MVN - Most Valuable Network

Vikings Notes: Already Prognosticating the 2008 Season

A variety of talkers for today…

*In this week’s Monday Morning Quarterback, Peter King unveiled his post-draft power rankings and placed the Vikings as the seventh-best team in the NFL. That’s one spot ahead of our Wisconsin rivals.

On paper, I suppose the rankings make some sense…it’s reasonable to expect that the Vikes will edge out the Packers in the NFC North next season, simply based on the offseason wheelings and dealings of the two squads.

Needless to say, these rankings are great fodder for discussion and debate, but they don’t mean a whole lot. If I’ve learned anything about the NFL since I began following the league, it’s that preseason predictions are almost always proven to be completely inaccurate. There are a thousand variables during the course of a season that can throw off the predictions we make before the start of the year; indeed, my track record of predicting the Vikings’ record has been, in all honestly, embarrassing.

What if Tarvaris Jackson surpasses all expectations next season and becomes one of the NFL’s brightest young quarterbacks? What if he gets injured and the Vikings need to rely on Gus Frerotte for the better part of the season? What if Aaron Rodgers is a flop in Green Bay? What if he excels in the starting role?

There’s an endless amount of those “What if?” questions, and that’s why I’d encourage everyone to avoid putting much stock into these preseason prognostications. I have quite a bit of respect for Peter King (despite his man crush for Brett Favre that is surpassed only by John Madden), but let’s just keep this stuff in perspective.

*Also at SI.com, Don Banks listed the Vikings as one of six NFL teams that are on the rise. Says Banks, “Anything less than a double-digit win season and a playoff berth will rate as underachievement.” Agreed. This team has enough talent to meet both of those goals.

*Interested in placing a wager on who the 2008 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year will be? Well, while I certainly don’t recommend betting on this stuff, Bodog’s got you covered if you’re interested in prognosticating the top-performing offensive rookie. They have 50/1 odds on John David Booty winning the award; I, however, think 50/1 odds that JDB gets off the bench this season would be more appropriate.

Scroll down the page a bit, and you’ll find that Tyrell Johnson has 60/1 odds of winning the Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.

Wait…you’re telling me that JDB has better odds of winning Offensive Rookie of the Year than Johnson does of winning Defensive Rookie of the Year? Get outta here. I know Tyrell Johnson played for a small school (Arkansas State) and kinda went under the radar during the 2007 college football season, but from what I’m hearing, this kid’s gonna be good.

Mel Kiper Jr. even suggested that Johnson will be playing in the Pro Bowl three years down the road; while I think that statement is a little extreme, it is a testament to the respect Johnson receives within league and media circles. Fans of the Vikes (myself included) don’t know too much about him, but those in the know seem to think he’ll be a capable replacement for Darren Sharper.

Scroll waaay down on the Bodog page, and you’ll find this item: Which quarterback will be the first to start a game during the 2008-2009 NFL regular season, John David Booty or Brian Brohm?

Ugh. I can see a quarterback controversy coming from a mile away. I’ve made my thoughts known about a potential JBD-Tarvaris debate, but regardless of efforts by many Vikings fans to prevent potential QB debates this season, it’s easy to see that a quarterback controversy is on the horizon. And that’s a damn shame.

*Dwight Smith was caught having sex in a stairwell. Darrion Scott asked cops, “Don’t you know who I am?” while being arrested for marijuana possession, and was then recently arrested for assault and malicious punishment of a child. Bryant McKinnie was involved in a scuffle with a security guard outside a Miami nightclub, and got into trouble for his role in the Sex Boat after *allegedly* performing oral sex on one of the ladies. I’d be remiss if I failed to mention Onterrio Smith’s Wizzinator. And Fred Smoot…well, you know.

But of all the tomfoolery and shenanigans that the players of our squad have been involved in, we haven’t seen anything quite like this with the Purple. Chicago running back Cedric Benson was arrested for BWI. Boating while intoxicated.

Wait, you mean you’re not supposed to drink when you go boating? Serious? See, in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, it’s pretty much assumed that, if you take the boat out on the water for a spin, you’ll return to shore at least somewhat intoxicated.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 7:11 pm and is filed under 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.