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What’s Peter King Smoking?

By Anthony Hall | July 17th, 2007

Peter King, in his power rankings, rated the Vikes 31st in the NFL:

31. Minnesota: If Brad Childress makes an NFL quarterback out of Tarvaris Jackson, Minnesota will have a chance to be good. That’s a big if, and I don’t think the upside is very high there.

Then he ranked the Lions 13th in the league, while ranking the Cards 30th, as noted at MVN Cardinals. Note to Peter: Don’t write power rankings while high.*

If the Vikings are the 31st team in the NFL, then that would make them a 3-13ish team. Sorry Peter, but the Vikes aren’t a three win team…they’re a little better than that.

Peter King and Dr. Z seem to hate the Vikings. Dr. Z absolutely refuses to take the Vikings in his weekly picks…if we played Florida Atlantic University, he’d go with the Owls.

Last time I checked, the Vikings still have the number one rush defense in the NFL, they still have a (mostly) talented offensive line, and they’ve put together a dangerous running back tandem.

Am I seeing the world through purple sunglasses? Maybe. But I’m sorry…the Vikes aren’t a three win team, Peter King.

In other NFL rankings news, Football Outsiders ranked the Vikings 32nd in the league at quarterback.

Tavaris Jackson started two games at the end of last season and looked helpless. Jackson is a decent athlete who has the arm and IQ to succeed, but he faced a huge adjustment from a Division I-AA spread offense to Brad Childress’ quantum physics scheme. Jackson’s first instinct last season was to run at the first sign of trouble. Brooks Bollinger, who may challenge Jackson, went 2-7 as a starter for the Jets in 2005; the teams he beat had a combined 9-23 record. Bollinger is an undersized high-effort guy with decent mobility but little else. Tyler Thigpen, a rookie from Coastal Carolina, will get a long look in camp. Thigpen, like Bollinger, lists at 6-foot-1, an inch shorter than Jackson. Childress may want to hire some roller coaster attendants to make sure that his quarterbacks meet minimum height requirements.

Right…I have no problem with bringing in a guy like Kelly Holcomb. And I can’t really argue with this ranking.

Using the word “helpless” to describe Jackson doesn’t tell the whole story, though. Yes, at times he did look pretty helpless. But the article never mentions Jackson’s receivers…I think quite a few NFL quarterbacks would look helpless with Travis Taylor and Troy Williamson as their starting receivers.

I know these football experts have a job to do, but I just don’t think these guys are being entirely fair to Jackson. If you’re going to rip T-Jack…fine. But don’t rip him without mentioning the inept receivers he was throwing to.

*All right, I have no idea whether or not Peter King smokes weed.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2007 at 12:34 pm and is filed under Troy Williamson, Peter King, Travis Taylor, Kelly Holcomb, Tarvaris Jackson, NFL, Sports Illustrated, Minnesota Vikings, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “What’s Peter King Smoking?”

TJ Mims says:

July 17th, 2007 at 6:07 pm

While PK is usually smoking something that we cant find on the streets, he isnt too far off on this one ( of course this is opinion)…the WRs on the Vikes are nothing to be desired and they have a QB situation up in the air….they have a stellar run D which can bolster them a little bit but I would say the Vikes are between 25-30 on the Power Rankings

Lions I would start out around #20, not a spot higher…but they may surprise teams, like the Cards
Anthony says:

July 17th, 2007 at 7:25 pm

Right, I’m not suggesting that the Vikes are even a “middle of the pack” team…but they’re not a 3-13 team either. Agreed that 13 is too high for Detroit, and I also think that the Cards could surprise some people.
Rick Evan says:

July 17th, 2007 at 10:13 pm

If the running back core can get a major ground game going it may open up the passing game to a middle of the pack position. Unless there are some major changes at WR and/or quarterback I fear this season. But being a lifetime Vikings fan we always have the annual, wait til next year.
possdog says:

July 18th, 2007 at 7:45 am

vikes will win 9 games this year. Wade will be a perfect fit for this dink and dunk passing offense, and I am predicting much more out of Keneche this season on the d-line. If you watch film of T-Jackson, you know that if he throws short, he is very tough.

Being a vikes fan for the past 30 years, I dont give a rats *** what Peter King says.
BobbyViking says:

July 18th, 2007 at 10:34 am

Will a real Quarter Back please report to the Vikes!!!
s.kisiel says:

July 29th, 2007 at 9:35 pm

Are you kidding Peter King? The Vikings have a legitimate shot at going at least 10-6. If Jackson can hook up with Williamson, the D-Line is just as good, if not better and “AD” can run to daylight, then believe me, they WILL win there division, which WILL give them the playoffs in their hands and might just have some surprise players on offense going to the Pro Bowl. P King, i dont no what your smoking but when you put the Vikings 31st power rankings and Lions 13th overall, YOUR HIGH!
s.kisiel says:

August 2nd, 2007 at 1:00 pm

Hey, Now it’s been 4 days since i’ve spoke about this thread and I seemed to be a bit carried off. This is about Tarvaris Jackson. We all know he is unproven publicly, so here is what I have to say about that. First, many quaterbacks are as of now, unproven (Vince Young, Matt Leinart, Jay Cutler, Brodie Croyle and Joey Harrington) but, 3 out of those 5 men had very good seasons (You figure them out.)So, you should look more at his upside than expierence because sometimes, that’s all that matters.