Vikings Training Camp 2019 - Superbowl or Bust

[bleedspeed]

Good
Kyle Sloter - He should be our backup. Only way he shouldn't be on the team is if we can get a 3rd rounder or better for him.
Mike Boone - Looks very good
Dalvin Cook - Not a bad run

Bad
-Beebe read coverage wrong again
-Kirk Cousins and the 1st team offense was out of sync.
-Kicking game - I think special teams will cause us to lose 2 games

[Wolvesfan21]

I've favored Zylstra over Beebe myself.

[Monster]

Give me Bisi Johnson. That dude looks like he can play.

Sloter keeps performing in games. That's gotta be good enough to make the team. I think his performance this year has been more impressive than previously because he is often making easy plays not as much running around extending plays. He has done some of that too but yeah. Still it's worth remembering that even though he has developed at this level he played less than 1 season as a starter in college.

Al the RBs looked god including Ameer and both Ameer and Boone had some good coverage in ST.

I have no idea what they are going to do with the guys that kick the ball. I guess one option would be they could trade Vidvik to another team for a 6th rounder. Lol

That DL is beastly. The secondary depth...yeesh. Too many wide open guys got deep in this game. LBs are good too.

Overall that was kind of an ugly game. Zimmer isn't going to be happy with that one. Lots of penalties too I think.

[bleedspeed]

Bisi has looked good. Khari Blasingame looks good too. Oli Udoh has been a surprise.

The RB depth is the reason why I was not excited about us picking Alexander Mattison. He has gotten tough yards, but has not made many splash plays.

53 man projections
http://www.startribune.com/a-53-man-roster-projection-for-the-2019-vikings/553963172/

Based on Zimmerman talking. I think we go with 10 OL, 10 DL, and 8 DB's. The DBs we cut would very likely not be picked up. I think Watts and Udoh have a good chance to be picked up. I would move on from Brothers and go with Downs. I get that Brothers value is on special teams, but I like Downs better as a LB. Blasingame has looked good too. I could see a team picking him up if we cut him.

[bleedspeed]

Game 3 notes

https://www.dailynorseman.com/2019/8/25/20831331/minnesota-vikings-3rd-preseason-game-notes

Interesting take:

Cumulatively, over the first three preseason games, top PFF grades go to Brett Jones, Brandon Dillon, Kyle Sloter, Tyler Conklin, and Olabisi Johnson on offense. Defensively, Jayron Kearse, Shamar Stephen, Ben Gedeon, Harrison Smith and Ifeadi Odenigbo get the top grades. And on special teams, Laquon Treadwell, Khari Blasingame, Ameer Abdullah, Isiah Wharton, and Reshard Cliett get top marks.

The worst grades over the three games go to Chad Beebe, Alexander Mattison, C.J. Ham, Pat Elflein, and Cornelius Edison on offense. On defense, Curtis Cothran, Cameron Smith, Reshard Cliett, Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes get the lowest grades. And on special teams, Brandon Zylstra, Olabisi Johnson, MacKensie Alexander, Austin Cutting, and Tyler Conklin were the lowest graded.

[Monster]

Bisi has looked good. Khari Blasingame looks good too. Oli Udoh has been a surprise.

The RB depth is the reason why I was not excited about us picking Alexander Mattison. He has gotten tough yards, but has not made many splash plays.

53 man projections
http://www.startribune.com/a-53-man-roster-projection-for-the-2019-vikings/553963172/

Based on Zimmerman talking. I think we go with 10 OL, 10 DL, and 8 DB's. The DBs we cut would very likely not be picked up. I think Watts and Udoh have a good chance to be picked up. I would move on from Brothers and go with Downs. I get that Brothers value is on special teams, but I like Downs better as a LB. Blasingame has looked good too. I could see a team picking him up if we cut him.

Mattison is a different back. Boone and Abdullah aren't guys that are gonna be getting tough yards every play. Some of splash plays for RBs are whether their were places to go or not based on the oline. I think Mattison has looked very good. So has Boone and Ameer. I like the pick.

Blasingame...serious question how many NFL teams actually use a FB? I think there is a good chance he makes it through. I would be worried someone grabs him though.

