2022 Vikings Off-Season Thread

[nicksaviking]

So it sounds like the Bears are closing in on Ryan Poles:

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/01/25/ryan-poles-closes-in-on-becoming-new-bears-g-m/

Does that mean the Vikings are going to be hiring Adofo-Mensah? Those two were reportedly the finalists. The Wilfs seem like pretty open minded owners, this doesn't surprise me, I could see them being interested in the analytics angle.

They just can't mess up like the Browns did originally; hire an analytics-minded GM and hire a coach who resented it. Dan Quinn and Atlanta were pretty favorable to analytics, the Vikings interest in him would make sense if Adofo-Mensah were also the GM front runner.

[Vanimal46]

Certainly sounds like he’s going to be the pick for GM. 

[TheLeviathan]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

Certainly sounds like he’s going to be the pick for GM. 

If nothing else....it's a bold choice.  It might fail spectacularly, but I'm in favor of big, bold swings.

[nicksaviking]

15 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

If nothing else....it's a bold choice.  It might fail spectacularly, but I'm in favor of big, bold swings.

I like the idea of failing spectacularly much better than failing protractedly. 

If it's not going to work out it will be easier to move on and try again than it would be if the results are once again just mediocre.

[stringer bell]

On 1/22/2022 at 11:05 PM, Mike Sixel said:

Does anyone change their mind on trading Cousins if Rodgers leaves Green Bay? He'd be the best QB in the division by far 

Really will be a conundrum for Minnesota. If Adams and Rodgers leave Green Bay, Minny will definitely have the most proven talent in the division. It is pretty hard to imagine gutting the team with a good chance to win the North in the coming year. However, if the decline of the defense continues, they won't really be contenders to advance in the playoffs.

[Danchat]

I'd prefer Poles, but I am intrigued by KAM. 

Updates on other jobs:

Bears - GM Poles, HC 2nd interviews with Caldwell, Eberflus, Quinn

Broncos - HC 2nd interviews with O'Connell, Hackett, Quinn

Texans - HC Still on 1st interviews, Flores seems like the favorite, but they interviewed Josh McCown and Hines Ward for reasons unknown

Jags - HC 2nd interviews with Leftwich and Eberflus, sounds like Leftwich is probably their guy

Raiders - GM & HC early on 1st interviews

Dolphins - HC Still on 1st interviews

Giants - GM Schonen, HC 2nd interview for Daboll, seems like the job is his

Saints - Starting HC search, might opt to promote from within with DC Dennis Allen

[TheLeviathan]

2 hours ago, Danchat said:

I'd prefer Poles, but I am intrigued by KAM. 

Updates on other jobs:

Bears - GM Poles, HC 2nd interviews with Caldwell, Eberflus, Quinn

Broncos - HC 2nd interviews with O'Connell, Hackett, Quinn

Texans - HC Still on 1st interviews, Flores seems like the favorite, but they interviewed Josh McCown and Hines Ward for reasons unknown

Jags - HC 2nd interviews with Leftwich and Eberflus, sounds like Leftwich is probably their guy

Raiders - GM & HC early on 1st interviews

Dolphins - HC Still on 1st interviews

Giants - GM Schonen, HC 2nd interview for Daboll, seems like the job is his

Saints - Starting HC search, might opt to promote from within with DC Dennis Allen

I hate that the Giants basically rolled up Daboll without any serious competition.

Hines Ward is coaching?  I had no idea.  Dude is one of my all-time non-Vikings favorites.

[Vanimal46]

34 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

I hate that the Giants basically rolled up Daboll without any serious competition.

Hines Ward is coaching?  I had no idea.  Dude is one of my all-time non-Vikings favorites.

Yeah, I’m not sure why Daboll limited his coaching search so much. Unless his buddy who just got the GM gig has big plans to go acquire a veteran QB like Russell Wilson, why not interview with more teams? 

Just looking at Hines Ward’s Wikipedia, he’s the WR coach at Florida Atlantic. Seems like an extreme reach to think he’s ready to coach an NFL team. Then again, we’re talking about the Texans. The biggest dumpster fire in the league… 

[Vanimal46]

2 hours ago, Danchat said:

I'd prefer Poles, but I am intrigued by KAM. 

I didn’t really have a horse I bet on in this race to be GM, but I’m assuming you liked Poles more because of his traditional scouting background? KOM is unorthodox, but could pay off big if the NFL is ready for an analytical approach like baseball. It failed in Cleveland 5 ish years ago when they started hoarding draft picks. Maybe it’s ready now? 

At the very least, I’m more confident than ever that Kirk and other long term veterans are likely on the way out. 

[Danchat]

31 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

I’m not sure why Daboll limited his coaching search so much. Unless his buddy who just got the GM gig has big plans to go acquire a veteran QB like Russell Wilson, why not interview with more teams? 

I'm not sure it's on Daboll for having so few interviews... he was almost the Chargers coach last year (probably better than Staley, am I right?), but for some reason he wasn't as popular this cycle. Their offense did get lost for several weeks in the regular season, perhaps turning off some teams to him.

31 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Just looking at Hines Ward’s Wikipedia, he’s the WR coach at Florida Atlantic. Seems like an extreme reach to think he’s ready to coach an NFL team. Then again, we’re talking about the Texans. The biggest dumpster fire in the league… 

Hines Ward is a massive stretch, but Josh McCown hasn't ever been a coach... and they're interviewing him again after they did in 2021 (when he was still on their roster!!). Houston is still a dumpster fire, axing O'Brien was not enough.

