nicksaviking

Yeah, the bullpen should be the only long term concern, but that's a really small sample size. And as a team they strike out 25% of the batters they face, so we're not talking about that many hard hit balls overall. Those percentages can wildly swing after only a couple of outings. As for Castro, he's the super utility player. I hope he hits, if he doesn't, well that kind of comes with the territory; this is his last year here anyway. And Bader? We're concerned that this new Bader isn't real and that he's going to regress to being exactly the kind of hitter we thought we were getting all along? How dare he!

Well it's an Arthur Smith offense. If he had the 1998 Vikings WR corps, Moss gets about 100 targets and Carter and Reed are playing pinochle on the sideline while the team is constantly running two RB, two TE sets.

Jerry Jones would love to bring that circus to Dallas; if only Dak wasn't still under contract. He'd let Rodgers and Mcafee stream some nutjob halftime show from the locker room.

There are 100 slap hitting players who flamed out offensively because they can't barrel up the ball for every one Luis Arraez.

I could see him waiting out an injury too. Which would let him skip training camp, which he'd absolutely avoid if at all possible.

Mason Rudolph isn't good. But neither were Justin Fields, Russell Wilson or Kenny Pickett. That team always finds a way to win 9 games. Which, is way worse than winning 5 games in my book. I have no clue how they ever break that cycle without finding a good QB, and that's hard to do when you're always drafting 20th. Just let go of the .500 streak. It was impressive but largely meaningless. I'd want a reboot if I were a Steelers fan.

That offense should be bad. But to be fair, it should (has) been bad for years. I'm also curious how Rodgers is supposed to work on the Steelers. Rodgers infamously runs plays that HE wants to run out on the field and then throws the OC under the bus when it doesn't work out. How is everyone going to handle it when Rodgers is throwing 65% of the downs even though everyone knows Arthur Smith is calling for a run on 65% of the downs?

George Pickens to the Cowboys. So second banana to Ceedee Lamb. I don't see Pickens being happy there, and if he's not happy, he's going to make the Cowboys miserable. But if he makes a scene and the media constantly talk about what a disaster he is, it's a win for Jerry Jones, because he just wants people talking about his team.

As good as he was, he's still a kicker. I'd guess he'd have to be unequivocally exonerated to get in. And that seems unlikely considering how many women are coming forward.

No power, no speed, sketchy defense. With that profile, having success like Luis Arraez (who had a pretty low ceiling despite the fun batting average) is the exception, not the rule. A Willians Astudillo or Mickey Gasper is more likely. If this team isn't aiming higher than France or Amick, that probably means the Twins still have the same owners. And Amick is still in A ball, so we're probably talking about two years from now, which would be disappointing.

Getting a cortisone shot and missing two months sounds more than just an ankle sprain..........

LA football has more challenges for local fans than the other pro sports. First, no one in LA is from LA, people move there and bring their fandoms with them. But it's still cool and hip to go see a Laker, Dodger or Kings game, because those are considerably easier to do. On a whim you can still decide get something to eat near the stadiums, show up fashionably late to the game (as per LA tradition), leave early and go get a nightcap before jumping on the freeway and waiting in traffic. And you can plan this out at 3PM on a Wednesday if you want to. Going to a football game takes at least month of planning since the away fans have already bought most of the tickets. To top it off, it's way out in the middle of nowhere in Inglewood where you'll spend most of your morning driving through city streets to get there. There is NOTHING to do there because it's one of those new stadiums where the owner wants to own and develop all the land around it. So it's either go to that stupid casino half mile away, or do absolutely nothing before or after the game. The Twins should be the Lakers/Dodgers/Kings of the Twins cities sports, just like they used to be. Easy access, easy tickets, can do it on a whim and there is loads of other entertainment nearby. Ownership has absolutely squandered what should be a goldmine of an entertainment option for the metro area population. They're taking the football approach trying to convince people from Thief River Falls to plan one complicated and expensive trip a year to the stadium instead of convincing the locals to go a half dozen times easily and more affordably.

I know he'll play and I think people are mis-reading my tone about this; Van Ginkel was great, I'm glad he's being extended. And I don't want him used less effectively just to get Turner more snaps. I'm getting at this: Jihad Ward was the #3 edge rusher last year and he got on the field for a healthy 41% of the snaps. But even if Turner bumped his numbers up to 50%, I think it's fairly unlikely that's enough for the Vikings to exercise the fifth year option, which they'll need to decide on at the same time Van Ginkel's deal runs out. I'm fine with that, just thought I'd point out the timing of the new deal and the option deadline.

He'll get on the field, but I'm not sure it will be for enough snaps to make them determine exercising the fifth year option is a good idea. And I don't want Van Ginkle or Greenard moved inside more often just to get him on the field. Those two were excellent last year; stick with that utilization.

This didn't seem to be an issue in college or the minors where pitchers were even more wild. Hey, it's his forearm, if he's gun-shy and wants to switch things up, that's his prerogative, the Twins need not do a thing unless he requests that assistance though. Otherwise, as mentioned, there are an untold number of different forearm and wrist guards players have been wearing for decades.

Can't complain about that, but it's making it harder for Dallas Turner to get on the field. At this point, the Vikings are going to have to make a decision about his 5th year option while he's still only a backup. Not complaining, just saying.

I'm sure we'll all appreciate the pitching depth in September when the team is out of contention and no one is watching the games. Put your best players on the roster now and try to win. Worry about later, later.

I agree, I hate being a middle of the road team. But the way this squad is built, I think they'd need a ton of injuries to be top-of-the-draft bad next year.

If McCarthy isn't the answer, I'd rather he show it by being really bad so we know ASAP. I don't want drag it out four or five years saying, 'Eh, maybe?' But even if he's not good, I think the defense will be, and it will still be an average team at worst.

I think the numbers show that fifth round is much higher at hitting, the major drop offs are after the second and than again after the fifth. Don't even bother with 6-7th rounders. Use them to trade up every single time if you can.

I would have rather had Chris Paul who the Rams traded up to get and sounds like the same player as King, but much better. I could really care less about a TE who will only play on special teams. I wish they wouldn't even think about players in this area of the draft; there's a good chance they could have gotten both as UDFAs.

Tell me the Vikings traded their pick for a future pick or Blake Corem or something. Don’t trade back for 6th round picks!

Mil Kiper isn't pissed off because he cares about Sanders, he's pissed off that his his draft ratings took a huge hit with his evaluation miss.

Sam Howell as the backup QB. I like him better than most. When he was in Washington, I liked that he wasn't afraid to sling it all over the field and used his legs plenty. Lots of picks though, so not dissimilar to Sam Darnold. Surprised it took a 5th rounder to get him though.

Five RBs this round. Still several I like quite a bit.