Looking at the Vikings

[Partial]

This team got pressure against our OL which has been solid is pass blocking.

Sidney Rice looks like he'll be an animal!

Adrian Peterson looks like he will be one of the best in the league for years to come.

They've got a young QB w/ a cannon who is fairly mobile.

The outlook is pretty damn bright for this team. Scary thought for us Packer fans. They've got a lot of puzzle pieces and they could be a scary good team once they put it all together.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Peterson is a beast. This is the first game where I saw something out of Rice. It was mostly against Jarrett Bush. He'll need to do more before I'm convinced he'll be good. I didn't think their pass rush did that much. Of course, Favre is a tough guy to pressure. Philadelphia's pass rush was much more impressive. I'm not sold on their young QB. His arm strength is overrated, and he has little accuracy over 15 yards. Their defense is good though. Their RBs are great. They are about 3 OL, 2 WRs, and a QB away from being damn good. Their secondary is decent, but they don't have a lot of great cover guys on their defense.

[Partial]

Peterson is a beast. This is the first game where I saw something out of Rice. It was mostly against Jarrett Bush. He'll need to do more before I'm convinced he'll be good. I didn't think their pass rush did that much. Of course, Favre is a tough guy to pressure. Philadelphia's pass rush was much more impressive. I'm not sold on their young QB. His arm strength is overrated, and he has little accuracy over 15 yards. Their defense is good though. Their RBs are great. They are about 3 OL, 2 WRs, and a QB away from being damn good. Their secondary is decent, but they don't have a lot of great cover guys on their defense.

I am not sold on the QB but it looks like their receivers are good enough to win with when you have two good running backs in Taylor and Peterson. They should run the ball 30-40 times a game with those two guys. Peterson is really F'in fast and hit the whole ridiculously hard. He looks like a savy 5 year vet at the top of his game already.

I am not saying Rice is a pro-bowler by any means but he looks solid and looks like he has the potential to be really good. Very athletic looking and seems to have great balance and body control. Reminds me of Walker in his rookie year to an extent.

There defense was getting good enough pressure to eliminate a vertical passing game. I was actually really impressed with their ends and didn't notice a massive interior push too much. Perhaps it is a snow balling effect that made their ends look much better to me.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I think Rice has good hands and makes acrobatic catches. He doesn't have the speed that Walker had. He could be more like a Cris Carter type receiver.

I thought you didn't see the game?

[Partial]

I think Rice has good hands and makes acrobatic catches. He doesn't have the speed that Walker had. He could be more like a Cris Carter type receiver.

I thought you didn't see the game?

I watched it late last night. I recorded it on the DVR. That thing is so nice. I watched the game in about an hour and a half!

[Patler]

They clearly have some pieces, but they have some holes and some potential holes in the future.

Hutchinson obviously has good years left, but he will be 30 in a month, so now is the time as far as he is concerned. Four years from now could be too late. Birk is already 31. Hicks will be 29 next month. McKinnie isn't quite the stud many thought he could be, and Cook seems to need some work if he is to be their future at tackle. I don't see their O-line improving. It could be at its peak with these players.

Williamson and Rice might develop into something. Wade is what he is. Their RBs look good. They should be a good running team for a few years, so maybe they can ride Peterson to some wins. But as with most teams, unless they have a QB, the offense will likely struggle.

Defensively they have some age to deal with in the not real distant future. Pat Williams will be 35 this month, Sharper is almost 32, Winfield is 30. The window with hese guys is closing, not unlike with Harris and Woodson.

The Vikings need Jackson to blossom, or they need to stumble on to someone else. Then they need to really hit on a draft or two to infuse some youth into their roster at some key spots.

[3irty1]

I agree that Peterson is an animal and will be great for years. But to say that the outlook is bright?

Their DE's didn't get that much pressure at all. Rice looked good this game but again, he's gotta do it against someone more than Jarrett Bush. And Jackson? There is nothing promising about Jackson so far.

Childress looks like a bottleneck too.

They are definitely still rebuilding. A couple of strong drafts and off season decisions and they could be a great team. They don't seem to have improved from last year but they defiantly added some star power in AP. He's going to break every rookie RB record there is.

[Partial]

To those that say they didn't get pressure I think you should go rewatch the game. The entire passing game was 3 and 5 step drops. It greatly restricted any threat of a vertical passing attack.

Patler, I was unaware of the age of many of those guys but as you're seeing now you can very quickly retool if you're motivated to do so and also get a little lucky. None of those guys other than Williams are studs and can be replaced fairly easily through the many vast channels of adding players the NFL offers.

I'm not saying you can draft a guy and he'll be Antoine Winfield over night, but their best player is a rookie and the guy who looks like he has a lot of potential and could become a stud with solid coaching should only be a junior in college.

They've got some pieces to build on with Peterson and Rice. That's what I'm saying.

[Patler]

To those that say they didn't get pressure I think you should go rewatch the game. The entire passing game was 3 and 5 step drops. It greatly restricted any threat of a vertical passing attack.

Patler, I was unaware of the age of many of those guys but as you're seeing now you can very quickly retool if you're motivated to do so and also get a little lucky. None of those guys other than Williams are studs and can be replaced fairly easily through the many vast channels of adding players the NFL offers.

I'm not saying you can draft a guy and he'll be Antoine Winfield over night, but their best player is a rookie and the guy who looks like he has a lot of potential and could become a stud with solid coaching should only be a junior in college.

They've got some pieces to build on with Peterson and Rice. That's what I'm saying.

I didn't disagree with you. They have some pieces, but they need more.
You can retool quickly sometimes, but then again some teams struggle with it for years and years (Lions?). Miss on a couple drafts, sustain a few injuries and you are starting all over. So you are correct, some luck is involved.

[Zool]

their best player is a rookie and the guy who looks like he has a lot of potential and could become a stud with solid coaching should only be a junior in college.

Did Peterson red shirt '05 with the injuries? Otherwise he would be a senior.

[Partial]

their best player is a rookie and the guy who looks like he has a lot of potential and could become a stud with solid coaching should only be a junior in college.

Did Peterson red shirt '05 with the injuries? Otherwise he would be a senior.

Sidney Rice. Peterson is there best player. Rice is the guy with a ton of potential. Peterson has already taken advantage of his skills and has transitioned from potential to stud.

[Zool]

Gotcha. Havent watched much of Rice yet. Where's Raz for his preseason-now assessment?

[4and12to12and4]

I agree that Adrian Peterson is a beast, and if he stays injury free, will be a force to be reckoned with in the North for many years to come. However, they're QB situation is gruesome. Jackson is not the answer, and, obviously they have nobody good backing him up. They should've JUMPED on Schaub or even Garcia. If they had a QB that was even decent, with their potential at wideout, great running game, and very good defense, they would be a team to be reckoned with. I think the ONLY glaring hole for this team is at QB.

[Partial]

Jackson is very raw. He is very athletic and could turn out to be a pretty darn good player. He hasn't played much and this injury isn't helping him at all.

Quarterbacks can take years to develop. I think we'll know the story on Jackson in a couple of years.

[The Leaper]

Peterson is a stud...they have a few other capable pieces on offense. Rice has great size and seems to have solid ball skills. He should be the solid #1 there by next year. QB is a major concern right now...if Jackson isn't the answer long term, they are going to struggle for awhile. Their defense isn't built to hold on for another 2-3 years waiting for a QB to develop.

Their DEs don't impress me too much. Their LBs are OK. Their secondary plays OK considering their front 4 doesn't get much rush on the QB.

I don't see more than 6 wins for this team in 2007. Long term, their prospects are probably better than Detroit's...but is that saying much?