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More Vikings Power Rankings: O-Line, WR, RB

By Anthony Hall | July 20th, 2007

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To follow-up on Peter King’s ranking of the Vikes as the 31st team in the NFL, the Daily Norseman makes a good point about King’s flawed thinking. Who says T-Jack needs to be great next season for the Vikes to win some ballgames?

Really, T-Jack just needs to be a game manager. As long as he doesn’t make too many mistakes and his receivers aren’t as clueless as they were last year, the Vikings should be quite a bit better than Peter King is predicting.

The Vikes aren’t asking Tarvaris to win games for them. Or at least, they shouldn’t be. He just needs to do what Brad Johnson failed so miserably at last season. Be a game manager. Don’t make mistakes that will cost the team the game.

Continuing with the power rankings theme, Football Outsiders ranked the Vikes’ offensive line fifth in the NFL. I think they’re being pretty generous with that ranking…with Artis Hicks and Ryan Cook starting on the right side, I just don’t see how this unit can crack the top five.

Birk may have made the pro bowl last season, but he didn’t have a pro bowl worthy year. Hutch played well, but McKinnie had a rough year…I do expect Mount McKinnie to rebound this season, but still, I just don’t see the offensive line as a top five unit.

For their running back rankings, Football Outsiders placed the Vikings in the six slot. That’s right on the money. And they made a good point in saying that sharing the load suits Chester better than being the feature back does.

Looking ahead to the preseason, I absolutely can’t wait to see the running backs in action. I love what Sean Payton is doing with Mcallister and Bush in New Orleans, so it was very exciting to see the Vikes nab Peterson. He is exactly what we needed…a playmaker. A home run hitter. It’s going to be great to see him step onto the field September 9th against Atlanta.

Football Outsiders followed ESPN’s example in their wide receiver rankings, as they ranked the Vikes last in the NFL. According to the article, Martin Nance is the potential WR savior for the Vikes. Fair enough…but my eye’s still on Todd Lowber this training camp.

Finally tonight, in an interview with Grandpa Sports, Antoine Winfield said that he thinks the Vikes can contend for a division title. I like this positivity from the team leader…true, he’s saying all the right things to the media after that trade-demand controversy a month ago, but at least he’s publicly showing some confidence in his teammates and the coaching staff.

Back in June, I was kinda annoyed at Antoine for causing some drama, but I’ve since completely changed my mind about him. And speaking of Winfield, check out this play he made against Chicago last year. If that video doesn’t get you a little pumped for the season, then you’re not a Vikings fan.

Hat tips: Rube Chat, Daily Norseman

This entry was posted on Friday, July 20th, 2007 at 7:00 pm and is filed under Chester Taylor, Matt Birk, Bryant McKinnie, Adrian Peterson, Martin Nance, Antoine Winfield, Todd Lowber, Steve Hutchinson, Ryan Cook, Minnesota Vikings, Sports Illustrated, Tarvaris Jackson, Peter King, Artis Hicks, Brad Johnson, 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.

4 Responses to “More Vikings Power Rankings: O-Line, WR, RB”

Sean says:

July 23rd, 2007 at 10:23 am

I think you and DailyNorsman are right on the money. T-Jack doesnt have to be great he just has to manage the game and not give the ball up. I’m not saying he is the future at QB for the Vikes but I think he’ll do just fine for the time being. If he can get the protection he should from our line, the running game is as good as it was last year, and the freakin WR’s and TE’s can catch a ball, then he should make it through the year just fine and the Vikes might actually end up at 8-8.
Sean says:

July 23rd, 2007 at 10:23 am

I think you and DailyNorsman are right on the money. T-Jack doesnt have to be great he just has to manage the game and not give the ball up. I’m not saying he is the future at QB for the Vikes but I think he’ll do just fine for the time being. If he can get the protection he should from our line, the running game is as good as it was last year, and the freakin WR’s and TE’s can catch a ball, then he should make it through the year just fine and the Vikes might actually end up at 8-8.
Anthony says:

July 23rd, 2007 at 1:02 pm

Good points Sean, I agree that 8-8 isn’t completely out of the question for this team. Yeah, a lot of stuff has to go right as you pointed out, but I at least think it’s possible. Realistically, though, I’d tend to think they’re a six win team.
S.kisiel says:

July 29th, 2007 at 9:53 pm

Thankyou Peter King for not being high for the time being. As I said before, i see the Vikings having a decent receiving group (If Williamson lives up to his expectations. Which in my eyes, he WILL) and i nice shot going to win their division (10-6). But, I strongly believe T-Jack is the future of this team and its success. He has the potential which minnesota’s former QB’s (which includes Daunte Culpepper, Warren Moon and Brad Johnson) had. So this guy can surely throw 22 TD’s and still have Peterson get 10 TD’s. Basically, don’t worry, im a true Vikings fan and i support them ALL THE WAY.