season

[Jordysghost]

Greatly improved defense from last year...

Added defensive weapons in all three sections of defense ...
Waynes CB
Kendricks ILB
That gives us an awesome group with Barr/Kendricks/Hodges
possibly

Our DL might have to wait for our replacement at RE
Scott Crighton or The LSU JPP guy

Peterson back in the fold...

Teddy should see a lot of single coverage with wide outs

( I love Jennings...) Wright has a lot more upside and speed, now

My only concern is the OL .. IM guessing Yankey or Harris will take
the LG spot next season

I think there is a decent chance of this as well.

You got the Packers and Lions to compete with, and I think you are better then.the Lions, I was surprised the swept you guys last year. It should definitely be an interesting season.

[halfgiz]

In a 2016 mock draft they had us picking 19. We have improved we just need a little luck to go with it.


http://walterfootball.com/draft2016_1.php

[mondry]

Yeah at this point I'd be absolutely shocked if we don't make the playoffs. Peterson alone is enough to take a 7-9 team into the wild card hunt, he's good for 2 wins even at 30. But the big thing most people aren't taking into account is how much more effective Patterson's game is when we have 8 guys in the box focused on AD. Without AD, the other team could focus on exploiting Patterson's weaknesses as a WR so losing AD was really like losing our two biggest weapons. There's more reasons than that why we'll make the playoffs but that's what's going to make our offense click again to go along with a defense that was much improved and only going to get better.

[The Breeze]

Yeah at this point I'd be absolutely shocked if we don't make the playoffs. Peterson alone is enough to take a 7-9 team into the wild card hunt, he's good for 2 wins even at 30. But the big thing most people aren't taking into account is how much more effective Patterson's game is when we have 8 guys in the box focused on AD. Without AD, the other team could focus on exploiting Patterson's weaknesses as a WR so losing AD was really like losing our two biggest weapons. There's more reasons than that why we'll make the playoffs but that's what's going to make our offense click again to go along with a defense that was much improved and only going to get better.

Throw in the way Wallace can stretch the field and the off chance that Rudolph stays healthy, it's almost like getting 3 new players for Bridgewater on offense.

[CbusVikesFan]

It would be sweet if we did make a run to or in the playoffs. Be the flying under the radar, look out for this team, to the most improved, to the team that nobody wants to play in the playoffs.

[mosscarter]

you guys are making a ton of assumptions here. how can you take a 2012 peterson and compare him to a 2015 peterson? you don't believe age has any factor in this comparison because it does. father time catches up with all of us. i still think peterson can run for 1,300 yds and maybe 8 or 10 td's, but not much more than that. our offensive line, at this point still sucks. i live near pittsburgh and have watched mike wallace for most of his career. he is faster than anyone on the field, but he has horrible hands along with a horrible attitude. his attitude is worse than randy moss' ever was and he isn't half the receiver. for those who think trading for wallace solved our receiving problems you are in for a rude awakening. as noted, his attitude is as bad as it gets and he's barely 6 ft tall. in walllace's mind he actually believes he DESERVES 10-12 million a year and that is a joke. he might be worth 5 mil a year; and that is only after we actually see what he will do.

[nightowl]

you guys are making a ton of assumptions here. how can you take a 2012 peterson and compare him to a 2015 peterson? you don't believe age has any factor in this comparison because it does. father time catches up with all of us. i still think peterson can run for 1,300 yds and maybe 8 or 10 td's, but not much more than that. our offensive line, at this point still sucks. i live near pittsburgh and have watched mike wallace for most of his career. he is faster than anyone on the field, but he has horrible hands along with a horrible attitude. his attitude is worse than randy moss' ever was and he isn't half the receiver. for those who think trading for wallace solved our receiving problems you are in for a rude awakening. as noted, his attitude is as bad as it gets and he's barely 6 ft tall. in walllace's mind he actually believes he DESERVES 10-12 million a year and that is a joke. he might be worth 5 mil a year; and that is only after we actually see what he will do.

But you're making assumptions about Peterson too. I have no clue what Peterson will give the Vikes, but I wouldn't be so quick to assume Peterson is going to hit some magic wall at 30 and fall apart. Someday, someone will prove that theory wrong, why can't it be AD, why shouldn't it? If anyone was going to do it Peterson would be a prime candidate. He's a genetic freak, even among the great athletes in the NFL he's above them, he's in the .01%. Let's not forget that this is the guy who rewrote the expectations for an ACL recovery. That right there shows you this guy is biologically different.

Also, there have already been RB's who've had really good seasons after 30. Curtis Martin put up 1,300 and 1,600 seasons at around the same age. Walter Payton ran for 1,600, 1,500 & 1,300 + at and after turning 30. It's not impossible for a RB to have a great couple of season after 30. I'm not counting on AD doing it, but I won't say he can't. He's a freak, he's fresh and he's highly motivated.

