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SEASON NOTES
- The Vikings finish with a 10-6 record, and earn a Wildcard berth before losing to the Giants in the 1st round.
- Christian Ponder gets into the Pro Bowl after Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan and Eli Manning wuss out.
- Adrian Peterson wins Comeback Player of the Year
- Leslie Frazier wins Coach of the Year


RESIGNINGS
RB Matt Asiata - resigned 1 year - he contributes as a special teams guy and is a decent blocker
FB Jerome Felton - resigned 4 years – gotta lock up this beast. excellent lead blocker
WR Jerome Simpson - resigned 3 years – relatively cheap 3-year deal after a relatively disappointing year
WR Devin Aromashodu - not resigned – decent player, but getting older and there are other options
OL Phil Loadholt - resigned 3 years – no need to make a new hole by letting a serviceable player go
OL Geoff Schwartz - resigned 3 years – great backup swing lineman. Primary backup on the right side
OL Joe Berger - not resigned – doesn’t offer anything
OL Mark Asper - not resigned – who?
DT Kevin Williams - not resigned – we try to bring him back but he wants an unreasonable deal
LB Erin Henderson - resigned 4 years – very solid player, no reason not to lock him up
LB Jasper Brinkley - resigned 1 year – I want to see another good year before giving him a longer deal
LB Marvin Mitchell - resigned 2 years – solid depth
LB Tyrone McKenzie - not resigned – Audie Cole makes McKenzie redundant
CB AJ Jefferson - resigned 3 years – continues to improve as a #4 CB
CB Marcus Sherels - resigned 3 years – one of the best PR’s in the league
S Jamarca Sanford - resigned 3 years – competes at S and great on special teams
S Andrew Sendejo - not resigned - yawn


OTHER MOVES
CB Antoine Winfield retires/cut – either way it is time to move on.
WR Michael Jenkins cut – doesn’t offer anything, we need to find a better target
TE John Carlson cut – Ellison makes him replaceable. Really overpaid
sign DT Glenn Dorsey - 3 years – replacement for KW, should do much better in a 43
WR Percy Harvin extended - 5 years – gotta lock this kid UP
DE Jared Allen extended - 5 years – time to re-work his massive contract


DRAFT
* trade down 6-8 spots in the 1st, pick up an extra 3rd

1. WR Cordarrelle Patterson, Tennessee – Prototype size/athleticism. Overshadowed at UT, but great WR
2. CB Desmond Trufant, Washington – should fit this scheme well, great #3 option at corner
3. DT Abry Jones, Georgia – very athletic and can get to the QB. Good fit as a 43 UT.
3. WR Cody Hoffman, BYU – big, athletic target. Another weapon for Ponder
4. TE Michael Williams, Alabama – massive, mauling blocker.
4. S Zeke Motta, Notre Dame – we all know Spielman loves safeties from Notre Dame
5. CB Josh Johnson, Purdue – depth, can compete with Jefferson for the #4 spot
6. OL T.J. Summers, South Carolina – depth, we could use a backup C/G


DEPTH CHART
QB| Christian Ponder | Joe Webb | McLeod Bethel-Thompson
RB| Adrian Peterson | Toby Gerhart | Matt Asiata | Jerome Felton
TE| Kyle Rudolph | Rhett Ellison | Michael Williams
WR| Percy Harvin | Jerome Simpson | Stephen Burton
WR| Cordarrelle Patterson | Cody Hoffman | Jarius Wright (KR)

LT| Matt Kalil | Demarcus Love
LG| Charlie Johnson
C| John Sullivan | T.J. Johnson
RG| Brandon Fusco
RT| Phil Loadholt | Geoff Schwartz

DE| Jared Allen | Everson Griffen
DT| Letroy Guion | Fred Evans
DT| Glenn Dorsey | Abry Jones | Christian Ballard
DE| Brian Robison | D’Aundre Reed

OLB| Chad Greenway | Larry Dean
MLB| Jasper Brinkley | Audie Cole
OLB| Erin Henderson | Marvin Mitchell

CB| Chris Cook | Desmond Trufant | Josh Johnson
CB| Josh Robinson | AJ Jefferson | Marcus Sherels (PR)
FS| Mistral Raymond | Jamarca Sanford
SS| Harrison Smith | Robert Blanton | Zeke Motta

K| Blair Walsh
P| Chris Kluwe
LS| Cullen Loeffler


CLOSING THOUGHTS
- Gotta love all the weapons for Ponder to work with
- The OL is still intact, should continue to improve
- Dorsey+Abry is a solid rotation to replace KW
- Guion on running downs and Everson on passing downs at the other DT spot
- Raymond and Sanford compete for the FS spot
_________________
From the fool’s gold mouthpiece the hollow horn,
Plays wasted words, proves to warn,
That he not busy being born is busy dying.

[vikingsrule]

I generally feel that the team may be forced to choose between Erin Henderson and Jasper Brinkley, though I could be wrong. If last year is any indication, there may not be much market for 4-3 LBs. Will see.

If Winfield doesnt retire, I dont see the Vikings cutting him. He has been a good player this year, is a respected leader (see post Indy game), he doesnt deserve to be released.

I like the decision to get rid of Jenkins and Carlson. I would probably bring back Aromashodu on a one year deal just to compete in training camp. We simply dont know what we have in Childs and Wright and having Aromashodu as a camp body wouldnt be a bad deal.

I believe that AJ Jefferson is a restricted free agent, so he would probably just get a 1 year tender, probably at the 2nd rd level.

Simpson need a long-term contract, I think he will sign for what Meachem or Robinson got if he is allowed to test the open market and if he didnt have character issues, he probably would have signed for that last offseason. Though I can understand reservations in resigning him long-term, but i tend to think he will get a 4-5 year deal around 3-4 million per year. Same story with Loadholt. Quality starting OTs rarely hit the market, MN might have to pay a bit more to keep him. In my mock, I had Loadholt resigning for 5 years/$25M. Similar to what Sullivan got.

I like the selections of Patterson, Jones and Hoffman, though I could live without Trufant.

[rpmwr19]

Don't mind Trufant but I think I'd rather have the best safety.

Love the TE pick as he's a pure blocker that does have some athletic upside.
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2017 Aggregate Draft Board

[vike daddy]

how many frickin' Trufants is the state of Washington going to produce? another one now in a defensive backfield?!
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Everson Griffen: “We can be special. But it’s up to us.”

[SteelKing728]

[Freakout]

I would overpay Kevin Williams before I would give a dime to Glenn Dorsey. So that soured me on the mock pretty fast
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[Klomp]

[vikingsrule]

[Klomp]