Minnesota Sports Forum

I like some of the young OL on this team. It is time to throw them into the fire.

I'm not a fan of Kubiak coming on as the Head Assistant. That says to me Stefanski is on a real short leash and will just become Kubiak's on field puppet at the first sign of turbulence for the young coach. I would have liked it much more if he was just brought in as a consultant/adviser to help install an offense Zimmer likes and then move to the background when the season starts. Instead he's head assistant and half the offensive staff are his guys so Stef doesn't have the control over the offense that he should.

Also, we've been throwing our young OL into the fire and they've failed pretty bad for the most part. I don't think playing time is the key to unlocking them at this point. Who out of Elflein, Isidora, O'Neil and Hill have shown to be even average players when they've been in the game? None of them. So Reiff is shaky on the blind side. We'd keep Elflein and O'Neil at their spots just to see if they can bounce back, but if not there needs to back a backup plan in place that can come in and be average. I'm not sure Easton is worth the gamble with his neck injury. The line is just in shambles and needs a complete overhaul starting at the guard spots and then working outside and possibly C. We're talking a multiple year dedicated approach type of overhaul through the draft because we don't have the cap space to dramatically improve the line. And frankly nothing about this coaching staff and front office currently has me having faith they can draft the guys we need at those spots. They've whiffed on pretty much everyone they have drafted so far.

"Outside of left tackle Riley Reiff - who himself had some ugly outings, most notably Buffalo - the Vikings didn't have a single offensive lineman with a top-80 grade this season."

khans2k5 wrote:I'm not a fan of Kubiak coming on as the Head Assistant. That says to me Stefanski is on a real short leash and will just become Kubiak's on field puppet at the first sign of turbulence for the young coach. I would have liked it much more if he was just brought in as a consultant/adviser to help install an offense Zimmer likes and then move to the background when the season starts. Instead he's head assistant and half the offensive staff are his guys so Stef doesn't have the control over the offense that he should.

Also, we've been throwing our young OL into the fire and they've failed pretty bad for the most part. I don't think playing time is the key to unlocking them at this point. Who out of Elflein, Isidora, O'Neil and Hill have shown to be even average players when they've been in the game? None of them. So Reiff is shaky on the blind side. We'd keep Elflein and O'Neil at their spots just to see if they can bounce back, but if not there needs to back a backup plan in place that can come in and be average. I'm not sure Easton is worth the gamble with his neck injury. The line is just in shambles and needs a complete overhaul starting at the guard spots and then working outside and possibly C. We're talking a multiple year dedicated approach type of overhaul through the draft because we don't have the cap space to dramatically improve the line. And frankly nothing about this coaching staff and front office currently has me having faith they can draft the guys we need at those spots. They've whiffed on pretty much everyone they have drafted so far.

"Outside of left tackle Riley Reiff - who himself had some ugly outings, most notably Buffalo - the Vikings didn't have a single offensive lineman with a top-80 grade this season."

Supposedly Stefanski and Klint Kubiak are tight. The Vikings haven't actually hired the supposed Kubiak Oline guy Rick Dennison yet. Stefanski has some of his own power because he has been here for years and was interviewing for head coaching positions. There are legit concerns but I think Stefanski is gonna be able to do what he wants. It will be interesting to see who they end up with for Oline coach. It seems people still think it will be Dennison but he has interest from other teams so we will see.

I think O'Neill was actually legitimately encouraging especially considering he was a rookie and SUPPOSEDLY raw. If you put any stock in PFF grades (it's something to go off of) Elf was a disaster this year. Of course that shouldn't be completely shocking the guy rehabbed a lower and upper body injuries in the offseason...Of there is one thing this team seemingly cannot be trusted with is the offensive line. That PPF quote is pretty damning. Hopefully Kubiak has some actual clue in that area.

I am ready to move Elfein to guard at this point. I think Easton and him would make good guards in zone scheme. Both are able to pull and get to the second level. O'Neill and Collins fit that mold too.

I really think Elfein will have a bounce-back season, but I think freeing him up from center duties would really get more value out of him. He just got manhandled by power nose tackles and I would like to see a bigger more physical center at the point of attack. It helps a ton in short yardage when you have that guy in the middle that can move the pile.

bleedspeed177 wrote:I am ready to move Elfein to guard at this point. I think Easton and him would make good guards in zone scheme. Both are able to pull and get to the second level. O'Neill and Collins fit that mold too.

I really think Elfein will have a bounce-back season, but I think freeing him up from center duties would really get more value out of him. He just got manhandled by power nose tackles and I would like to see a bigger more physical center at the point of attack. It helps a ton in short yardage when you have that guy in the middle that can move the pile.

Again should it be a surprise the guy got manhandled as a 2nd year player rehabbing a lower body injury and a shoulder injury? He couldn't get stronger and maybe was weaker than his first year coming out of college. Talk about being thrown into the fire...or maybe more accurately the Wolves. Maybe he should move to guard but I'm not sure strength will be the problem at C...it might be and while I also look for him to be better next year with a healthy offseason he isn't a sure thing regardless of where you put him and that's worrisome.

Meanwhile according to what you want why didn't they play Brett Jones somewhere? Remmers at RG just seems about as befuddling as anything for this Oline and they basically stuck him there with no thought of him helping as a tackle. It didn't work although having a vet next to O'Neill probably wasn't the worst thing ever. Again it doesn't feel like this team gets much benefit of the doubt in terms of Oline. Losing Sparano was a factor but it's still hard to give them the benefit of the doubt when it seems like a Remmers at RG was THE plan.

Funny you bring up Brett Jones. I was wondering why we didn't play him more. We seemed to play our best with him at center. I really was shocked we didn't try someone else other than Remmers at RG. I won't be surprised if good coaching and continued development of guys like O'Neill, Elfein, Isidora, and Collins make an impact for us next year.

Running backs:

https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2019/01/the-future-of-the-vikings-part-2-running-backs/

I think Cook should be only guy safe bet to return. I would love a big back and scat back to go along with Cook. The big back could double as a FB. I always thought a backfield of Cook and Murray would work well. You could give a lot of looks with that combo. Both are pretty good pas blockers and good at making catches out of the backfield.

WR's

https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2019/01/the-future-of-the-vikings-part-3-receivers/

I am pretty happy with WR's. We certainly could use an upgrade for 3rd WR, but would say I would rather we get another TE at this point. I think Chad Beebe is going to become a good 3rd option. He seems to have Eldeman potential to me.

I wouldn't be against grabbing another WR in the draft.

My area of needs in the draft would be OL-LB-TE-DL.

bleedspeed177 wrote:WR's

https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2019/01/the-future-of-the-vikings-part-3-receivers/

I am pretty happy with WR's. We certainly could use an upgrade for 3rd WR, but would say I would rather we get another TE at this point. I think Chad Beebe is going to become a good 3rd option. He seems to have Eldeman potential to me.

I wouldn't be against grabbing another WR in the draft.

My area of needs in the draft would be OL-LB-TE-DL.

I think we really need a good slot guy to take the pressure off the outside guys. Teams only have to cover 2 guys right now because Rudolph just isn't used much for some reason. We need our version of Cooper Kupp to open up the offense. There are definitely bigger needs, but I think we can find that guy in the later rounds of the draft/free agency and we need him.

No doubt. We missed Jarius Wright a lot. Treadwell didn't step up. I wonder how much confidence the coaching staff has in Beebe. He just seems to produce when given the shot.

https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2019/02/building-of-patriots-offense-should-be-blueprint-for-vikings-offseason/