I don't know much about Wallace, other than he was mis-cast in Miami with a QB and offensive scheme who didn't play to his strengths as a down field threat. I don't think anyone has proclaimed him to be Moss-like. I don't know that he has to be, his speed and rep as a down field terror should help the offense. He's certainly not some scrub based on the 12 catches, 180+ yards and 2 TD's he put up on the Pats & Darrell Revis in 2 games last year. I don't worry one second about his attitude. He bombed in Miami, he's got no Guaranteed money left so his contract can/will be shredded easily after this year, so he's playing for a new deal this year. He's got millions of reasons to be on his best behavior, and put up his best performance.

Bottom line, his speed and big play ability has to be accounted for, the defense can not & will not allow him to run free. That by itself will affect the offense and create opportunities for players around him, how much remains to be seen.

You are right though, there are a lot of what if's and could be's that make it impossible for me say anything other than they "could" challenge for a playoff spot.

[LuckyHandsINC]

you guys are making a ton of assumptions here. how can you take a 2012 peterson and compare him to a 2015 peterson? you don't believe age has any factor in this comparison because it does. father time catches up with all of us. i still think peterson can run for 1,300 yds and maybe 8 or 10 td's, but not much more than that. our offensive line, at this point still sucks. i live near pittsburgh and have watched mike wallace for most of his career. he is faster than anyone on the field, but he has horrible hands along with a horrible attitude. his attitude is worse than randy moss' ever was and he isn't half the receiver. for those who think trading for wallace solved our receiving problems you are in for a rude awakening. as noted, his attitude is as bad as it gets and he's barely 6 ft tall. in walllace's mind he actually believes he DESERVES 10-12 million a year and that is a joke. he might be worth 5 mil a year; and that is only after we actually see what he will do.

http://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/stats/drops/2014/

54th in drops. 4 drops on 115 targets with 3.5 drop%.

[fiestavike]

http://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/stats/drops/2014/

54th in drops. 4 drops on 115 targets with 3.5 drop%.

Welcome to the board Mike! Excited to see what you can do this season with 8 in the box.

[Jordysghost]

Welcome to the board Mike! Excited to see what you can do this season with 8 in the box.

Wallace and Peterson.

[mosscarter]

lucky hands those are last year's numbers and thankfully a big improvement, but trust me in pittsburgh he dropped balls constantly any steeler fan will tell you the same (i'm surrounded by them unfortunately). i just think we need one reliable big target and johnson and patterson are huge question marks.

[DK Sweets]

lucky hands those are last year's numbers and thankfully a big improvement, but trust me in pittsburgh he dropped balls constantly any steeler fan will tell you the same (i'm surrounded by them unfortunately). i just think we need one reliable big target and johnson and patterson are huge question marks.

And if you asked any of us today, we would tell you EVERYTHING that sucks about Percy Harvin. We would make him sound like the worst receiver in the league. The truth is, he's a great talent that had an outside shot at Offensive Player of the Year in 2012 and could still be dynamic in the right system.

You can't trust a player's value off of people whose perception is deeply shadowed by emotion.

Mike Wallace isn't Randy Moss, but the film and stats both back up the notion that his hands aren't a black eye on his resume.

[mansquatch]

In 2013 we had a very strong group of skill positions which was completely hollowed out by the QB debacle. That offense, while enduring Christian Ponder, put up tremendous points per game. Sadly, it was over shadowed by the disaster of the defense.

In 2014 we were missing our best player, Rudolph for most of the season, and Cassel going down early. OUR OL only had all 5 starters in one game, the opener. Teddy went through growing pains as did our back up RB. The defense made tremendous strides.

2013 was a different coaching staff and that matters, but it is hard to not think that 2015 could be a big year. If the skill guys are back, Teddy continues to grow, and the Defense continues to improve then this team has high ceiling.

Lots of ifs, but reason for excitement.

[mondry]

In 2013 we had a very strong group of skill positions which was completely hollowed out by the QB debacle. That offense, while enduring Christian Ponder, put up tremendous points per game. Sadly, it was over shadowed by the disaster of the defense.

In 2014 we were missing our best player, Rudolph for most of the season, and Cassel going down early. OUR OL only had all 5 starters in one game, the opener. Teddy went through growing pains as did our back up RB. The defense made tremendous strides.

2013 was a different coaching staff and that matters, but it is hard to not think that 2015 could be a big year. If the skill guys are back, Teddy continues to grow, and the Defense continues to improve then this team has high ceiling.

Lots of ifs, but reason for excitement.

I agree, we've seen the offense with Peterson be above average and we've seen the defense last year also above average (in most categories anyway) so now it just needs to come together in the same year and we're in business.