27 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

but I’m assuming you liked Poles more because of his traditional scouting background? KOM is unorthodox, but could pay off big if the NFL is ready for an analytical approach like baseball. It failed in Cleveland 5 ish years ago when they started hoarding draft picks. Maybe it’s ready now? 

I don't like that KOM has zero football background, but I suppose if he's surrounded in the front office with others with scouting experience it won't be so bad. It would be great if KOM could be a trailblazer and innovate how NFL front offices operate, but I'm not getting my hopes too high. 

[TheLeviathan]

38 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Yeah, I’m not sure why Daboll limited his coaching search so much. Unless his buddy who just got the GM gig has big plans to go acquire a veteran QB like Russell Wilson, why not interview with more teams? 

Just looking at Hines Ward’s Wikipedia, he’s the WR coach at Florida Atlantic. Seems like an extreme reach to think he’s ready to coach an NFL team. Then again, we’re talking about the Texans. The biggest dumpster fire in the league… 

It's possible he sees Daniel Jones as a diamond in the rough.  There are Allen similarities.

[nicksaviking]

11 hours ago, TheLeviathan said:

I hate that the Giants basically rolled up Daboll without any serious competition.

Hines Ward is coaching?  I had no idea.  Dude is one of my all-time non-Vikings favorites.

This is going to sound crazy, but I'm not completely convinced that Frazier isn't the guy the Giants want. It's clearly one of the Bills coaches, but they way they describe what they want, it really could be either of them.

Joe Judge's complete lack of self awareness had to be embarrassing. I could see the Giants wanting the next guy to be someone with HC experience.

Even though Daboll seems like the better choice for sure.

[Vanimal46]

It’s official. Now on to the HC search! 

[Vanimal46]

High risk but very high reward. I’m looking forward to seeing how this turns out. 

[nicksaviking]

I'm game for this move.

Sounds like Adofo-Mensah is high on DeMeco Ryans. He was never my top choice, but I really do like the idea of giving a shot to a young former player.

[Mike Sixel]

Fascinating hire. Much like baseball moving on from former players.... He was in SF and CLE when Bosa and Garrett came in.... Will they extend Hunter?

[ashbury]

6 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

High risk but very high reward.

What is the perceived risk, compared to any other hire at this level?

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

What is the perceived risk, compared to any other hire at this level?

He’s a fast riser in the NFL and the first hire who came specifically from the R&D/Analytics side of the business. Football is like baseball 20 years ago where most GMs are former players or have a scouting background. 

[TheLeviathan]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

He’s a fast riser in the NFL and the first hire who came specifically from the R&D/Analytics side of the business. Football is like baseball 20 years ago where most GMs are former players or have a scouting background. 

Yup....not a "football guy" by trade and experience.

I dig it though.

[nicksaviking]

15 hours ago, ashbury said:

What is the perceived risk, compared to any other hire at this level?

Since the NFL is still in the infancy of the analytic development,  I'd say there's two main risks. The first would be that if he can't get everyone in the organization to buy into the philosophies, there will be people pulling the team in multiple directions, like we saw with Cleveland when they initially set off on this course.

The second would be, unlike baseball, the NFL would probably still be considered in the trial and error phase with analytics. And with how many more variables there are with football, there could be lots of errors before getting it right.

But I'm definitely for this move.

[diehardtwinsfan]

while I don't think everything analytics brought to baseball has been good for the sport, I'd rather be on the lead of that change effort than chasing it like the Twins did. 

[Mike Sixel]

He uttered my favorite phrase today...."Hope is not a strategy".

[cHawk]

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33159184/chicago-bears-hire-indianapolis-colts-dc-matt-eberflus-head-coach-sources-say

Looks like the Bears hired their next HC. Never heard of this guy prior to today.

Thoughts?

[gunnarthor]

https://www.startribune.com/vikings-wilfs-new-gm-kwesi-adofo-mensah-rooney-rule-racial-progress-jim-souhan/600140319/

Nice article by Souhan on the Wilfs hiring process. 

[nicksaviking]

Yeah, I thought he was a candidate for somewhere last year too. Colts D has been really good the last couple of years. 

The Bears have always been a Defense first franchise; I'm not surprised they went back to that side of the ball after the Nagy experiment.

[TheLeviathan]

4 hours ago, gunnarthor said:

https://www.startribune.com/vikings-wilfs-new-gm-kwesi-adofo-mensah-rooney-rule-racial-progress-jim-souhan/600140319/

Nice article by Souhan on the Wilfs hiring process. 

I'm trying to remember the last time an NFL team had a black GM and a black head coach.  Like....I can't remember there ever being a time that happened.

If Ryans is the guy, that would be a real step forward for the NFL and good for the Vikings to lead the way in that regard.

[Vanimal46]

I’m kind of torn on this to be honest. He’s the most qualified and proven HC we’ve interviewed so far. But he’s a little too close to Zimmer’s personality. 

[gunnarthor]

4 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

I’m kind of torn on this to be honest. He’s the most qualified and proven HC we’ve interviewed so far. But he’s a little too close to Zimmer’s personality. 

Yeah, I'm not sure either but ... maybe?

He's certainly had success and the new GM knows him from their time together in SF. And, while he may be cranky and the yelling type, he might also have some non-Zimmer traits that work well, especially after working with college kids for so long.

[cHawk]

 

[TheLeviathan]

I don't like the combination of a brand new, inexperienced GM and Jim Harbaugh.  That seems like a road paved for Harbaugh to steamroll.