EDIT:

I think Watts is going to be very hard to cut. I'd guess they keep him on the roster over 2 maybe even 3 of the DBs this projection listed. THey have to have some DBS I get that but they aren't going to keep guys that can't play over a promising DT that might also be able to play now.

I don't think Brothers makes the team.

Oline is a tough guess. Dozier has made a surprising case for himself especially since he is now an option as a tackle. Udoh is raw but I think they like him a lot. O'Neill was supposed to be too raw to play right away last year and he did pretty good.

[bleedspeed]

Bisi has looked good. Khari Blasingame looks good too. Oli Udoh has been a surprise.

The RB depth is the reason why I was not excited about us picking Alexander Mattison. He has gotten tough yards, but has not made many splash plays.

53 man projections
http://www.startribune.com/a-53-man-roster-projection-for-the-2019-vikings/553963172/

Based on Zimmerman talking. I think we go with 10 OL, 10 DL, and 8 DB's. The DBs we cut would very likely not be picked up. I think Watts and Udoh have a good chance to be picked up. I would move on from Brothers and go with Downs. I get that Brothers value is on special teams, but I like Downs better as a LB. Blasingame has looked good too. I could see a team picking him up if we cut him.

Mattison is a different back. Boone and Abdullah aren't guys that are gonna be getting tough yards every play. Some of splash plays for RBs are whether their were places to go or not based on the oline. I think Mattison has looked very good. So has Boone and Ameer. I like the pick.

Blasingame...serious question how many NFL teams actually use a FB? I think there is a good chance he makes it through. I would be worried someone grabs him though.

That is a great question. I wouldn't think many do, but he has put up some nice tape that he would be considered a 4th RB/FB type. It helps that he has been good on special teams too. Not a surprised since he was the Anti-Barr. He moved from LB to RB.

I agree Mattison is a different back. I just feel like we could have gone a different direction at that point in the draft and been fine. C.J. Gardner-Johnson who is a backup safety with Saints was my guy at that point. He would be helpful as depth for us as this point at nickel and safety.

[Wolvesfan21]

Mattison reminds me of the Gerhart pick when we had AP. Yeah it's nice to have a good backup RB, but I would rather have went with OLine. The OLine may be better but you can never have enough backups, guys who can fill in multiple positions. Just maybe you hit on another solid starter too.

I'm not huge on having highly drafted backup RB's when other positions are at greater need. We'd be fine with Boone or Ameer as backups.

As we can see, the Gerhart pick never really panned out to much. He got playing time, but he wasn't great and made little impact on wins. I think Mattison will probably be the same. Most likely if the Vikes want to compete they need Cook to stay healthy and be the man with the OLine stepping up from the last decade of suckiness.

[Monster]

Mattison reminds me of the Gerhart pick when we had AP. Yeah it's nice to have a good backup RB, but I would rather have went with OLine. The OLine may be better but you can never have enough backups, guys who can fill in multiple positions. Just maybe you hit on another solid starter too.

I'm not huge on having highly drafted backup RB's when other positions are at greater need. We'd be fine with Boone or Ameer as backups.

As we can see, the Gerhart pick never really panned out to much. He got playing time, but he wasn't great and made little impact on wins. I think Mattison will probably be the same. Most likely if the Vikes want to compete they need Cook to stay healthy and be the man with the OLine stepping up from the last decade of suckiness.

You and bleed make good points. I see this pick somewhat differently because Cook hasn't stayed healthy. It's also worth noting Boone had injury issues in college and Ameer has had his own problems with injuries as an NFL player. AP was already on his way to being a HOFer and stayed healthy after his injury in college. Just because the Gerhart pick didn't work out picking a RB in Mattison won't work out. Toby was supposed to be pretty versatile but he wasn't really a whole lot better than a guy like Asiata. If they were going to pick a RB with AP a super 3rd down back probably made more sense. If Mattison is more of a Chestor Taylor or Latavius Murry guy then it will be a pretty solid pick...and if they make moves to make the oline not being a massive problem. Only time will tell.

[bleedspeed]

That Gerhart pick was odd. I do like that Mattison is a different type of back, but not sure he could ever be the guy. He has proven to stay healthy, but has some mileage on him in college and is not explosive.